The Tipperary dairy calf-to-beef farm located in Ballyvadin achieved excellent physical and financial performance in 2025 generating a net margin per hectare of €1,620.

One of the aims of the demonstration farm which was established in 2022 as a joint venture between Teagasc, Dawn Meats and Shinagh Estates is to demonstrate best practice technologies and management for a profitable, sustainable and labour efficient dairy calf-to-beef production system.

In this regard there is a strong focus on labour efficiency with extensive records maintained on the labour input required for different tasks throughout the season.

This also allows the farm to determine the return on labour with 2025 analysis proving very positive. The farm achieved a net margin before tax of €170,119 and when labour costs of €81,171 are factored in the return on 3,400 hours worked equates to €74 per hour worked.

There is 1.5 full-time labour equivalents with the farm managed by Jack Spillane and availing of part-time support labour from Stephen Baskin.

Table 1 details profit and loss accounts for Ballyvadin Beef Farms Ltd, the individual commercial entity by which the farm trades, for 2024 and 2025. As can be seen a key driver in increased financial performance was a €2/kg increase in beef price.

Key drivers

The average carcase weight delivered also increased by 26kg to 297kg in 2025 with weather conditions supporting early turnout.

While the farming system also benefited from calf prices being low relative to beef price.

Keeping variable costs in check will be critical to financial performance in 2026 with calf prices rising and beef price falling.

For example a €1/kg reduction in beef price based on 2025 metrics would reduce the value of cattle sales by in the region of €100,000 head and reduce net margin per hectare to about €526 after labour has been covered.

There will be about 45 more cattle to sell in 2026 compared to 2025 which will help output.

The net cost to produce a kilogram of carcase in 2025 was €5.71/kg so a beef price north of €6/kg is required.

The farm is still bedding in to a system and the area farmed has increased to 134ha following a 25ha lease expansion in October 2025.

This is the reason for lower rent figure in Table 1.

The increase in land area has also underpinned an increase in stocking rate with calf numbers purchased rising to 444 head in 2026 as outlined in Table 2.

The land area currently stands at 134ha with 13ha pasture allocated to the dairy-beef enterprise, 12ha cereals ad 9ha hedgerows, roadways, farmyard.

Dairy-beef integration

A second key aim of the system is to demonstrate the benefit of dairy-beef integration through contract calf supply.

All calves are purchased from spring calving dairy farms and are within a pre-determined specification for beef merit.

Calves are priced on weight, sex and commercial beef value and must be born in February or March.

It is hoped that such an arrangement can develop similar blueprints for beef farmers to integrate with dairy farmers to produce beef calves of desired merit.

The farm is also a good opportunity to put CBV to the test. As can be seen in Table 3, higher CBV calves are on average delivering a higher sales value.

The farm is not just focusing on sale value and a key aspect is also the age at slaughter as this has a significant influence on finishing costs if animals are retained on farm over a second winter.

Finishing system

The target is to get animals turned out early in the second grazing season after a short housing period of about 90 days where cattle are fed high digestibility (72% DMD) silage and 1.5kg concentrates.

Concentrates are introduced strategically taking account of animal gender, fat cover, live weight and carcase weight potential.

The aim is to draft animal once they achieve a fat score of 3.

Early maturing bullocks and late maturing heifers are the first animals to receive concentrate supplementation in late summer (earlier in 2026 due to drought) while early-maturing heifers are delayed supplementation to try and allow them to develop an additional frame and prevent them from going overfat at a young age.

Late maturing beef-sired and dairy bullocks with high carcase weight potential are retained on a grass-only diet until housing in November and finished on ad lib silage and 5kg concentrate. The average volume of concentrates fed in 2025/2026 was 300kg to heifers and 437kg to bullocks.

Funding model

As mentioned already the farm was established in 2022 as an independent, standalone, commercial entity which Teagasc explains aims to provide farmers with a realistic financial, operational and genetic baseline for integrated dairy-beef production.

The farm required a total capital investment of €980,000.

Shareholders Dawn Meats and Shinagh Estates each have an equity breakdown of €350,000 while Teagasc cover the cost of land rent for the initial block of land.

Within the €980,000 figure €560,000 was required for machinery and facilities with the remainder for stock and working capital.

There is a €130,000 dedicated stocking loan supplemented by a rolling €150,000 overdraft facility.

Farm walk

The farm is opening its gates for a national open day on Wednesday 22 July at 11am. The farm is located at Ballyvadin, Fethard, Co Tipperary (E91 E0X3).

All aspects of the system will be discussed including financial and labour performance, calf purchase and genetics, animal health and calf rearing, labour and calf rearing including practical automation setups designed to reduce workload during peak spring activity, finishing and drafting animals and grassland management.

There will also be a focus on water quality and a Grass10 demonstration with live paddock measurements and grazing tools to help farmers optimise seasonal grass allocation and deal with current supply challenges.