Farm history

Alastair runs a mixed farm with 85 spring-calving suckler cows alongside a poultry unit producing broilers and a small sheep enterprise of 65 ewes. He has been farming on a full-time basis for just over two years, having previously farmed part-time alongside his father John. The cows are spring-calving and predominantly Limousin in breed type. Land type would be classified as heavy in nature, with some drainage work having been carried out and more needed in the future. The sheep are used to graze areas of the farm which are unsuitable for cattle to graze. Since joining the programme, Alastair’s areas for concentration have been on lifting output, increasing grass growth and utilisation and switching to two-year-old calving while reducing the calving spread.

Farm Walk, BETTER NI

Financial targets

As part of the farm plan, the management team along with Alastair have set out targets for the farm over the duration of the programme. This plan includes a 33% lift in gross margin/ha by the end of the programme. How is Alastair going to do this? As with any farm, it’s a combination of getting lots of small things right over the next few years. Number one priority on the farm is increasing the output. This means increasing cow numbers to 92 in order to try and have 85 calves every year.

As purchased concentrates were one of the biggest annual expenses on the farm, Francis Breen drew up a table where meal feeding levels where detailed to each category of stock on the farm. While weather will determine rates and length of feeding period, the table is a good marker to track during the year to see if meal feeding rates or periods are too high. Alastair is conscious of the fact that as stocking rate increases, grass growth and utilisation must also increase or else this extra output will go back out the gate in the form of purchased concentrates.

Breeding

Breeding is one of the areas where a major change of practice has occurred on the farm. Before joining the programme, Alastair was purchasing his replacements for the herd. He had no control over the genetic progress of his herd and there were also some health risks associated with purchasing stock in every year. He has now moved to breeding his own replacements on the farm and calving at two years of age. Francis Breen explained to the attendees that at current cull cow prices Alistair had no hesitation about culling hard for a few years to try and tighten his calving spread. These late calving cows have complicated his system in the past with different grazing groups, vaccination times, dosing and weaning all making management a lot harder. As the farm moves towards breeding their own replacements, EBVs have become more important and Alastair is now sourcing bulls with high maternal traits to ensure replacements have good milk and fertility.

Angus has been maintained as one of the sires for ease of finishing in a grass-based system. The aim is to have heifers at 60% of mature weight at mating and 90% of mature weight at calving. Heifers are bred to very easy-calving bulls and managed as a separate group after calving to ensure they stay in the herd and two-year-old calving is a success. Cows are also body condition scored with a target of 2.5 at calving. Cows were scored at housing and 14 cows over BCS3 were restricted while four cows under BCS 2.5 got meal to increase condition over winter. Sudden changes in the diet are avoided and emphasis is placed on getting cows to grass for as long as possible before breeding to ensure a rising plane of nutrition coming into breeding.

Breeding targets

  • 365-day calving interval (2017: 382 days).
  • Nine-week calving spread (2017: 19 weeks).
  • 80% within six weeks (2017: 73%).
  • Breeding 4 June – 6 August.
  • Calving 15 March – 20 May.
  • Grassland management

    The farm has no issues with soil fertility with poultry litter being used in the past to increase soil indexes to target Index 3 levels. Alastair has moved from a set stocking system to a paddock grazing system since joining the programme. This has been a big expense, with a farm roadway also being constructed last year to facilitate movement of cows to paddocks and also to make it easier to get cows in for AI. Ground conditions on the farm last week were just OK and, with stock still housed due to the difficult grazing conditions, growth is exceeding demand, which has added to the management problems. With some paddocks getting too strong for grazing, the plan was to take these out as round baled silage and also to get the remaining cattle outdoors as soon as possible. The old saying of three leaves, three days and three weeks was discussed by CAFRE beef specialist Norman Weatherup. That is, to graze the grass plant when it has three leaves on it, graze each paddock in three days and allow each paddock three weeks’ regrowth. This means a 21-day rotation and will keep quality in swards. Alastair is walking the farm on a weekly basis and using a grass wedge to determine which paddocks to graze next and also determine the supply and demand balance on the farm. May is a tricky month to manage grass and, if it’s not got right in May, it can be difficult to get right for the rest of the year.

    Alastair McNeilly farm walk: A roadway was constructed down the middle of the farm to facilitate movement of livestock

    A roadway was constructed down the middle of the farm to facilitate movement of livestock

    Silage quality

    Local CAFRE adviser Stephen Flanagan led a discussion around silage quality and he urged farmers not to forget about it. Many farmers are talking about filling silage pits that were never as empty but this shouldn’t be at the expense of making poor quality silage. On finishing farms it is especially important to focus on quality as it will reduce finishing costs and increase margins. Target cutting date on the McNeilly farm is the end of May with good quality silage being restricted to in calf suckler cows. The farm needs 990 tonne of silage to meet its winter requirements and this will be fulfilled by cutting 65 acres of first cut at 9 tonne/acre and 55 acres of second cut at 7 tonne/acre.

    Silage tips

  • 75% perennial ryegrass.
  • Grazed in spring.
  • Adequate N, P, K and S.
  • Access ear emergence, looking for 50% heading out.
  • Quality decreases as quantity increases.
  • Aim for 25-30% dry matter – fast wilt.
  • Compact well in pit and seal fast.
  • Quotes from the farm walk

    Dig a hole in the middle of your field, look at soil and try to understand how it all works. Study your soil samples and take appropriate action. 82% of Northern Ireland soils need action to correct soil fertility issues – Norman Weatherup, CAFRE

    We shouldn’t forget the art of making good quality silage. People are talking about forgetting quality this year and concentrating on bulk. Be very careful, good silage can be restricted to cows and is needed on finishing farms to reduce concentrate bills. It could reduce meal feeding by 5-6kg/head/day on finishing farms” – Stephen Flanagan, CAFRE

    A three way cross of Shorthorn, Limousin and Angus is being used on the Glenwheery Hill farm. 1st and 2nd calving cows weigh 660kg and mature cow weight is 700kg. Choosing a bull for these cows with good EBVs is way more important than the breed of the bull” – Norman Weatherup, CAFRE

    Making sure there are enough heifers coming onto the farm is key to reducing the calving spread on the farm. Expecting acow to calve at the end of June and breed by the end of July is a tough ask” – Francis Breen, CAFRE

    We fed good quality silage and 2kg of meal the whole way through the winter and we turned the heifers out this year at 348kg so hopefully they will be heavier at breeding. I’m really happy with last years batch of two- year-old calved heifers and won’t go back to calving at a later age – Alistair McNeilly , BETTER NI farmer

    I’ve never used AI before so it will be a new experience. I’m really taking a chance at the moment depending on 3 bulls in a nine week breeding season. If a bull gets hurt I’m snookered. We put in a roadway which should make getting in cows a little easier – Alistair McNeilly, BETTER NI Farmer

    We have focused on getting output higher but in tandem with that increase the amount of grass we are growing and utilising. Fencing has been a big cost but worth it. We have also tried to finish our animals quicker to lift efficiency – Alistair McNeilly, BETTER NI Farmer

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