Mike joined the programme under phase two in 2012 and has made outstanding progress in two years. He has worked closely with programme adviser Alan Dillon and his local adviser Oliver McGrath to improve the output from his suckler herd and 59ha grassland farm.

His suckler herd has increased from 70 to 90 cows during the period on the same land block. The herd is predominantly autumn-calving but the drawn-out calving spread meant cows were running into early spring.

Tightening the calving period has been one area that has been addressed, with Mike moving to get all cows calved in a 12-week period from September to December within the next few years. Although autumn calving carries higher costs from winter feeding of cows and provision of creep areas, having all cows calved in 12 weeks rather than six months will ease management and provide a considerable cost saving.

The herd is 100% bred to AI, which suits the autumn-calving system as cows are indoors for breeding. The choice of sires and quality of calves produced, most of which are export-quality, more than compensates for the additional feed costs in winter.

Cows are good, functional R-grade animals consisting of Limousin, Blonde, Simmental and Blue crossbred cows.

Calving interval is 381 days at present, although this has increased from the previous year due to cows being purchased and spring calvers being culled.

Mike achieved 0% mortality at birth over the past two years, with only 1.2% mortality at 28 days. Cows possess plenty of milk, as highlighted by weight for age in progeny. Through AI, Mike selects mainly Blue and Charolais sires that will breed export-eligible calves and uses Limousin and Simmental sires to breed heifers.

Selling weanlings

As with many suckler herds in Kerry, the traditional system was to sell weanlings. The best weanlings would be sold through local marts. Calves would be purchased for feedlots or live export, as calf quality is exceptional.

Autumn bull weanlings currently weigh 418kg and have gained 1.4kg/day of daily liveweight gain since turnout from grass. Heifers weigh 370kg and have gained 1.23kg/day in the same period.

Early spring bulls weigh 286kg and have gained 1.36kg/day since turnout, while early spring heifers weigh 280kg and have gained 1.23kg/day since turnout.

This year, there has been greater activity from live exporters looking to source cattle directly off farm.

After working through a few potential sale budgets, Mike has decided to sell his export-quality weanlings live at €2.80 to €3.00/kg.

Considering current beef prices, neither the local mart trade or taking these cattle through to finish can compete with this price. Stock which do not make the export grade will be taken through to finish as under 16-month bulls out of the shed or 20-month-old heifers off grass.

Finishing

Weanling systems in the programme have the lowest gross margin per hectare at €433/ha on last year’s profit monitor results. Bull finishing systems averaged €795/ha.

Last autumn, Mike planned to sell his cattle live in the marts but did not receive an adequate price to reflect the weight and type of animal being sold. The cattle were brought home.

After doing out a finishing budget with Alan Dillon, Mike decided to finish his bulls and heifers out of the shed.

This was his first time finishing animals on the farm and because of the quality of cattle, they performed exceptionally well once pushed on a high concentrate diet.

Bulls were finished on 10kg/meal during the final stage of finishing. High quality 72 DMD silage was also offered in the diet.

Bulls were gaining 1.7kg/day on average during the finishing period. Typical feed costs were €2.60/head for meal (€260/t) and 5kg of silage cost a further 12c/head. Cost per kilogramme of liveweight gain was €1.60/day.

At 60% kill-out, the bulls would have been gaining 1kg/day of actual carcase weight, which meant they were more than covering their feed and housing costs this winter.

The bulls averaged 386kg deadweight and reached U grade. As they were paid on the grid, they qualified for the QA bonus, bringing the bulls into an average of €1660.

Heifers were also carried over winter but put back to grass with the intention of finishing off grass this summer.

Similar to the bulls, the heifers were only worth €650 last autumn in the live ring. Wintering on silage and 2kg/day of meal had a daily feed cost of €1.06/day.

Finishing the 600kg heifers off grass should result in a carcase weight close to 330kg. At current prices, these animals will be selling in excess of €1,300/head.

Profit monitor

Carrying the cattle for longer on the farm has allowed Mike to add more weight to cattle from a grass-based system.

This has increased the value of cattle and is reflected in last year’s profit monitor. In 2013, output was €1,265 per hectare. Variable costs were €875 and down almost 50% on 2012.

Gross margin in 2013 was €390 per hectare, a rise of €400 on the previous year. These figures do not include the increased sale value of the young bulls finished this spring, but do include a lot of the feeding costs associated with them.

Drainage

Mike’s farm is a mix of land type, with 28 acres of a 50-acre outfarm being extremely heavy in nature. It is a heavy gley soil with a peaty topsoil that has poor drainage qualities.

This land block produced one cut of silage in 2012 and no grazing as it was waterlogged for much of the year.

In March 2013, a major drainage programme was started. The land was drained and reseeded by June with silage harvested in August. Weanlings grazed the land until December.

In 2014, 50% of it has produced two cuts of silage and a grazing, while the rest has been grazed twice and produced a 13t crop of top-quality silage in May.

The project cost €64,850 for the complete works and is being costed over 15 years. While it is a massive investment, Mike could not carry his current suckler herd without this land.

Trying to rent 28 acres in the locality was impossible and at €200/acre in land rent, the annual conacre bill would be €5,040. Costed over 15 years, the annual repayment for the drainage work is €4,323 or €154/acre, which is considerably cheaper than renting land.

Also, factoring in that his own ground is now more productive and grazing 30 cows and calves makes the drainage job even more justifiable. There is no incentive to improve rented land unless it is secured on a long-term lease.

The success of the drainage worked was summed up by Mike this spring.

“In 30 years of farming, I have never had all of my stock out at grass by the end of April. This is the first year I have managed to achieve this.”