Refining the calving period to suit a bull beef-finishing system and increasing the amount of liveweight produced per hectare of grassland farmed are just two of the changes being implemented on Jonathan Blair’s farm in order to increase profitability towards a target gross margin of £1,000/ha.

At last week’s farm walk hosted by Jonathan, he outlined the progress being made since joining the BETTER Farm NI programme last spring.

Jonathan Blair outlines his farm system.

Grassland management has undoubtedly had the biggest impact to date, with the paddock system fundamental to increasing the stocking rate.

“Paddock grazing has been a revelation for this farm. Once you get started with paddocks, you wouldn’t dream of using any other way to graze cattle,” Jonathan told the crowd.

In the past, cattle were set-stocked on farm, with cows grazed in groups of approximately 20 animals. According to Jonathan, the main grazing blocks were under-utilised in terms of grass grown.

Improvements

Since joining the programme, the grazing platform has been divided into paddocks of approximately 1ha in size, using mains electric fencing along the boundary.

New boundary fences used the Clipex fencing system, which cost 90p per metre for posts and two strands of high-tensile wire. Additional water troughs have been installed and strategically placed to serve multiple paddocks.

On the evening, the crowd in attendance saw the setup on the main grazing block. Seven paddocks, each measuring 1ha, have grazed 34 cows and calves since late April, along with 20 bales of silage made from surplus grass.

Fertiliser amounts to 3.5 bags/acre of nitrogen, plus a half bag per acre of urea in March, which is similar to previous years. Each dressing is applied at a rate of 20 units/acre of CAN with sulphur or 22:2:14.

Measuring grass

Grass is measured every week and Jonathan then makes decisions on what action is required, such as whether fertiliser needs to be applied, whether paddocks can be closed for silage or whether a paddock needs to be sub-divided to improve grass utilisation when grazing.

Reseeding is now routine on farm, as is soil testing, with fertiliser applied according to crop requirement.

The suckler herd is building towards 90 cows and calves, almost double the size at the outset of the programme.

Reseeded swards have produced over 8t DM/ha this year, whereas older swards are growing little over 5t DM/ha.

Increasing the suckler herd

“We want to drive the number of cows per hectare of ground farmed to increase output,” Jonathan stated. Prior to joining the programme, the farm carried a spring-calving suckler herd of 40 cows, with progeny sold direct to slaughter or as a combination of strong weanlings to light stores.

Numbers increased to 65 spring-calving cows and calves in 2018 and will rise to approximately 90 cows in 2019.

The additional cow numbers have mostly come from retaining home-bred heifers for breeding, although there have been in-calf heifers purchased to help increase cow numbers at a faster rate.

Stocking rate will increase from 1.12 CE/ha in 2017 to reach 2.27 CE/ha on 63.1ha (156 acres) of grassland by the end of the three-year programme.

As the herd has a target of weaning 90 calves per year, this means that Jonathan needs to be serving approximately 100 cows to reach this target. This allows for any cows not going back in-calf, a small number of cows aborting their calf from scanning to calving and for some mortality at calving time.

Producing more cattle for sale each year is paramount if the farm is to improve profitability.

Total herd output will rise from £44,315 in 2017 to just over £101,000 by the end of 2019, should the farm reach its target stocking levels.

This will result in gross margin increasing from £205/ha to close of £950/ha if things go according to plan.

Getting the most from bull beef finishing

As Jonathan is planning to move the herd towards pure Stabiliser breeding in the coming years, the breed is suited to a dedicated bull beef-finishing system. Stabiliser bulls currently born on farm are being finished as bulls, but Angus-sired cattle are still being finished as steers to make better use of grass until cow numbers reach their target and to avail of the breed slaughter premiums.

As Jonathan moves towards an all-bull-beef system, the calving pattern has to be tightened to produce more calves born during March and April, rather than March to late May.

Later-born calves are too light at housing and therefore require a longer finishing period on concentrates once housed.

Targets

The herd had a calving index of 362 days for 2018, which, from the outset, is excellent. However, over a 12-week calving period, only 52% of cows calved during the first six weeks.

The target is to increase this to 80% of cows calved in the first six weeks. This should increase the calf weaning weights and reduce the number of days to slaughter once housed.

“I would prefer to have more cows calving in the first six weeks, as I am purely focused on calving during March and April.

“Once calving slips into May, other tasks take away the focus from calving and this is when I tend to get more losses,” he said.

Scanning will be completed this week and bull calves separated from heifer calves. Creep feed will then be introduced at 1kg/day to bull calves to boost growth rates from now until housing. Creep feeding should also help to transition bulls through the weaning period.

Bull system

Assuming spring calving starts on 15 March, the average date of birth for bull calves will be close to 15 April.

From birth to housing on 30 October is a period of 122 days. Target housing weight is 300kg, which requires a daily weight gain of 1.3kg/day.

Bulls are currently gaining 1.18kg/day from a grass-only diet. As herd genetics improve through increased use of AI, weight gains will naturally increase. After housing, bulls will be stored for a short period until they reach around 500kg liveweight and then built up to ad-lib concentrate levels.

The target is to get bulls to average 650kg liveweight before slaughter. This should produce a carcase weight of 370kg at just over 13 months of age in Stabiliser cattle.

While carcase weights could be increased using continental breeds, these bulls would most likely have to be slaughtered at an age closer to 15 months.

Therefore, the economics and feed efficiency in producing heavier carcases has to be considered carefully. Jonathan believes his plans will suit his farm best.