One thing becoming very evident as we get to know the 27 new BETTER farmers and their stock is that we have some of the country’s foremost cattle breeders on board.

Last week, our Tuesday digital BETTER farm offering from Sean Hayes’ farm in Co Clare showcased some superb quality animals. However, the Tulla man has competition in Leitrim.

Philip Keville keeps a herd of 16 suckler cows on 16ha at Aughamore, just outside Carrick-on-Shannon.

He farms alongside his father Joe and the two share a passion for good stock and breeding – Philip is a Simmental fan and Joe a long-serving and well-decorated member of the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association. All breeding is by AI.

The farm produces weanlings for sale in the back end through local marts. In recent years, what was an autumn calving spread has unravelled slightly and Philip now has calves dropping from September through to March.

“That’s something we’re addressing straightaway – the calving has gotten away on us a bit,” he told me.

“The plan is to move to 25 cows and calve from December to February. I’ve used a PRID-based synchronisation plan to tighten things up. I have bulled more heifers too this year and I’ll have 23 to calve in 2018, all going well.”

Philip will continues to sell his heifers as weanlings in future. There is big demand for the type of animal he is producing, particularly the Simmentals, and he regularly hits €1,000 with his heifers. He is keen to run his males through a bull beef system, potentially finishing under 16 months of age.

His well-bred stock and early calving will suit such a system. By weaning time, a lot of these bulls’ lifetime weight will have been achieved on the cow if past performance is anything to go by. Philip regularly weans bulls well into the 400kg range.

Drainage

A calving date like this is not for the faint-hearted. It requires good housing facilities for the inevitable period that newborns will be indoors and an early farm from a grazing point of view.

While Philip indeed has excellent calving facilities, his land was traditionally difficult in the shoulders of the year and during wet spells when it came to carrying stock.

That is, until some recent drainage work significantly improved his grazing fortunes.

“The ground around here is heavy and getting rid of water was a big problem. Our cows would be big too, which isn’t a good mix. My local contractor shored the land at €5.50/m.

It’s been very successful – the ground has dried up immensely. I’m getting a much better return from my fertiliser. He did 60% of the farm last year and I’ll finish the rest of it this year.

We’re getting better-quality grass, earlier silage and getting cows out to grass sooner in the spring. When I get the sun here my ground is dried up in three days.

Given Philip’s plan to push numbers from the same farm area, this investment in drainage will be crucial to allow him get more from his grazing ground and keep feed costs down.

Philip used a PRID synchronisation protocol on 18 cows to help tighten his calving spread.“I have 18 in total done with it.

"Twelve have scanned in calf and I have yet to scan the others but I am confident they are in calf. I am very happy with it and it wasn’t too expensive at €19.80 (not including serve).”

Adviser comment John Greaney

Philip has done a nice bit of work since joining the programme and his local B&T adviser Tom Coll deserves credit.

There’s no doubt Philip has brilliant stock but tidying up his calving spread is a must as he is also working off farm full-time.

The synchronisation programme he’s using at the minute is working a treat as he is reluctant to cull any cows.

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All reports from the BETTER farm programme