Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell farms a mixed tillage and beef enterprise on 65ha (160 acres) in Coolane, Castledermot, Co Kildare.

The beef enterprise is a dairy calf to beef production system based primarily on purchasing Angus calves (mainly heifer calves), and to a lesser extent Hereford calves, and bringing them to slaughter at 22 to 26 months of age.

In the past, Friesian and Angus bulls were finished at 14 to 18 months of age. This practice has faded out, with only 12 Friesian bulls purchased this spring. The plan is to bring this batch up to 20 to 25 and finish intensively indoors as bulls under 16 months of age in June/July, when cattle supplies are usually tighter, with any Angus or Hereford bull calves now finished as steers.

Joe’s aim is to purchase about 100 calves each year. He has a preference for calves aged three to four weeks of age, explaining that younger calves present a greater risk of succumbing to health issues.

The preference is also to buy January- and February-born calves early in the year to maximise performance from grass in year one. However, due to rearing facilities having a capacity to handle approximately 40 calves at any one time and limited availability of Angus and Hereford calves early in the year, calves are purchased in two to three intakes from January to April.

“This year’s January- and February-born calves cost €270 to €280. This is €20 to €30 more than the later (April) born calves, but there is no comparison, with the older calves way ahead at the first winter and finished first in the second winter,” he said.

Price is becoming a factor, with Joe commenting that Angus calves have increased by €70 to €100 per head in the last few years and, in doing so, extracting much of the premium from finishing Angus cattle.

Calves consume about three quarters of a bag of milk replacer during the rearing phase. Calves are weaned in general at 10 to 12 weeks of age, but Joe says that regardless of age, calves won’t be weaned off milk replacer until they are eating 1kg of meal. Meal feeding is continued throughout the grazing season at 1kg per head per day.

Supplementation continues until January, with animals targeted for early turnout. Having a supply of grass in spring is seen as more beneficial than grazing late in the year.

Year-and-a-half heifers and steers are housed in the second or third week in October and finished on 3kg of meal along with grass silage and maize silage and 0.5kg wheaten straw (higher supplementation is avoided if possible to lower risk of animals going overfat). Carcase weights for heifers range from 250kg to 310kg.

Beef production is seen as integral to the tillage enterprise, with grassland used in a rotation with barley, wheat and maize silage and the beef enterprise used to recycle straw and maintain a high level of organic matter in the soil.

Joe says that after doing everything right in terms of sowing, spraying and harvesting, it is very disappointing to see the sale value of cereals fail to cover production costs, especially in a year when beef prices have also come under pressure.

James Hoey

James Hoey and his father James operate a tillage enterprise of approximately 200ha in Drumcar, Dunleer, Co Louth.

The Hoeys also operate an intensive beef finishing enterprise which is based primarily on purchasing 300 continental-bred bulls in October/November and bringing through to finish from April through to July at 16 to 20 months of age. A small number of Friesian bulls (usually 30 to 50 head) are also finished each year.

The only animals grazed during the summer this year are a batch of autumn-born Friesian bulls that were purchased this spring and will be finished in February.

These animals are currently grazing after-grass swards and in recent weeks had concentrate supplementation introduced at 2kg to 3kg per head to maintain performance ahead of housing.

Having a batch of Friesian bulls on the unit has suited the farm this year. Two cuts of silage are generally harvested, but with a carryover of 300t of silage and lower cereal prices, bulls were allowed to graze land that would generally be cut for second-cut silage.

As tillage is the main farm enterprise, the aim with beef finishing is to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. Bulls are purchased from the end of September to November (labour requirement in tillage is reducing).

Cattle are purchased by the Hoeys and two agents, with about two thirds purchased through marts and a third off the land. In the past, bulls were purchased from 380kg to 450kg (max 500kg), but following a tightening in weight limits, the aim this year is to purchase lighter and younger.

This will also allow more home-grown feed to be fed, which James hopes will add to its current value.

Once purchased, all bulls are allowed settle for a few hours on straw bedding before vaccination (Rispoval 3 and IBR marker). Once vaccinated, bulls are released outdoors to paddocks for two weeks. James said: “Two weeks out makes a huge difference. Vaccines can only do so much and it’s important bulls are comfortable and settle quickly after arriving.”

Bulls receive a worm drench after two weeks, a booster vaccine after three weeks and fluke treatment seven weeks after housing.

Bulls start on a grower diet once housed. Last year, this included high-quality grass silage (72 to 75DMD), 10kg beet, 2kg barley and 1.7kg rape meal.

They were transferred onto a finishing diet from January consisting of 20-22kg fodder beet, 5kg barley, 2kg rape cake, mazie silage, 1-1.2kg straw and 80g to 100g urea (diet 14 ME and 12 to 12.5% protein). Rape meal will this year be purchased, as growing rape does not ideally suit the farm rotation.

The finishing diet may be introduced earlier to finish bulls at a lower liveweight. In general, bulls gain 1.1kg liveweight during the growing phase and 1.5kg to 1.7kg liveweight during the finishing phase.

Animals are fed each morning with feeding and herd monitoring taking about two hours to complete. As bulls come fit for slaughter, they are drafted from pens with a lower stocking rate helping performance.

Jonny Greene

Jonny Greene’s suckler to beef (53ha) enterprise is run alongside a tillage enterprise operated in partnership with his father Nassau. Both systems complement each other to optimum effect.

