I recently got a call from a part-time farmer who has bought 16 acres next to his farm. The farmer’s home block consists of 33 acres, and he currently contract-rears 40 dairy in-calf heifers on this block. He also has 23 acres in outfarms used on the shoulders of the year. The heifers are kept on the land from the first week of March to the last week of October. He is happy with contract rearing and says it suits his part-time farming system.

The land he bought is in one block, with no internal fences, and there is one open drain through the middle of the block. Some of the ground is peaty and low-lying, while some of it would be considered dry. Part of the land contains a hill with a steep gradient.

The farmer intends to expand his contract-rearing enterprise to 60 heifers next year. The addition of this new block of land will help hold these higher numbers.

The land was farmed extensively for a number of years. As a result it has become poor in terms of fertility and it is rough in places. Some of it is wet and will need drainage. Estimated annual growth is low at 2-3t DM/ha currently, but this can be improved.

The farmer intends to split the new block into seven paddocks, doing some drainage work and adding 290 metres of a roadway to make access easier for machinery and movement of stock. He called me because he wants to know what areas he should focus on to increase productivity quickly without significant costs or complications. He wants a simple and quick turnaround.

Pictures 1 and 2

Picture 1 gives an aerial view of the land in question. It is 16 acres in total. Here you can see the location of the hill with the steep section taking up just over two acres of land. We can also see the areas where the farmer has drainage plans.

Picture 2 provides the best perspective of the land from the ground. The farmer is dealing with different situations all in the one block – some wet land, better drier land and a hill. He hopes that with a paddock system, the old grass sward will rejuvenate and out-compete a lot of the rushes and flaggers. He hasn’t budgeted to reseed this year but hopes to do so paddock-by-paddock in the next few years.

Pictures 3 and 4

The hill is covered in briars and hawthorn bushes, making grazing very difficult. Parts of the hill are very steep, which would limit tractor work.

The farmer intends to clear the hill of the scrub with a digger and to level the steep parts. He does not want to go down the road of a major levelling job because it would cost too much.

Picture 5

Here we see an areas that the farmer intends draining with stone shores. From a distance, the line of flaggers and rushes helps to pinpoint the wet areas. Up close, it is clear to see water is lying on top of the saturated areas. The water comes down from the hill rapidly and the flow slows down once it hits the low-lying area, making its way slowly to the open drain. The farmer feels that with a stone shore, the surface water will make its way to the drains quicker and the wet areas will dry up a lot.

These are the initial steps the farmer has chosen to improve productivity on the new block:

  • Carry out drainage in the wettest areas by making stone shores leading to the open drains.
  • Clear scrub off the hill and level steep areas.
  • Install a paddock system with one strand of electric mains fence to utilise grass efficiently and increase grass production.
  • Put in concrete water troughs to service each paddock.
  • Add a roadway to access all paddocks.
  • Bring in store lambs to graze out during the first winter.
  • Feedback

    We would like to hear what readers think. Please send us ideas the farmer could use to turn this into productive land. Remember, he wants to do as much as possible on a budget of €13,000. Readers will be updated with progress over the next few weeks and months. The digger is landing on 17 August, so we need your feedback as soon as possible. Send an email to pvarley@ farmersjournal.ie or text us on 086 836 6465.