Farmer Focus: Eight cows lost to slurry gases
© Kathryn Mary Photography We lost eight cows recently when pumping slurry. So I’d like to remind people of the dangers of hydrogen sulphide.
The cows were affected immediately: the pump was turned on and down they went.
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We have fitted a slurry gas monitor to prevent a repeat. At a cost of £180, it’s nothing compared with losing cows.
When it happened, I instinctively ran towards the shed, but a member of staff stopped me. I’m glad they did – even just getting close gave me a thumping headache for a couple of days.
While on the subject of gases, I should reflect on the COP26 conference in Glasgow. I thought it was barmy that some delegates flew by plane from Prestwick airport to Glasgow for the conference.
See also: Top tips for how to take on dangerous job of mixing slurry
They had about 20 miles to travel – and they opted for a plane? It strikes me as a little hypocritical if these people are going to tell me how to farm, but there you go.
This autumn sees us calve our first home-bred replacement heifers.
I’m currently enjoying a family holiday in Cumbria. The calving has started a little early (I timed our holiday to be before the calving date) but reports from the farm are: “So far so good.”
I’ve been a bit disappointed with the growth rates of our most recent batch of heifer replacements. We had a nice summer in Ayrshire this year, so didn’t bother with 1kg a head a day of meal and left them to graze.
They were 30kg lighter on average than last year at housing, with most weighing 230-250kg. They’re on blend and wholecrop silage, so they should catch up.
Our first- and second-cut silage has analysed well at about 12.2 metabolisable energy, 30% dry matter and 78 D-value. The only problem is that after a dry summer we might be struggling to find enough of it.
I’ve not bought any fertiliser yet, and it’s strange to think I’m disappointed I didn’t buy any at £400/t. Last I heard it was £580/t. I hope a 2,000t load of digestate booked for the spring is going to cover some of our nitrogen requirements.
One positive is a welcome milk price increase from Grahams. Hopefully, the price continues rising to cover higher costs.