What if I told you there was a way to deliver over €330 million into suckler farmers’ pockets, red tape-free and you didn't even have to lobby a politician to get it?

Madness or impossible you may say. Well if all 208,440 suckler cows who didn't have a calf in the last 12 months were sold at an average of €1,000, that's over €208 million, and combine that with the €125 million (€600/cow/year) maintenance cost. That's over €330 million into beef farmers pockets. Maybe it doesn't have the same buzz when it doesn't come in a scheme form.

What's the driver behind our suckler herd? The beef herd in Ireland is a by product of the dairy industry. It's a tool to gain access to European payments. It's our long held dreams to have the cows you see in the show ring and after all these financial considerations comes into it.

If a suckler cow is one of your income generators then she must bring in cash in some form so either she has a saleable calf or she's cashed in. 208,440 suckler cows not having a calf in 12 months and a calving interval of 412 days shows a sector that doesn't need supporting, it needs a reality check. It needs a vision and going back to basics.

A suckler cow represents the best option at converting the poorer forages into a saleable product and therefore has a place in Irish agriculture. It would be an interesting experiment to take the research suckler herds out of Grange and place them in different environmental conditions.

Close the herd to female replacements and adapt a survival of the fittest approach and observe

  • How they adapt to their conditions over time

  • The optimum stocking rate in kgs/ha

  • What cow weight is most suitable for the conditions

    • Beef cows outside the EU are found in difficult environments on ground that's little use for much else. They operate in a subsidy-less environment yet make money, what works for them? Fertility. The above Irish herd figures scream fertility trouble yet our current emphasis is on milk in sucklers. Walk before you run.

    I include above a picture of one of my younger cows, she probably wouldn't be touched by most farmers as judging with the eye she has no milk. Her calf has a growth rate of 1.5kg a day on milk and grass alone and, like her mother, she's a consistent early calver. She has so far reared a calf to 370 kg which is 53%of her body weight.