Stand 1 Farm plan and financial performance
The farm was set up in 2017 to demonstrate best practice within the farm gate and the potential benefits of a mixed grazing farm with cattle and sheep. The system comprises 100 cows, selling male progeny as under 16-month bulls and female progeny as replacement heifers. The farm is performing well from an output point stocked at 2.39 LU/ha, producing 1,047kg/ha of liveweight and 438kg/LU per livestock unit. This delivered a gross margin of €699/ha in 2018 when ANC, BDGP and ewe payments were included. Table 1 outlines the 2018 performance compared with the BETTER farm profit analysis.
2018 was an extremely difficult year in terms of costs and variable costs were a lot higher because of storm Emma and drought conditions during the year. These two weather episodes cost the farm in the region of €34,000 when all costs are included. Table 2 outlines two scenarios relating to the financial performance. The bottom-line figure for Tullamore Farm for 2018 was -€71,938. This was when the full land charge of €29,400, the full labour charge of €45,146 and full bank interest of €21,350 were taken into account. A more typical scenario is outlined in scenario one where 20% of the land is rented, 20% of the money borrowed and there is a casual labour bill of €12,000. This leaves the bottom line at €25,808. Scenario two looks at the finances without the exceptional costs of weather-related issues in 2018 and this increases the bottom line to €59,558. After net margin, it is up to each individual to take off what they think for land, labour and bank interest. There were some questions around which enterprise was leaving the highest margin. The sheep system outperformed cattle in 2018 leaving a net margin of €526/ha before land, labour and interest charges were taken off. The cattle enterprise achieved a net margin of €260/ha. Current plans on the farm include increasing the ewe flock to between 250 and 300 and maintaining cow numbers at 100.
Stand 2 Breeding and fertility
Matthew Halpin and Chris Daly gave an overview of the breeding plan on the farm and why some breeding decisions were made. The typical cow on Tullamore Farm is a Limousin, second-cross from the dairy herd. She has a five-star milk value but only a two-star carcase weight value.
Beef specialist Matthew Halpin highlighted a potential issue: “We are doing an under 16-month bull system, yet our cow only has two stars for carcase – how does that work? We can’t change the cow type, and nor do we want to because she is so functional. But what we can do is use the sires to improve the genetic merit of the calves.”
Chris Daly explained the role of the active bull list and what to look for in the indices. “Of course, you need to look at the overall euro index value first. But if you want to improve genetics, you need to look at the sub traits. Let’s say we want to improve carcase. We always choose a sire with a higher carcase value (kg) than the dam. If the cow is +10kg but the bull is +30kg, parent averaging dictates the calf will be +20kg. It’s the same for any trait.”
It was promised at the open day that the slaughter performance of lambs drafted last week would be published this week. There was surprise when it was mentioned that there were a small number of lambs drafted for slaughter last Thursday at an average weight of 39kg to 40kg. These lambs were smaller-framed but well-conformed and achieved an average kill-out of 48% to 50%.
Darren Carty addresses the crowd at the Tullamore Farm open day. \ Philip Doyle
Manager Shaun Diver pays close attention to both the liveweight and fat cover when drafting with significant penalties on fat score 4 lambs. The average weight of the batch of 31 lambs drafted was 42.1kg and while the kill-out percentage was 0.5% less than the previous draft it was still positive at 47.8% This delivered an average carcase weight of 20.06kg (24 R grades, seven U grades and all fat score 3) and an average sale price of €100.11. Lamb performance is being helped by rotational grazing and the fact swards are less than two to three years old. Keeping lambs moving is also critical in a high stocking rate system where there is pressure to build grass supplies from now on.
Stand 4 Grassland management
This station talked about growing, managing and utilising grass. Having soil fertility right is key to growth and lime/soil pH is the most critical element to get right initially. The presence of a soil pit helped explain what one might learn from a hole in the ground and how this might be used to guide your farming system.
One of the most common questions asked how to get earthworms back into land. The simple answer is to feed them with organic matter. Slurry may not be enough where good grass utilisation is taking more grass off with less going back to feed the “stock” underground.
The other common question asked is the best method to reseed. The first thing to assess is why reseeding is necessary. What caused the sward to fail? This answer should guide whether one might min-till or plough. Soils need to be open so they can breathe and compacted layers beneath a shallow reseed will cause failure once again. There should be no fear about burying fertility with a plough – roots only grow down and we want roots working deeper during dry spells.
