At Thursday’s Teagasc/Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef Challenge open day, attendees learned that Wesley Browne’s suckler herd is inside the top 5% of herds in the country based on the ICBF €uro-Star replacement index.

Breeding

Alongside Wesley at the breeding stand was Teagasc drystock adviser Mairead Kirk and Irish Farmers Journal beef specialist Matthew Halpin.

“The average €uro-Star value of the herd is €111,” said Halpin. “That puts the herd inside the top 5% of herds nationwide."

When asked about his cow type, Wesley explained that “the cow type on the farm is primarily Simmental crossed with Limousin, Angus and Salers. I have always bred for a highly maternal cow.”

Looking deeper into the figures presented on the day, both carcase weight and daughter milk figures are hugely impressive at +20kg and +7.3kg, respectively.

There herd’s calving KPI’s were also presented (Table 1).

One of the main points for discussion on the breeding stand was 24-month-old calving.

Kirk highlighted the main benefits associated with calving at two years of age.

“You are looking at increased output of the cow over her lifetime, faster genetic progress and a lower proportion of non-productive females in the herd.”

Top tips given by Wesley included close monitoring of heifer weights from the calf stage right up to when they calve. Also, “having a bull you can trust to be easy calving is a big help. If a heifer gets a hard calving it’s going to set her back,” he said.

A board showing weight for age targets suggested a liveweight of 275-300kg at weaning/housing and a bulling weight of 380-420kg depending on the breed.

Grassland management

Speaking alongside Wesley at the grassland management stand was BETTER Farm adviser Tommy Cox.

The foundations of grass growth were first discussed. Greaney said that “soil samples taken on the farm in early 2017 showed that lime status was a major issue. P and K also needed attention”.

He added that a soil pH of between 6.3 and 6.5 is the ideal to allow for maximum nutrient uptake by roots of the grass.

Wesley said: “We pretty much went about fixing the problem straight away. Sixty tonnes of lime were spread in 2017 and another 160t were spread last year."

With progress being made on soil fertility, better grassland management was then needed to reap the full benefits.

Cox said: “Clever use of temporary fencing, good positioning of water troughs and better structuring of grazing groups has meant Wesley can manage grass much better now at a relatively low-investment cost.”

“To properly manage grass, it has to be measured. Do the sums on it, every extra tonne of grass DM grown per ha is worth €105. On this 58ha grazing block that’s €6,000,” he added

Wesley added: “There are 51 paddocks on the farm now compared to set-stocked fields in 2017. Last year's PastureBase report showed I grew 3t (DM) more grass than the year before.”

The grazing season has also increased by a month and the stocking rate has gone up by 0.2LU/ha.

The final BETTER farm summer open day will take place on Thursday 11 July, on Harry and Joseph Lalor’s farm in Ballacolla, Co Laois, Eircode R32CX29. Walks will take place at 2pm and 5pm. The event is a DAFM knowledge transfer-approved beef event and will feature a look at financial performance, breeding, grassland management, alternative forages and the topical issue of carbon footprint of beef. Live demonstrations will also take place on the day.