Calving Heifers Vlog Series
Suckler herds are being encouraged to improve efficiency by reducing the age of first calving to 2 years old. Whilst this can increase the farm output whilst reducing the carbon footprint, it is not suited to every farm system. We bring you a series of video updates following 3 farmers who calve their heifers at 2, 2.5 and 3 years old. These focus on heifer selection, bulling preparation, winter management and calving providing a practical insight into their systems. Join us in following their journey as the season unfolds.
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Choosing At What Age To Calve Your Heifers
In this short video, Stevie Rolfe from SR Cattle Services provides an overview of the range of heifer management practices he commonly sees across the country. He also provides some top tips on management of heifers through the breeding season and bull selection for optimum success performance whether calving at 2, 2.5 or 3 years of age. Read more >>
Suckler herds are being encouraged to improve efficiency by reducing the age of first calving to 2 years old. Whilst this can increase the farm output whilst reducing the carbon footprint, it is not suited to every farm system. Read more >>
Age at first calving can have a large impact on the profitability of suckler herds, mainly due to the increase in management costs as the age at first calving increases. By successfully calving heifers at two years of age, costs in suckler herds can be reduced leading to an improvement in profitability. Read more>>
Calving At 2 Years Old
Calving at 2 Years Old: Selecting Heifers
The first of this year's farmer vlogs comes from Tom Hopkinson at Lindertis Farm at Kirriemuir, who gives us an overview of his farming system and tells us what he looks for when selecting his heifers for calving at 2 years old. Read more>>
Calving at 2: Bulling Management
We revisit Tom Hopkinson at Lindertis Farm at Kirriemuir, to hear how he manages his heifers at bulling and what he looks for when selecting bulls for calving heifers at 2 years old. Read more >>
Winter Management for Calving Heifers at 2 years old
We revisit Tom Hopkinson at Lindertis Farm at Kirriemuir, to hear how his pregnancy scanning went and how he manages his heifers throughout the winter for calving at 2 years old. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 2 Years Old: Results and Reflections
We revisit Tom Hopkinson as calving 2023 gets underway on Lindertis Farm at Kirriemuir. We will discuss how calving is going so far and reflect on the management of these heifers, calving at 2 years old throughout this breeding cycle. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 2 years old Case Study
Tom Hopkinson farms 800 ha at Lindertis Farm on the outskirts of Kirriemuir in Angus. Tom runs a progressive system and calves his spring calving heifers at 2 years of age. Find out more about how the heifers are managed throughout the breeding cycle in this case study. Read more >>
Calving at 2 years old: Calf performance
In our final calving vlog from Lindertis we revisit the first calving heifers we followed during 2022/2023 who are now being weaned. We will discuss Tom Hopkinson's management to ensure these heifers returned in calf for a second time and the performance of their first calves. #farmervlogs #calvingat2
Calving At 2.5 Years Old
Calving at 2.5 years old: Selecting Heifers
The second of this year's farmer vlogs comes from Stewart Stronach of Berryleys at Keith, home to the Islavale pedigree Simmental herd. Stewart gives us an overview of his farming system and tells us what he looks for when selecting his heifers for calving at 2.5 years old. Read more>>
Calving at 2.5: Bulling Management
We revisit Stewart Stronach at Berryleys, Keith to hear how he manages his heifers at bulling and what he looks for when selecting bulls for calving heifers at 2.5 years old. Read more >>
Winter Management for Calving Heifers at 2.5 years old
We revisit Stewart Stronach at Berryleys Farm in Keith to hear how his pregnancy scanning went and how he manages his heifers throughout the winter for calving heifers at 2.5 years old. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 2.5 years old: Results and Reflections
We revisit Stewart Stronach as calving 2023 gets underway on Berryleys Farm in Keith. We will discuss how calving is going so far and reflect on the management of these heifers, calving at 2.5 years old throughout this breeding cycle. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 2.5 years Old Case Study
Stewart Stronach farms 750 acres at Berryleys Farm on the outskirts of Keith. His herd is split 50:50 between spring and autumn calving allowing him to calve his Simmental heifers at 2 ½ years of age on a fairly intensive system. Find out more about how the heifers are managed throughout the breeding cycle in this case study. Read more >>
Calving at 2.5 Years Old: Calf Performance
In our final calving vlog from Berryleys we revisit the first calving heifers we followed during 2022/2023 who are now being weaned. We will discuss Stewart Stronach's management to ensure these heifers returned in calf for a second time and the performance of their first calves.
Calving At Three Years Old
Calving at 3 Years Old: Selecting Heifers
The third of this year's farmer vlogs comes from Billy Graham, Craigdarroch Farm, Sanquar who gives us an overview of his farming system and tells us what he looks for when selecting his heifers for calving at 3 years old. Read more >>
Calving at 3: Bulling Management
We revisit Billy Graham at Craigdarroch Farm to discuss bulling preparation and bull selection for calving at 3 years old. Read more >>
Winter Management for Calving Heifers at 3 years old
We revisit Billy Graham at Craigdarroch Farm as the heifers come down from the hill for scanning. We will discuss the pregnancy scanning results and winter management on the hill for calving heifers at 3 years old. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 3 Years Old: Results and Reflections
We revisit Billy Graham as calving 2023 gets underway on Craigdarroch Farm at Sanquar. We will discuss how calving is going so far and reflect on the management of these heifers, calving at 3 years old throughout this breeding cycle. Read more >>
Calving Heifers at 3 years old Case Study
Billy Graham farms 3500 acres of predominately hill ground at Craigdarroch Farm on the outskirts of Sanquar. Billy calves his spring calving Luing heifers at 3 years of age on a low input extensive system. Find out more about how the heifers are managed throughout the breeding cycle in this case study. Read more >>
Calving Vlogs Summary
In this short video SAC Consultant Robert Ramsay summarises the key findings from the Calving Vlog series following three farmers at Lindertis Farm, Berryleys and Craigdarroch Farm, calving heifers at 2, 2.5 and 3 years. Despite running different systems these farms are very technically efficient and successfully get heifers to rebreed through careful management. Selecting the age at first calving is system dependent with no one-size fits all approach, but calving younger reduces the carbon footprint of cattle.
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