Stand 5 Teagasc climate change
Pearse Kelly and Donal O’Brien from Teagasc outlined how farmers can make an impact in terms of climate change. Agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with the majority of these gases coming from methane or belching cows. Pearse outlined that Irish beef farms have the fifth lowest GHG emmisions per kg of beef produced but that there are still improvements that can be made at farm level in terms of reducing emissions. Low-emission slurry spreading and using protected urea are some of the ways that farms can reduce emissions. Pearse outlined that improving grass utilisation on a 40ha farm could reduce emissions by 3.3% and increase profit by €1,480. Using protected urea could save €160 and reduce emissions by 10.1%.
Irish Farmers Journal vet Tommy Heffernan and Tullamore Farm vet Donal Lynch looked at the health plan on Tullamore Farm along with some of the issues that have been encountered since the farm was set up. Sheep farmers made up the bulk of the questions at the animal health stand. There were big concerns about worm resistance in flocks and what products could be used. There was also a discussion around minerals on several occasions when we mentioned our challenges. Again, the conversations moved to what the best mineral is, while lameness discussions focused heavily on the best shot or antibiotic injection. Tommy explained that everyone wants the easy solution, preferably in a bottle if we can get it. Beef and sheep farming is rapidly changing and we have new challenges ahead. Tommy said: “I spoke to several farmers who had issues this spring. With a lot of these problems we can start planning ahead for next spring. We discussed vaccinating cows for scour and, in the case of sheep, focusing on colostrum and hygiene for watery mouth in lambs.”
Top quotes
In an under 24-month calving system, weight gain on heifer calves is just as important as on bull calves. For anyone looking at their BEEP reports, bull calves should be doing 1.25kg/day, heifers 1.1kg
– Matthew Halpin
Under 5% is a good benchmark for calving difficulty on maiden heifers but you need to consider heifer type. A plainer, rangy heifer can go up to 4% or 5%. Continentals with shape would be better with just 2% to 3%
– Chris Daly
The industry must speed up the adoption of preventative medicine on farms and move away from the treatment mindset
– Tommy Heffernan
Let there be no illusion about suckler systems. Nowhere in the world can a suckler system survive without access to one of three things – cheap land, hormone administration or support payments. The only option for Ireland would be extra support
– Justin McCarthy
Soil is not just about fertility. It is about soil health. Soil is really a three-legged stool; chemical (fertility), physical (texture and structure) and biological (soil must contain billions of organisms). And all three must work together for both grass growth and animal health
– Andy Doyle
Of all the threats to Tullamore Farm – Brexit, Mercusor and CAP reform – the move by processors away from bull beef is probably the biggest threat
– Adam Woods
Stand 1 Farm plan and financial performance
The farm was set up in 2017 to demonstrate best practice within the farm gate and the potential benefits of a mixed grazing farm with cattle and sheep. The system comprises 100 cows, selling male progeny as under 16-month bulls and female progeny as replacement heifers. The farm is performing well from an output point stocked at 2.39 LU/ha, producing 1,047kg/ha of liveweight and 438kg/LU per livestock unit. This delivered a gross margin of €699/ha in 2018 when ANC, BDGP and ewe payments were included. Table 1 outlines the 2018 performance compared with the BETTER farm profit analysis.
2018 was an extremely difficult year in terms of costs and variable costs were a lot higher because of storm Emma and drought conditions during the year. These two weather episodes cost the farm in the region of €34,000 when all costs are included. Table 2 outlines two scenarios relating to the financial performance. The bottom-line figure for Tullamore Farm for 2018 was -€71,938. This was when the full land charge of €29,400, the full labour charge of €45,146 and full bank interest of €21,350 were taken into account. A more typical scenario is outlined in scenario one where 20% of the land is rented, 20% of the money borrowed and there is a casual labour bill of €12,000. This leaves the bottom line at €25,808. Scenario two looks at the finances without the exceptional costs of weather-related issues in 2018 and this increases the bottom line to €59,558. After net margin, it is up to each individual to take off what they think for land, labour and bank interest. There were some questions around which enterprise was leaving the highest margin. The sheep system outperformed cattle in 2018 leaving a net margin of €526/ha before land, labour and interest charges were taken off. The cattle enterprise achieved a net margin of €260/ha. Current plans on the farm include increasing the ewe flock to between 250 and 300 and maintaining cow numbers at 100.
Stand 2 Breeding and fertility
Matthew Halpin and Chris Daly gave an overview of the breeding plan on the farm and why some breeding decisions were made. The typical cow on Tullamore Farm is a Limousin, second-cross from the dairy herd. She has a five-star milk value but only a two-star carcase weight value.
Beef specialist Matthew Halpin highlighted a potential issue: “We are doing an under 16-month bull system, yet our cow only has two stars for carcase – how does that work? We can’t change the cow type, and nor do we want to because she is so functional. But what we can do is use the sires to improve the genetic merit of the calves.”
