In-calf heifers remain a worry
FARMERS who sell weanling heifers that are in-calf could end up facing bills of up to €800 in compensation, farm leaders and a mart manager have warned this week.
The problem of young weanling heifers being bulled ‘accidentally’ continues to be a major problem for suckler farmers resulting in a nasty financial shock often four to five months after the sale.
On top of that, the farmers could also be facing into a difficult calving situation and a large veterinary bill with many of the animals requiring an operation to ‘take out’ the calf.
Co. Galway IFA Chairman, Pat Murphy, said that a number of mart managers had been onto him about an ongoing problem with weanling heifers proving to be in-calf.
“If farmers are in any doubt about their weanling heifers, they should isolate them from any bulls or bull weanlings in their herd for a month or so, and then get them scanned.
“The scanning will only cost them around a ‘fiver’ but it would certainly be money well spent – if the heifer is clear then the farmer has peace of mind when he sells and if she’s in-calf, he has detected the problem at an early stage,” said Pat Murphy.
He said that some weanling heifers, who were suckling, on good grass and being fed meal, tended to come in season at a young age and needed to be isolated from male animals, before they got to about the three months stage.
“This is something that can happen without the farmer realising it. It really is good practice to isolate the female weanlings from any male animals at an early stage,” said Pat Murphy.
Loughrea Mart Manager, Jimmy Cooney, told the Farming Tribune that the problem with weanling heifers proving to be in-calf hadn’t ‘gone away’ and continued to be a major headache for suckler farmers.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.