“It has taken two full-time jobs to keep the farm going here."

In 2016, Shane calved 40 suckler cows, producing weanlings for sale. However, in the same year there were calvings in no less than 10 months of the year on the farm, animal performance was poor and a gross margin of just €124/ha (not including subsidy) was achieved across his 40ha holding. This meant that the farm recorded a loss when overheads were accounted for.

Both Shane and his wife Niamh work full-time and he had in recent years become caught in a catch-22 situation. Having spent €250,000 on 42 acres at the turn of the decade, there was around €14,000 of annual repayments to come out of the farm. However, his full-time work meant he had limited time to put into the farm. And, as the farm was not making any real profit, he couldn’t afford to reduce his off-farm work commitments even slightly.

“I had seen what the BETTER farm programme had done for other farmers in the county like Donal Scully and Donie Ahern and my local adviser Pat Blackwell put me forward to join BETTER farm phase 3 last summer,” Shane said.

To Shane’s credit, he got to work even before meeting with the BETTER farm team, splitting the 70 acres around his home yard into 17 permanent divisions, all of which are split again with temporary reels for grazing. He also managed paddocks on his outfarm in such a way that there are now 15 divisions.

This meant Shane was ahead of the curve when beginning his stint in the programme in early 2017. His two key areas to address related to soil fertility and stock. The first involved a straightforward nutrient management plan. The second would be much more complicated.

Stock

Shane needed more stock on the farm. His 2016 stocking rate of 1.45LU/ha was low. Profit is driven primarily by output which, in turn, is largely influenced by stocking rate. More heads were needed, but this wouldn’t be simple. As with many Irish drystock farms, cash was an issue. Given that the farm was generating no profit, Shane needed to look elsewhere.

In order to get decent numbers on the ground relatively cheaply, dairy-bred calves were deemed the best option. Shane took €10,000 from his savings and purchased 27 five-week-old Angus and Hereford-cross calves. They came semi-reared, with six bags of milk replacer enough to complete the job. Post-weaning, they moved from a calf starter ration to a simpler, cheaper beef mix and have been on 1kg daily since at grass. The have grown at a rate of 0.65kg daily since birth and currently weigh 145kg, which is slightly behind target.

“Hindsight is great, but next year I’ll try to buy a more uniform group, ideally direct from farm where I can see the breeding stock. It’s very hard to judge young calves in a mart,” Shane said.

As well as stock numbers, Shane is in the midst of addressing stock performance. Kilogrammes out the gate are important in any beef system and Shane’s calves are not getting enough weight on before they’re sold. His 40 2017 calves are growing at a rate of 1kg daily on average. The top suckler farms in the country are achieving pre-weaning growth of 1.3kg daily in bulls and 1.2kg in heifers. If Shane were to achieve an average of 1.25kg daily with his 40-strong calf-crop, after nine months he would have the equivalent of eight and a half extra calves based on weight.

What next for Shane

Shane will scan his suckler herd in the coming weeks and cull any empty cows. In an effort to reel in his calving spread, his stock bull went out in mid-April of this year and came in at the end of July. He expects to have empty cows and is ready to replace them. He has secured an overdraft and €10,000 of a stocking loan and will look to buy good-quality cows and heifers in-calf, from credible sources.

With the help of his BETTER farm adviser Alan Dillon, Shane will design and implement an autumn rotation planner. He will aim to close 15% of his grazing ground weekly from early-October. He will identify which fields he needs for grazing with young calves and cows early on in the spring and close these first. Potential slurry fields will be closed last and a good roadway system on his home block gives him options here. The fact that he is low-stocked means that he may have to go into lighter covers first to ensure that he meets his target of 60% closed by early-November. A successful autumn rotation plan will ensure there is enough grass in the spring to get grazing early. While parts of Shane’s farm can be wet, the dairy-bred calves or his own heifer yearlings will be perfect for getting out early to take advantage of high-quality spring swards. Shane is planning to join a local dairy discussion group to hone his grassland management skills.

Shane’s target will be to achieve a gross margin in the region of €900/ha (not including subsidy) from a well-run weanling system. He currently works around 20 hours a week on the farm, mostly at the weekend and believes that his return per hour worked will be worthwhile at this figure.

Adviser comment

Alan Dillon

Shane might have begun as one of the lowest farmers in the programme in terms of profitability but he also has the potential to make the biggest gains. His recent addition of a roadway and extra paddocks and water troughs has meant that grassland management is much easier. Without much extra fertiliser and by using a rotational grazing system, Shane has grown more grass than ever. A substantial amount will need to be invested in soil fertility on lowland and the outfarm, which are all index 1. Stock quality will have to be addressed given that weight gain is below target. Once these areas are addressed, Shane will be able to move on to the next stage of his plan which involves taking stock on to finish. The farm is capable of achieving in the region of €800-€900/ha gross margin once the system is fully up and running.