Greenmount Organic Unit - update

After a cold winter following a wet summer, it is amazing how well the late summer reseeds have progressed. Initial concerns in February when the overwintered plants were extremely small have proven to be unfounded and clover content is excellent.

The winter triticale hardly grew during the winter due to the cold weather, but it is now in flower and standing chest-high. So far it looks excellent and there are hopes for a good yield. Using it to suppress docks still seems to be a good decision and, whilst there are docks present, they have not appeared above the crop.

Calving was a lot tighter this year, and the last calf was born on 1 June. This should make management easier. There were also three sets of twins.

Last year’s Shorthorn cross-bred calves are growing well with good liveweight gains.

This spring five home-reared replacement heifers have been introduced into the herd.

Lambing went well, and lamb survival is 180 percent. Examination of dung samples has shown that we do not need to worm the lambs as yet.

Excellent clover regrowth after cutting