Paul McAleer, centre with his ‘RASE Student of the Year Award’ pictured with Dr. John Fay, Principal of Greenmount College (right) and David Wright, Beef and Sheep lecturer

There were three distinct aims of this study:

• Identify the benefits of achieving compact calving in the NI suckler herd
• Identify the management practices that can be used to achieve compact calving
• Outline the methods to be used to achieve compact calving in each calving season

The aims were met via a review of relevant literature and a survey of over 50 suckler farmers in the province. From this information a number of recommendations and conclusions were made as to how to achieve compact calving.

Recommendations included:

1. Aim to calve all cows in condition score 3 – 3.5
2. As much as possible avoid stress on the cows
3. Take time to observe the herd whether using A.I. or natural service
4. When serving in the house feed all cows high quality silage (ME 10+) and at least 1 kg/day of a 16% CP concentrate
5. When serving in the house, at 3 weeks of age move calves to restricted suckling, allowing them in to suckle twice per day
6. Bulls used should be proven to be fertile, with no more than 30 cows per bull. Rotate bulls around groups every 21 days to help minimise a drop in fertility by one bull.

In his conclusions Paul found that:

1. The vast majority of producers in NI do not fully understand the term ‘compact calving’ and are not fully aware of the benefits or the range of methods that can be used to help tighten calving spread.
2. The current reproductive efficiency of the NI suckler herd is extremely poor and by improving fertility and fertility management there is the potential to improve economic performance.
3. Calving a cow 21 days earlier will have the same economic impact as breeding the calf one conformation grade better. Tightening calving spread is much easier to achieve than improving cattle quality by one grade.
4. Companies and advisory bodies involved in cattle breeding need to dedicate as much, if not more time, to improving suckler cow fertility as they do to improving carcass quality.
5. Producers need to dedicate more time and thought to the type of cow they keep and how it is managed to maximise fertility.

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