Over 200 people attended Thursday afternoon’s Teagasc/Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef Challenge summer open day on the farm of Joseph and Harry Lalor – the father and son duo representing Co Laois in the BETTER Farm Beef Challenge.
Today’s @teagasc / @farmersjournal walk kicking-off in Loais on Harry and Joe Lalor’s farm. Second walk at 5pm. Both are KT approved. Follow @FJBeef for full updates ?? #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/5KSfOxvAfX
— Matthew Halpin (@MatthewHalpin22) July 11, 2019
Two Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Knowledge Transfer-approved walks took place at 2pm and 5pm on the Lalor's 121ha holding and drew in crowds of around 100 people each
Background
At the first stand on the day, Harry was joined by his Teagasc BETTER Farm adviser John Greaney and new BETTER Farm Beef Challenge programme manager Martina Harrington from Teagasc.
Harry Lalor in discussion with his #BETTERfarm adviser John Greaney: “We only calved 95 cows in the first year of the programme...as things stand, we have 132 females with the bull. We will keep a tight 9-week breeding season and hope to have 115 in calf.” pic.twitter.com/uLTN4EZR5e
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
Here, the main point of discussion was the farm’s system, the progress that has been made since the beginning of the programme and the targets for when the programme concludes. Table 1 gives a full breakdown of performance projections.
“We are lambing 300 ewes and calving over 100 cows in the spring. The only way we felt we could get the stocking rate up was to look at a dairy calf to beef system,” said Harry. Target gross output for 2021 is 1300kg/ha...compared to 890kg/ha in 2017. #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/4KgerOkuPp
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
“In hindsight, it was a good decision”
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
Harry talking about how they decided to sell their 2018 spring born weanlings live in March at one year of age, rather than bringing them to slaughter at u16 months.. #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/QWefAviTM6
Alternative forage
Arable silage, kale and redstart will make up some of the Lalor's fodder requirements. Present on the alternative forage stand was Teagasc crops specialist Shay Phelan.
Harry and Joe are growing a crop of Arable silage - barley, peas and grass. “I wanted to get the field reseeded but I also wanted to get a lot of bulk to build up my fodder reserves.” Shay Phelan says should cut in about 10 days - grains and pea pods need to fill more #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/34JOTJrxHa
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
Shay Phelan of @teagasc on some consideration re sowing redstart or rape: ??
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
“Ground for Brassicas needs to be rotated to prevent club root disease.” pic.twitter.com/wcvXJXcDMj
Figures presented on the day showed that without growing alternative forage, the Lalors would only be able to make half of their winter feed requirements. However, including 5ac of kale, 11ac of arable silage and 10ac of redstart, reserves will meet 92% of requirements – including a four-to-six week buffer.
Harry explaining to @TeagascBeef adviser and programme manager Martina Harrington his choice of field for growing for forage crops:
— Matthew Halpin (@MatthewHalpin22) July 11, 2019
Dry, sheltered, easy access and a lie back is key. #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/vPoe2FJtlR
Breeding and grass
On the third stand, BETTER Farm adviser Tommy Cox from Teagasc was on hand to talk about grassland management on the farm. He said that “the figures show every extra tonne of grass grown per hectare is worth €105. In 2018, the Lalors grew 2.5t DM/ha more grass than in 2017”.
Tommy Cox explaining how to react to your soil sample result and build P and K if needed ?? #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/vRw1ohWqrV
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
He also went through the key points on good grazing infrastructure including paddock sizing and water trough positioning and the benefits they can generate in terms of management and animal performance.
On the final stand, Harry and Joe’s local Teagasc adviser Peter Doolan had an in-depth discussion with Harry about the breeding policy on the farm.
“The main cow type on the farm would be Salers X Limousin cows. Some dairy-bred females are also brought in,” Harry explained. “We run three stock bulls – a Charolais, a Saler and a Limousin,” he added.
Doolan also highlighted some impressive breeding performance figures from the farm, including an overall replacement index of €107 and a weaning efficiency figure of 40% in 2018.
Carbon footprint
The fourth stand on the day centred on the LIFE BEEF CARBON project. Presented by with Donal O’Brien and Jonathan Herron of Teagasc, discussion involved a background of the project, the carbon footprint of the Lalor farm and a live fertiliser demonstration.
Donal O’Brien and Jonathan Herron of @TeagascBeef explaining the LIFE Beef carbon project. Aim is to maintain beef output but reduce beef carbon emissions by 15% over a 10 year period! Full details in this week’s @farmersjournal ?? pic.twitter.com/dcbvZVC1AO
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
To learn about the LIFE BEEF CARBON project, see this week’s Irish Farmers Journal in print or online. For the full discussion on the carbon footprint stand, stay tuned to the Irish Farmers Journal online net week.
Reducing carbon is one thing but it’s important to recognize the positive contributions of beef farms: “Harry and Joe’s farm feeds 949 people, stores 43t of carbon and maintains 205ha of biodiversity!” #BETTERfarm @teagasc pic.twitter.com/dOTonXuitQ
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
Continental herd here with lots of Salers, Limousin and Charolais breeding. Also some of the reared dairy heifers coming into the herd. #BETTERfarm pic.twitter.com/4OpAS0MLnp
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) July 11, 2019
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