When Brian joined the programme in 2012, he was lambing just over 470 ewes and reared 787 lambs. Five years on, he now lambs 822 ewes and has reared 1,263 lambs.

His gross margin has also increased to €869/ha, with the aim of reaching €1000/ha this year.

In order to achieve this, Brian focused on three main areas – his breeding policy, grassland management and flock management.

Breeding policy

In order to minimise incidents of disease risk, Brian has moved to a closed flock and now breeds all his own replacements.

However, when selecting ewe lambs to enter the breeding flock, Brian implements a clear set of criteria in order to develop the type of flock he wants – a prolific flock with high genetic merit.

Brian mates ewe lambs at six months of age, but only if they are 45kg at the time of breeding. These lambs must come from high genetic merit sires as well as prolific dams.

They will be bred to Charollais, Vendéen and Ile de France rams, as no progeny will be kept for replacements.

He has focused on developing a maternal/terminal reciprocal cross in his mature ewe flock. Texel ewes will be crossed with Belclare rams, while Belclare ewes are crossed with Texel rams.

Brian is also part of Sheep Ireland’s central progeny test (CPT), which meant this year breeding 600 of his ewes through AI to 18 different rams from around the country.

The aim of this is to increase the level of data on these rams to build accuracy for €uro-Star ratings.

Grassland and flock management

With the increased number of ewes and lambs on the farm, Brian has had to significantly increase the output from his 97ha farm in Johnstown, Co Kilkenny.

Brian now has 38 permanent divisions on his farm – up from 12 in 2012.

These divisions are also increased by using a variety of temporary fencing options to increase the level of grass control.

Ewes and lambs are grazed in a leader-follower system once weaned, with lambs moving ahead of ewes.

They will graze paddocks to 6cm before ewes clean the swards down to 4cm. Brian managed to grow 13t of DM/ha in 2016 with a fertiliser application rate of 110kg of N.

In order to manage his flock better around times such as lambing and drafting, Brian has also built a new sheep housing unit as well as designing an easy-to-use handling facility.

When asked to sum up his overall experience in the BETTER farm programme, Brian said: “It’s been a hugely enjoyable experience.

“I’ve had first-hand access to advisers in Athenry and that has been key in driving the farm on.”