Dairy beef on the edge

Farm roadways proved their worth at the Teagasc DairyBeef 500 farm walk on the farm of James O’Sullivan near Union Hall in west Cork on Tuesday 27 February.

Not only did they allow James to get stock to grass for three weeks of February, they doubled as car parking facilities, as the wet month meant on-field parking was not an option.

James farms 31ha in total consisting of a 10ha block near Leap with the remaining 21ha at Myross.

He operates a dairy calf-to-beef system, with a target of finishing all stock before their second winter.

The larger land block at Myross, a short distance from Union Hall, is almost on an island.

It runs down to the Atlantic and is very exposed. Judging by the grass covers on the walk, it was easy to tell this is an excellent farm for growing early grass, but James said it is more challenging in summer if weather gets very dry.

The home farm at Leap, where he rears the calves, is north-facing and more sheltered.

He has about 70 calves bought in so far this spring and is aiming to buy in another 20. When purchasing the calves, his preference is for a calf around three weeks of age.

Some calves might be slightly younger, but he buys nothing under two weeks of age. James places an emphasis on early-maturing heifers but he finds it useful to have a mix, as it spreads the cashflow.

Previously, James purchased calves from local calf dealers and marts and while this worked well from a time point of view, it led to calves of varying quality and brought an element of disease risk too.

Since 2022, he purchased all his calves from four dairy farmers. He knew the farmers through his work as an AI technician for Munster Bovine. That allows him a bit of input in the type of beef bull they are using so it’s a good tie-up between us

“I examined some of the sires of the cattle I had slaughtered over the past number of years and found significant variability in the quality of bull used. Some of the carcase weights have been light, so if we can add a few kilos to that without having an effect on calving difficulty for the dairy farmer, it should be win-win for both of us.

“The focus is on using bulls with a higher commercial beef value (CBV) with a focus on their carcase weight index.”

That move is paying off as his yearlings are heavier going to grass compared to other years.

Like all farmers, he found the grazing season in 2023 challenging and was disappointed with his final carcase weights, which were behind his desired targets of 260kg for heifers and 310kg for bullocks.

Last year, the heifers averaged 244kg, with an average grade of O= 3+, while the bullocks had an average carcase of 295kg and graded O=3=.

Looking back, I should have housed them all earlier and drafted as they came fit

Like many farmers, James was hoping a dry spell would happen in late September or October, so older stock were left out to finish at grass.

“I was feeding them outside for a few weeks before I brought them in. Looking back, I should have housed them all earlier and drafted as they came fit.

“With traditional beef breed heifers, they would flesh fairly fast if on ration. A few weeks would have seen the first few gone.”

Despite the early housing and below target weight gain due to low dry matter grass last year, he still managed to remain under the target of 400kg of ration fed in the finishing period.

Not only did the bad weather result in carcase weights being back, the older stock had to be housed before finishing and put a bigger dent in his silage stocks.

He has had to buy silage, as a result.

James’s excellent infrastructure meant he has been able to get a group of 30 yearling heifers with an average weight of 295kg out to grass this month.

Roadways

The roadways were created from rock on the farm, topped with gravel.

By practising on-off grazing and bringing cattle in when weather is bad meant, with two days in the month to go, he had 29% of his farm grazed by the end of February.

Between 2022 and 2023, the organic N/ha stocking rate has increased by 22kg/ha pushing James into derogation. Achieving that higher stocking rate has been one of the key financial drivers on the farm.

Participating in the DairyBeef 500 programme since early 2022, James works with Teagasc adviser, Anna Sexton, implementing changes that will increase the profitability on the farm. His net margin excluding subsidies in 2023 was €552/ha. The target is to raise this to €800/ha for 2024.

Price inflation has been the big driver for variable costs, which accounted for 56% of gross output.

Fixed costs are a little on the high side but loan interest and depreciation make up 40% of those.

Land purchase and construction of a new shed are the two big contributors to that.

James has an animal health plan in place.

Calves receive an intranasal vaccination for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) and are also vaccinated for pneumonia a few days after arriving on the farm.

James doesn’t give them any boosters as he has never had any issues with respiratory conditions once cattle go to grass.

Inadequate ventilation was an issue in the calf shed.

To improve it, the side sheeting was taken down and replaced with Yorkshire boarding.

To further improve airflow, fans were also added to the calf house. Calves also receive a blackleg vaccination and are treated for coccidiosis before going to grass.