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A crowd of over 200 people attended the first of two Teagasc/ Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef Challenge walks taking place on Brian Doran's farm just outside Carnew in Co Wicklow.
Brian is farming 43ha of grassland and 41ha of tillage. The grassland area is split into two blocks. The 32ha main block is situated around the yard, with the remaining 11ha five miles away.
Simplicity is at the core of Brian’s system, with 50 suckler cows and calves running in one block and a 55 steers and heifers running in another. All progeny are sold as steer and heifer beef.
“Prevention is always better than the cure” says Peter Lawrence of @teagasc when talking about the overall health of the herd. Brian is vaccinating for scour, lepto, clostridial, IBR and pneumonia. #BETTERFarm @FJBeef pic.twitter.com/MfEryYqPHW
— Matthew Halpin (@MatthewHalpin22) July 17, 2018
The walk of Brian's farm includes five main stand focusing on areas and BETTER farm challenges such as herd health, breeding, grassland management, meeting the markets and dealing with the current drought and fodder problems.
The farm is no different to many farms across the country and is feeding both silage and concentrates in an effort to prolong the rotation and save what grass covers are left.
“Ideally a cow should be weaning a calf at 42% of her own body weight - with a milky herd Brian is achieving a weaning efficiency of 44%” says @JohnGreaney5 of @teagasc #BETTERFarm @FJBeef pic.twitter.com/82TkC438Nu
— Matthew Halpin (@MatthewHalpin22) July 17, 2018
Each of the stands generated a good discussion between the audience and the speakers which included members of the Irish Farmers Journal livestock team, the BETTER farm management team and local Teagasc B&T advisors.
Food for thought ??: “has anyone that ever put in paddocks taken them out again?” - Hugh Mahon of @teagasc @TeagascBeef @FJBeef #BETTERFarm pic.twitter.com/6JcwPNhAhB
— Matthew Halpin (@MatthewHalpin22) July 17, 2018
Here are just some of the main quotes from the day:
"Going forward, Brian's farm is capable of producing a gross margin of €1210/ha, a rise of almost €400/ha in five years” – Tommy Cox, Teagasc BETTER farm programme adviser.
“Reducing the calving spread has definitely reduced the labour on the farm. I like the black Limousin cows, lots of milk and easy calved” – Brian Doran, host BETTER farmer.
“Grazing infrastructure, soil fertility, grazing management and reseeding are the most important points of grassland management, in that order” – Hugh Mahon, Teagasc B&T adviser.
“If you are to take only one thing from today, it is that lime is the single most critical factor in soil fertility and in growing more grass” – Bob Sheriff, Teagasc B&T adviser.
“There definitely isn’t enough knowledge around the pricing grid system among farmers” – Denis Brennan, Slaney Foods
“Quality assurance is the bare minimum requirement from all our suooer market customers. It’s an absolute must for us when we are selling our beef.” – Denis Brennan, Slaney Foods
Another walk is scheduled for 5pm this evening on Brian Doran’s farm. On Thursday, the Teagasc/ Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef challenge will head west to Nigel O’Kane's farm in Co Galway for another two BETTER Farm beef challenge walks.
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