There will be eight villages which will include BETTER Farm Beef Programme; Feed to Meat; Improving Animal Health; Beef Systems – Targets and Planning; Breeding – Fertility and Reproduction; Sustainable Farm Environment; Grassland; and Health and Safety. The village format allows beef farmers to choose areas that they feel are most important to them and permits one-to-one contact with Teagasc researchers/advisers and stakeholders.

Many of the villages will offer practical examples of how technologies can be implemented on beef farms. Likewise they will include workshops where small groups can discuss various technologies with experts in the relevant area.

BETTER farm beef programme

The BETTER farm beef village will demonstrate the achievements of Phase 2 of the programme over the past four years. The various stands in the village will show how improvements in grassland management, herd health, breeding and financial planning were obtained.

These improvements have resulted in an increase of 53% in gross margin on the farms that participated in the BETTER farm programme, which equates to an increase of over €18,600 per farm. Teagasc and Irish Farmers Journal staff, and farmers that participated in the programme, will be present at the stands to take questions on various topics relating to the programme.

At 12.30pm, a forum titled “My farming future post BETTER farm programme” will take place in the marquee in the BETTER farm village. This will include four participants from the programme – Mike Dillane, Niall Patterson, James Madigan and David Walsh. This forum will allow beef farmers attending the Open Day to discuss with the BETTER beef farmers the developments in their farm over the course of the programme. There will also be a fodder demonstration, videos from the BETTER farm beef programme and an opportunity to discuss one-to-one with farmers who participated in the programme.

Feed to Meat

Feed provision accounts for over 75% of direct costs of beef production. Due to the considerably lower comparative cost of grazed grass as a feedstuff, beef production systems should aim to increase animal output from pasture. Nevertheless, primary feed costs on beef farms relate to indoor (winter) feeding and, especially, feeding of finishing cattle.

This means that even small improvements in feed (cost) efficiency at these times has a relatively large influence on farm profitability. Sustainable beef production systems therefore need to be based around; feed-efficient cattle (genetics, management and feeding practices), optimising the contribution of grazed grass to the lifetime intake of feed, providing silage and concentrate efficiently and at as low a cost as feasible and, producing beef to specific market specifications.

To address this, the Feed to Meat village will feature stands outlining technologies relating to: cost-effective grass silage production; concentrate supplementation and feed ingredient types; formulating beef cattle rations; feeding options for suckler-bred male cattle; and “on-farm” influences (cattle diet, breed, gender and age at slaughter) on beef quality for the consumer. Additionally, this village will feature stands summarising current beef research studies pertaining to environmentally sustainable, feed-efficient production of meat.

Improving Animal Health

The overall theme of the Improving Animal Health village is to promote “achieving a healthy herd” through optimal herd health planning among farmers, vets and advisers. Managing a disease outbreak in a herd is significantly more costly and labour-intensive than implementing a preventative herd health plan.

It is evident that where there are underlying health issues on a farm, animal performance suffers, output is reduced and costs will increase. Accordingly, there is plenty of incentive to be proactive and plan a health strategy for your farm in association with your vet. Participation in a professional herd health plan programme (which focuses on animal health, animal welfare, public health and food safety) appears warranted.

Monitoring, eradication and control of the main cattle diseases is crucial with respect to optimal disease resistance and a less challenged immune system. As a result, fewer anti-microbial and anti-parasitic products will need to be used. At BEEF 2016, there will be a number of stands in the Improving Animal Health village with experts from Veterinary Ireland, Animal Health Ireland (AHI), Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) (Backweston and Regional) Veterinary labs, and Teagasc available to discuss herd-health and related topics on a one-to-one basis.

Beef Systems: targets and planning

This village includes information from Teagasc beef research and demonstration farms and current levels of performance achieved on Irish farms. The research demonstration systems include the Derrypatrick and Newford herds. These herds demonstrate innovations in beef production to improve profitability.

The Derrypatrick study also incorporates a comparison of late- and early-maturing terminal sire breeds. For dairy beef production, Teagasc has evaluated alternative systems for producing dairy bulls and steers and, early-maturing breed steers and heifers. Highest margins can be achieved by finishing at pasture either at the end of the second grazing season or during the third grazing season. Commercially, a high proportion of beef farms are engaged in cattle production combined with a range of other on- and off-farm activities. Organic beef systems can be profitable with the support of premium prices of +15 to +20%. Collaborative farming options can also help to improve profitability and include structures such as farm partnerships and contract rearing.