For example, straw is used to bed cows and progeny in the 90-cow spring-calving suckler herd (includes first-calf heifers) and as such helps maintain organic matter, soil fertility and crop yields in tillage ground while home-grown cereals are used to finish male progeny as bulls and supplement the suckler herd.

The suckler herd has expanded in the last three years and is run with one focus – to achieve optimum breeding performance and maximise output.

Cow type in the herd is Salers and Salers cross and Jonny believes the breed is underrated by farmers, most likely contributed to by docility issues when the breed was first imported to the country.

The herd has achieved a calving interval of less than 365 days and 0.99 calves, or more, produced per cow in the last three years, with calving over a seven- to eight-week period. Jonny says a contributing factor to good breeding performance is zero tolerance for under-performing animals, with cows not in calf given no second chances.

He believes temperament in stock is heavily influenced by the way animals are managed, but even so, temperament in animals is closely monitored.

Breeding in recent years is with Salers and Charolais stock bulls. Male progeny are slaughtered as bulls, while all female progeny are bred as the farm partakes in Dawn Meat’s once-calved heifer scheme.

Salers replacement heifers and Charolais-sired heifers are bred to calve at 24 months of age. The Charolais cross heifers and any Salers heifers deemed not suitable for incorporating into the herd are finished under 36 months of age (condition of scheme to achieve steer base price).

Male progeny from mature cows were weaned in early September with a focus on getting calves transferred onto a high plane of nutrition to avoid a store period and achieve an adequate fat cover (2+ or greater) for finishing under 16 months of age.

The finishing diet will include home-grown feeds as much as possible, with beans (protein source) and red clover silage also sown on the farm.

Jonny says he would like to see some stability in the market signals returned to farmers, explaining that it has been very hard to tailor a production system with specifications changing significantly in the last five years.

Female progeny are weaned from the start of October, or after the labour requirement from the tillage enterprise reduces. The average carcase weight of first-calf heifers slaughtered in the once-calved heifer scheme averaged 400kg last year.

Future plans in the herd include using only Salers breeding. Jonny admits foregoing Charolais genetics in the breed mix may impact on growth rate and conformation in progeny, but he is confident that the benefits of easier calving and a resultant reduction in labour around calving time will more than compensate for this. Other plans to combine the tillage and suckler to greater effect include sowing catch crops that will prevent nitrogen leaching, but also extend the grazing season for heifer weanlings or in-calf heifers. A flock of ewes is also being introduced to capitalise on catch crops and the benefits of mixed grazing.

John Keena

Offaly suckler farmer John Keena runs an 80-cow suckler-to-weanling herd on 55ha at Moyclare, Ferbane, Co Offaly. The suckler enterprise is operated in a manner that suits the farm’s facilities, land type and available labour.

Approximately 50 cows are calved from July to October (heifers calved in June), with the remaining 30 cows calving from March to May.

John, who is also Offaly IFA chairman, explains that the herd would never have calved before 15 August, with the calving date pulled back in recent years to minimise cases of mastitis and ensure the majority of cows are back in calf before housed on slats.

Calving over the winter months is also avoided due to limited facilities for calving cows and managing cows with young calves indoors.

John adds that all spring calving is also avoided as low-lying parts of the farm are peaty in nature and not suitable for early turnout of large numbers.

The breeding policy on the farm aims for good-quality U grade weanlings that can attract live exporters, specialised finishers or farmer interest.

Cow type is predominately Limousin cross with sire selection switching from Limousin and Charolais to just Limousin in 2014. The current Limousin bull is heavily muscled and was selected for his proven track record of breeding good-quality calves with no calving difficulties. Autumn-born cows and calves are housed in a normal year from mid-October to November.

At the outset, cows are supplemented with 4lb (1.82kg) concentrates, with calves introduced to meal feeding shortly after housing in a creep area. As lactation progresses and cows are scanned in calf, supplementation to cows is transferred to calves with supplementation rates rising to 3lb (1.35kg) in January and 4lb for bulls in February (1.82kg).

Weaning takes place in March, with the strongest bulls (350kg to 400kg+) selected and sold in early April.

John finds this is a good time to sell, with low numbers of live export-type weanlings on the market and farmers purchasing for summer grazing systems.

Weanling heifers are suitable for grazing heavier areas of the farm and are turned out to grass in mid-March for four to six weeks to capitalise on cheap weight gain and then sold live. The farm is laid out well, with paddocks set up to provide five days’ grazing in summer months.

The strongest progeny of spring-born calves are sold in weanling sales in October/November, with lighter weanlings carried over the winter and sold live in spring.

Approximately 50 weanlings are traded through marts, with 30 weanlings traded off farm each spring. Breeding performance is positive, with a calving interval of less than 365 days and 0.99 calves per cow consistently achieved each year. John finds the use of copper boluses before breeding, pre-calver minerals and high-phos minerals hugely beneficial on a heavy farm.

He feels improvement could be made in improving milk yield in replacement stock. Replacements are normally purchased and while quality is excellent, milk yield has started to suffer. This year, Hereford x British Friesian cross heifers were purchased. While progeny may be less consistent than the three-quarter bred Limousins, he feels they will be a good foundation from which to breed future replacements.