Jonathan Blair

Ballykelly, Limavady, Co Derry

Farm size (grassland) 98.21ha (76.91ha)

Stocking rate (CE/ha) 0.89

Herd (breeding cows) 47

Calving index (days) 375

Calving spread 15 weeks

Gross margin/ha £62

Production system Suckler to beef and store

I farm with my father Joe just outside Ballykelly. We run a mixed livestock and arable unit with just over 76ha of grassland and around 20ha of crops. I have been farming full-time since I graduated from Harper Adams agricultural college.

We run a suckler herd of 47 spring-calving cows. Cow type is a mix of Angus and Limousin breeding, all of which are homebred.

Our cows are served with a Stabiliser and an Angus bull and we have also used some AI. We currently sell some of our cattle live as yearling stores and finish the remainder.

I prefer to finish our male cattle as bulls to maximise weight gains, although we do also kill a few Angus cattle as steers.

Our main aim going forward is to increase output by tightening our calving spread, finishing more cattle and increasing stocking rate.

I also hope to increase cow numbers to around 80 cows and focus on producing as much beef as possible from grass. Improved grassland management can really benefit our system over the next few years.

Declan Rafferty & Aidan Quinn

Pomeroy, Co Tyrone

Farm size (grassland) 67.28ha

Stocking rate (CE/ha) 1.97

Herd (breeding cows) 76

Calving index (days) 387

Calving spread Spring 11 weeks, autumn 12 weeks

Gross margin/ha £648

Production system Suckler to beef

We joined the NI suckler beef programme as part of phase 2 in 2014 and along with Oliver McKenna, have moved over to the new programme. Our farm is a partnership where we have built up from 57 cows in 2014 to 95 animals calving this year, split between 75 spring and 20 autumn calvers.

Gross margin at £648/ha has increased by £350 since joining the programme. There is potential for this to increase further in the coming years as we start selling extra cattle produced from the higher cow numbers. We have increased cow numbers by mainly buying in-calf heifers from some of the previous programme farmers.

Over the last three years we have undertaken reseeding, improved soil fertility and set up paddocks. There are defined management systems in place for both our spring- and autumn-calving herds.

The challenge now is to ensure the farm realises its full potential. Keeping on top of animal health, managing grass quality to maximise liveweight gain, and producing high-quality silage to reduce concentrate feeding during the finishing period, will increase gross margin.

Oliver McKenna

Eskra, Omagh, Co Tyrone

Farm size (grassland) 35.6ha

Stocking rate (CE/ha) 2.23

Herd (breeding cows) 48

Calving index (days) 367

Calving spread Spring 11 weeks, autumn 8 weeks

Gross margin/ha £882

Production system Suckler to beef

I joined the previous programme in phase 2 in 2014 and, since then, the farm has made significant progress. My gross margin has increased to £882/ha in 2016, up from £412/ha in 2013.

Cow numbers have increased from 33 and this year, I will have 55 animals calving, with 38 in spring and 17 in autumn. Even though cow numbers have been increasing, input costs have fallen by £274/cow through tighter calving, improved herd health and making better use of grassland and feed.

Use of AI has improved cattle quality and performance. I have now started to kill male cattle as young bulls, whereas I used to sell most of my animals as stores. Along with increased numbers, taking animals through to finish has significantly increased output.

Over the next three years, I hope to continue making improvements to swards. This, along with good grassland management, will facilitate further increases in stocking rate.

By using top sires through AI, cattle performance should also continue to improve, and there is potential to sell off some surplus heifers as potential breeding replacements.

Ryan McDowell

Gleno, Larne, Co Antrim

Farm size (grassland) 64.16

Stocking rate (CE/ha) 1.71

Herd (breeding cows) 71

Calving index (days) 381

Calving spread 10 weeks

Gross margin/ha £646

Production system Suckler to beef

I have been farming in partnership with my father Raymond for three years and we are running a suckler to beef system. I am married to Ruth and we have two young children, Jody and Libby.

In 2015, we established a new suckler herd, having previously been involved in mixed beef and sheep enterprises.

Our cows are predominantly Angus- or Hereford-cross animals that we source as calves from one dairy unit. We rear the calves through as replacements and find it works well for our system.

The cows are then bred back to either an Angus or Hereford stock bull. This year, we are looking at introducing some AI to produce a heavier beef animal. We will continue to source our replacements from the dairy herd.

This spring, we calved 71 cows and we plan to increase the herd further and build towards 100 cows. To date, we have been finishing our cattle through premium breed schemes and we see this as a good system for our farm. The key areas that we want to focus on are increasing stocking rate to drive output, improving herd genetics through use of AI and investing in grassland management.

Thomas and Paul Jamison

Blackskull, Dromore, Co Down

Farm size (grassland) 38.2

Stocking rate (CE/ha) 2.21

Herd (breeding cows) 62

Calving index (days) 406

Calving spread 28

Gross margin/ha £478/ha

Production system Suckler to beef

I farm alongside my father Thomas and we run 62 spring-calving cows with all progeny, bar replacements, taken through to slaughter. Male cattle are finished as young bulls.

Our suckler herd is all Limousin breeding, with the majority of cows now purebred. We usually run two Limousin stock bulls, although we have been synchronising heifers in recent years and introduced some new sires through AI.

We farm 38ha of grassland, with around three-quarters of the land rented. There is potential to improve grazing management to push more output from this land area.

With better grassland management, we are aiming to increase cow numbers to around 70 to 75 over the next few years. As well as increasing cow numbers, we also feel there is scope to tighten our calving pattern.

Our cows calve from late February through to May, but we would like to have calving finished by the end of April to simplify herd management. It will also mean heavier calves being weaned in autumn, which shortens the intensive finishing period for the bulls.