On just over 54ha of heavy drumlin soil in Co Monaghan, Wesley Browne plans to run a herd of 100 suckler cows. This will be a considerable increase from the less than 80 animals he had at the start of the BETTER farm programme.

Cows calve in a three to one split, with the first quarter calving before Christmas and the remainder calving in March and April. This is done in an effort to reduce a potentially hectic spring workload.

Cow type on the farm is a mix of Limousin, Simmental and Angus. The herd has always been kept closed by breeding all replacements on the farm.

Under 16-month bull beef is the only show in town here. Not keen on the thoughts of keeping any bulls until 20 months of age, “all bulls go under 16 months with the tops starting to leave here at 14 months,” according to Wesley.

Technology

Wesley is a firm believer in trying to make work on the farm as streamlined and as efficient as possible. In doing so, he places a great value on the adoption of new technologies.

A past user of Agrinet’s Herdmaster software, Wesley has now switched to their new mobile app, HerdApp. By doing so, Wesley can record daily tasks on his phone.

Also present on the farm and accessible through his phone is a calving camera. Situated in the calving shed, Wesley says the 360 degree rotating camera is a vital tool during the calving season for monitoring his cows.

Reseeding

Wesley’s land is situated on both sides of the main Ballybay to Monaghan Town road. In one field, across the road from the yard, a major drainage job is being carried out to take away surface water coming from higher land and to drain a three acre large plot of low-lying, boggy ground.

To commence works, the river surrounding the field was cleaned and the boundary hedges were cut.

Following that, a drain was opened where the main path of water flows from the higher field towards the river. There was an old drain in place with traditional clay pipes, but these will be replaced with a 9" land drainage pipe and filled with drainage stone. Until the spring, this drain will be left open to monitor its effectiveness.

In the area of boggy, low-lying ground, a network of drains have been dug to carry the surface and underlying water to the newly cleaned river and to pick up any underlying water from springs in the side of the hill. Again, these will be left open until the spring to monitor how well they are working.

Once the pipes have been laid and the drains have been filled to the surface with stone, the field will be ploughed and reseeded and the boundaries fenced off once again. Water troughs will also be suitably positioned for flexible paddock grazing.

For more on this drainage work, watch the video above. To learn more about Wesley’s calving system, see this Thursday's Irish Farmers Journal in print and online.