Breeding: fertility and reproduction

The advent of genomic technologies to assist cattle breeding, together with the recently launched Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), provides a new dawn for the accurate identification, selection and breeding of more fertile and profitable beef cattle in Ireland. Current Teagasc research, aimed at using these technologies to better understand the biology behind both male and female fertility traits, as well as the key principles of the BDGP scheme, will be outlined within the Breeding village at the BEEF 2016 event.

In addition, information on the performance of the Maternal Herd at Grange, aimed at validating the ICBF Replacement Index, will be provided. A large ongoing Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine-funded research programme, co-ordinated by Teagasc, is examining a number of issues fundamental to the reproductive efficiency of suckler cow herds. These include the potential of timed AI regimens to facilitate greater and more labour efficient AI usage; management strategies to enable replacement heifers to calve at two years of age and the role of infectious diseases and trace elements in herd fertility. The key findings of this research will be outlined and attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the reproductive management of their herd with Teagasc researchers and specialists

Sustainable farm environment

The sustainable and green image of Irish agricultural products is fundamental to differentiating our agricultural exports, including beef, from our competitors’ products. As a result, the sustainability of our production systems impacts on the price farmers receive for produce. Visitors to this village can learn about cost-effective options to enhance the environmental sustainability of their farms.

Information on land drainage options will be available, along with the opportunity to see, some soil profiles – that supports our grass production – with soil pits present at the soil quality and drainage stands. There will be information on soil fertility, slurry and fertiliser N application options, and ways to improve biodiversity on your farm for example.

Information will be available on GLAS and TAMS II options to support getting sustainability measures on to your farm. Information on the online nutrient management planning (NMP) tool, with map-based output to help you get the most from your soils, will be available. Additionally, visitors can learn about water quality and the carbon navigator which are key measures of sustainability. Also, find out about sprayer certification requirements under the sustainable use of pesticides directive and where to have your hazardous waste collected.

Health and safety village: keep yourself safe on beef farms

Farming is one of the most dangerous work sectors in Ireland. Typically, about a third of all workplace deaths in Ireland occur in the agriculture sector. In 2014, 30 farm deaths occurred, over 50% of all workplace deaths. In 2015, 18 farm deaths occurred in Ireland, 32% of all workplace deaths.

This year, to 31 May, five farm deaths have occurred, with four of these involving tractors and machinery. Childhood deaths are particularly tragic and in recent years there has been a significant increase in the occurrence of these fatalities. Farm accidents causing serious injury occur at the high level of approximately 2,500 per year. These can lead to permanent disability and interfere with a person’s capacity to farm effectively.

Farm accident victim Peter Gohery will be present at BEEF 2016 to outline the consequences of an accident he had involving a PTO. Key aspects of farm safety will be highlighted in this village. The Health and Safety exhibition will have an enhanced focus covering all the main risk areas on farms, from livestock, machines, slurry gases, electricity, etc, and will provide advice on how to manage the dangers effectively. John McNamara and Francis Collier from Teagasc, and John Kennedy and Ronan Kilgallon from the Health and Safety Authority, will be available all day to advise beef farmers on how best to make their farm a safe place to work. Also present on the day will be Marese Darmery and Aoife Osborne from the Irish Heath Foundation, Brian and Norma Rohan from Embrace Farm Safety, Maura Canning from IFA Family Farm, and Arthur Byrne from the ESB.

Grassland

The theme of the Grassland village is “Achieving higher animal performance from pasture”. Grassland is the most important crop in Ireland and it will play an increasingly significant role in the development of efficient beef production systems. The potential gains in annual grass production at farm level by correcting soil fertility deficits, will be explained. For example, soil P Index 1 equates to a loss of in excess of 1.5t grass DM/ha per year, which is worth €300/ha per year.

The Pasture Profit Index, which ranks grass cultivars on their potential profitability at farm level, will also be discussed. The advantages at farm level to using PasureBase Ireland as a tool to assist in grazing management will be displayed. The Grass Hopper, a new grassland management tool to electronically measure grass height linked to GPS, will be demonstrated. Results from recent grazing experiments showing the significant benefits to incorporating white-clover into pasture will be available.

Read more

To read the full Beef 2016 Focus supplement click here.