In 2015, Dónal Scully produced 29,348kg more liveweight than the national average for a farm of his size (29ha). He also had the highest output on a per-hectare basis in the whole BETTER farm programme (1,412kg/ha). This helped to propel the farm to number four in the farm system profitability ranking.

All this with a full-time off-farm job to boot – Dónal is the top-performing part-time operator in the programme.

“How do I manage my time? I do 1.5 hours in the morning before work and one hour in the evening on the farm. On top of that, there’s about two to three days’ work to be done that I spread over my days off.”

Dónal Scully’s farm is an example of a streamlined operation that works for him. He calves 50 suckler cows in 10 weeks from the beginning of June. Fifty is his preferred cow number.

“I could go to more cows, but I haven’t got the sheds or the time to be calving any more. I calve in the summer because most will drop outside, unaided. Easy-calving AI sires and stock bulls are used to make sure of this. There are very seldom any calf-health issues as the weather is generally fine. All of this helps to reduce the labour requirement at calving.

The average maternal index value in the herd is a staggering €164. The cow herd is a mixture of half and three quarter-bred cows and continentals.

Dónal produces his bulls for slaughter at under 16 months and sells surplus heifers in-calf, as well as bringing some to beef. Bulls born in 2015 have just finished their build up to ad-lib concentrates. Between February and late-June, bulls achieve daily liveweight gains of almost 1.6kg from grass alone.

Calf-rearing

While 50 suckler cows was Dónal’s maximum, it was agreed during the planning stage that the farm could do more for him in terms of output. There were ‘gaps’ in his time in the spring and winter that could be filled with other farm-related activities, provided the financial return was there.

“I buy in calves to bucket-rear in March. We got 33 this year, split 50:50 between male and female. They’re a mixture of British and Holstein sired by Limousin bulls. They land here at three to four weeks of age. We isolate them from the rest and vaccinate against pneumonia. I find that you’ll use 1-1.5 bags of milk powder per calf, weaning at around 100kg.

“We rear them outdoors around the yard and, once weaned, they’ll get 1kg a head (meal) for the first season. After that, they’re wintered on high-quality (>75% DMD) silage and 1kg of meal before turning out again. From then on, they run with home-bred stock and are treated the same. I’ll bull all of the dairy-bred heifers and keep the best ones for myself. I aim to serve them at 400kg and they’ll be calving at around 28-29 months as they’re spring-born – it’s a nice way of doing it I think.

Bought-in beef

But the output-boosting doesn’t stop there. Dónal buys in suckler-bred stock too to complement his own.

“Last year I bought 25 bulls between December and January, mainly from Sixmilebridge, Kilmallock and Ennis marts. I look for a continental animal, usually an R+/U- type, at 250-300kg. I gave about €740 for them this year, which was dearer than 2015. They land here and are immediately isolated for three weeks in the shed. We try to get them out at the end of February and have them returning to the house in August for finishing. We aim to get them on the grid (under 16 months), like our own. The target carcase weight for any bull on this farm is 400kg.

“Heifers are bought in too. We took in 35 last year – 20 Angus and 15 continentals. They’re finished at 20 months along with any of our own heifers not for bulling or not in-calf.

Taking the leap

“Look, this extra output doesn’t come for nothing. My feed bill now is almost three times what it was. I’m spreading much more fertiliser and more compounds to get the land producing more. Interestingly, my vet bill has gone down since the programme’s inception. But the most crucial thing is that I’m getting a worthwhile return on all of this extra investment.

Dónal’s direct costs – costs directly linked to production – have increased by 41% since the beginning of the BETTER farm programme (€1,018/ha to €1,436/ha). In the same period, his gross margin (system profit) has increased from €461/ha to €1,633/a – a mammoth jump.

In 2015, the farm’s fixed costs per hectare were less than €500.

“Some people are afraid to push their farms on. I knew I was blessed with a good farm, I needed to get more from it. I’m equally lucky that I have two income streams, so the funds were there to invest. I have no problem spending money, once it’s generating a return for me. Extra stock and feed do this.”

To achieve high levels of farm output, Dónal needed to become very efficient. As well as a full-time job, he is involved in the local GAA club where his children play. Relaxation and family time are important too. There are people behind the figures we swoon over – farming is a way of life, but there’s more to life than farming.

“We decided to put a roadway through the farm and make the fields smaller. Most of the paddocks are accessible via the roadway. The fields are between 10-15 acres with permanent fences and temporary reels are used for the rest of the splits. My average paddock size now is about 1.5 acres. Most of my drinkers are movable, though I did have to install more. You just need to be smart with the positioning of them.

“The grazing infrastructure has been by-far the best investment that I’ve made since joining the programme. The stock get used to the paddocks and get used to me handling them. With the roadway, we can use AI with ease when they’re close to the yard. Moving cattle is easy now. A good strong fence and you’re away. I don’t know myself now.”

Grass cornerstone

As is the case on all of our BETTER farms, converting grass to beef has been the driver of success on the farm. Dónal walks the farm weekly and removes surplus paddocks where needs be. As of this week there are almost 200 unplanned bales saved in the yard. Where calves are suckling cows indoors, top-quality silage is a must and these bales will undoubtedly have digestibility values in the upper 70s when tested. He begins closing paddocks around the yard from the 15 October and aims to get young and bought-in stock out in late February. Sticking to his autumn rotation planner means the spring grass is there for these animals. If the weather is marginal when the time comes to let cows out, he has the option of weaning calves and keeping cows inside until things improve.

Adviser comment

Three things stand out on this farm, the level of labour efficiency, the quantity of grass utilised and the level of output. Working off farm full-time means top quality infrastructure is required. A roadway costing €4,000 was installed through the farm and all paddocks are serviced from this roadway. Dónal has consistently been one of the top performers in terms of grass grown, achieving up to 14t DM/ha in good growing years. Output is the third spoke in the wheel. The general target to hit gross margins in excess of €1,200/ha is 1,000kg/LW/ha. Donal has hit highs of over 1,400kg/LW/ha.