One of the main themes from this year’s Irish Grassland Association summer tour, was the importance of getting the home farm humming before looking at taking on a lease.

That means optimising the stocking rate on the existing block of land. Many farmers often do not see the potential that exists within the boundary ditch.

Making improvements to soil fertility, drainage, grass varieties and grazing infrastructure will allow more grass to be grown and eaten, thereby allowing more stock to be carried.

The key message from the tour was taking on a lease should only be considered once all the potential in the home farm has been used up.

Why pay for a lease when you can get more out of what you have?

Of course, it often happens that a lease comes up unexpectedly. This happened to the Kirwan family. Joe didn’t have a clear plan of action for the first year after taking on the lease and, as he says himself, he would have had more money if he didn’t take on the land.

Now, three years in, there is a clear plan in place, cow numbers have nearly trebled and the farm is flying it.

With the investments being made in leased land, make sure the term of the lease is long enough to pay back the investment and get a decent return at the same time.

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