Chris Daly explained the role of the active bull list and what to look for in the indices. “Of course, you need to look at the overall euro index value first. But if you want to improve genetics, you need to look at the sub traits. Let’s say we want to improve carcase. We always choose a sire with a higher carcase value (kg) than the dam. If the cow is +10kg but the bull is +30kg, parent averaging dictates the calf will be +20kg. It’s the same for any trait.”
It was promised at the open day that the slaughter performance of lambs drafted last week would be published this week. There was surprise when it was mentioned that there were a small number of lambs drafted for slaughter last Thursday at an average weight of 39kg to 40kg. These lambs were smaller-framed but well-conformed and achieved an average kill-out of 48% to 50%.
Darren Carty addresses the crowd at the Tullamore Farm open day. \ Philip Doyle
Manager Shaun Diver pays close attention to both the liveweight and fat cover when drafting with significant penalties on fat score 4 lambs. The average weight of the batch of 31 lambs drafted was 42.1kg and while the kill-out percentage was 0.5% less than the previous draft it was still positive at 47.8% This delivered an average carcase weight of 20.06kg (24 R grades, seven U grades and all fat score 3) and an average sale price of €100.11. Lamb performance is being helped by rotational grazing and the fact swards are less than two to three years old. Keeping lambs moving is also critical in a high stocking rate system where there is pressure to build grass supplies from now on.
Stand 4 Grassland management
This station talked about growing, managing and utilising grass. Having soil fertility right is key to growth and lime/soil pH is the most critical element to get right initially. The presence of a soil pit helped explain what one might learn from a hole in the ground and how this might be used to guide your farming system.
One of the most common questions asked how to get earthworms back into land. The simple answer is to feed them with organic matter. Slurry may not be enough where good grass utilisation is taking more grass off with less going back to feed the “stock” underground.
The other common question asked is the best method to reseed. The first thing to assess is why reseeding is necessary. What caused the sward to fail? This answer should guide whether one might min-till or plough. Soils need to be open so they can breathe and compacted layers beneath a shallow reseed will cause failure once again. There should be no fear about burying fertility with a plough – roots only grow down and we want roots working deeper during dry spells.
Stand 5 Teagasc climate change
Pearse Kelly and Donal O’Brien from Teagasc outlined how farmers can make an impact in terms of climate change. Agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with the majority of these gases coming from methane or belching cows. Pearse outlined that Irish beef farms have the fifth lowest GHG emmisions per kg of beef produced but that there are still improvements that can be made at farm level in terms of reducing emissions. Low-emission slurry spreading and using protected urea are some of the ways that farms can reduce emissions. Pearse outlined that improving grass utilisation on a 40ha farm could reduce emissions by 3.3% and increase profit by €1,480. Using protected urea could save €160 and reduce emissions by 10.1%.
Irish Farmers Journal vet Tommy Heffernan and Tullamore Farm vet Donal Lynch looked at the health plan on Tullamore Farm along with some of the issues that have been encountered since the farm was set up. Sheep farmers made up the bulk of the questions at the animal health stand. There were big concerns about worm resistance in flocks and what products could be used. There was also a discussion around minerals on several occasions when we mentioned our challenges. Again, the conversations moved to what the best mineral is, while lameness discussions focused heavily on the best shot or antibiotic injection. Tommy explained that everyone wants the easy solution, preferably in a bottle if we can get it. Beef and sheep farming is rapidly changing and we have new challenges ahead. Tommy said: “I spoke to several farmers who had issues this spring. With a lot of these problems we can start planning ahead for next spring. We discussed vaccinating cows for scour and, in the case of sheep, focusing on colostrum and hygiene for watery mouth in lambs.”
Top quotes
In an under 24-month calving system, weight gain on heifer calves is just as important as on bull calves. For anyone looking at their BEEP reports, bull calves should be doing 1.25kg/day, heifers 1.1kg
– Matthew Halpin
Under 5% is a good benchmark for calving difficulty on maiden heifers but you need to consider heifer type. A plainer, rangy heifer can go up to 4% or 5%. Continentals with shape would be better with just 2% to 3%
– Chris Daly
The industry must speed up the adoption of preventative medicine on farms and move away from the treatment mindset
– Tommy Heffernan
Let there be no illusion about suckler systems. Nowhere in the world can a suckler system survive without access to one of three things – cheap land, hormone administration or support payments. The only option for Ireland would be extra support
– Justin McCarthy
Soil is not just about fertility. It is about soil health. Soil is really a three-legged stool; chemical (fertility), physical (texture and structure) and biological (soil must contain billions of organisms). And all three must work together for both grass growth and animal health
– Andy Doyle
Of all the threats to Tullamore Farm – Brexit, Mercusor and CAP reform – the move by processors away from bull beef is probably the biggest threat
– Adam Woods
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