BETTER farm: Ricky happy with his Herefords in Co Kildare

Suckler to steer beef and dairy calf-to-beef farmer Ricky Milligan farms 64ha of free-draining land on the outskirts of Robertstown, Co Kildare. He also has a tillage operation. Ricky has a herd of 40 suckler cows, with a rich vein of Hereford genetics running through the bloodline, with only some Limousin, Simmental and Angus in the herd also. To supplement output on the farm, 40 dairy calves were purchased to rear in the spring, and these too are Hereford cross.

Hereford is a traditional breed, which was historically very common in Ireland. The influx of continental breeds into the national suckler herd in recent decades has subsequently led to the rapid decline of the traditional Hereford and Angus breeds. Both breeds are well known for their smaller frames, meat quality and early maturing characteristics, which enables them to lay down fat at an earlier age compared with their later-maturing continental counterparts.

It is for the latter two characteristics that Ricky has opted to use the Hereford genetics within his herd: “Because I am limited with the housing I have on the farm, I decided a few years ago to bring in a breed that I wouldn’t have to house for the second winter. I aim to kill my steers at 22 months and my heifers at 20 months and I felt Herefords would suit this system.”

The breed is also given recognition by meat factories throughout the country, through the Irish Hereford Prime bonus scheme. The scheme provides a top-up on the base price per kilo offered by the processor. A standard top-up of €0.10/kg is the minimum bonus available for pre-booking, and this can climb to €0.20/kg in off-season periods. Grading bonuses of €0.02 to €0.06 on R to U grades also apply. Only carcase weights of between 220kg to 380kg are accepted. For Ricky, however, it is important not to get caught up in bonuses when it comes to sale time: “I think rather than looking at how high the bonuses may or may not be, it is priority to look at the cattle first and make sure that they are fit to sell before anything else.”

Drought impact

Due to the recent drought, Ricky faced a constant uphill battle to ensure his stock’s performance didn’t take a hit. “There were some days during the last month when I came out to the farm and I was very frustrated – everyone was. Nobody minds feeding bales of silage in the winter time when your overalls are on and you’re geared up for it – it’s really not a nice job in the summer though.” Thankfully, when I visited Ricky last week, a good amount of rain had fallen prior to that and, much to his relief, the fields had started to regain their normal, green complexion. “Do I think we are back on track where we should be? No. To be honest, I think the track is gone. However, I’m delighted to see that growth is back up and running and hopefully I can save some more fodder before the winter.”

After completing a fodder budget based on a six-month winter with Teagasc/ Irish Farmers Journal BETTER farm adviser Tommy Cox and local B&T adviser Fiona Doolin, Ricky looks set to have a deficit of approximately 60t of silage, which factors in the conservation of 30ac of second-cut silage over the next two months. Considering Ricky is feeding 3.5t per day, a 60t deficit equates to just 17 days short of a six-month winter and, given the farm’s location, this shouldn’t be an issue.

This 60t figure did not come without sacrifice, however. Despite his preference to sell stock early, Ricky always allows for the housing of 20 of his lightest steers and heifers to finish out of the shed. These stock have now been excluded from the winter budget, meaning they will have to be slaughtered by October at the latest. For this to happen, meal feeding started last week. “My finishing heifers are on 3kg of concentrates for the last month. My plan, over the next six weeks, is to start drawing out groups for slaughter as I see fit.” Ricky admits, it’s not his preference, but he is left with very little option: “Look, I am selling these heifers at lighter weights and obviously that will mean less money, but on the other hand I think buying expensive feed, which could be poor quality, is the worse of the two options.”

Thriving steers

While Ricky’s heifers may have been subject to a slight shortage of fresh grass at times, he was extremely reluctant to let his steers take a hit: “The bullocks didn’t take a hit, only because I grazed my second-cut silage. As it worked out, I got the best of both worlds: my silage ground is as strong again now as it was three weeks ago, and I think my bullocks are the best they have been in years.” At present, they are on 4kg of ration and Ricky will be drafting out groups for slaughter over the coming months, similar to the heifers.

Calves are also thriving well despite the recent difficult conditions. The creep feeder was introduced three weeks ago and, while it might be early, Ricky is glad he did so as the concentrates more than made up for the drop in milk yield in his cows. The recent weights of all stock are shown in Table 1.

With all finishing stores leaving the farm before winter housing, Ricky will be left with three main groups of stock to house and feed: his 40 suckler cows, their 40 weanling calves and 40 dairy calves. As mentioned, Ricky’s housing facilities are limited, particularly in regard to slatted tanks. With a reliance on dry bedded sheds and bearing in mind the difficulty sourcing straw, Ricky is turning to bedding alternatives: “I’m going to try and use peat and see how it goes. I plan to put a depth of 18in in the sheds so I figure I will need just over 100t.”

Ricky has good quality straw saved already, but he has much of this earmarked for cows calving and also for buffer feeding cows.

Like the majority of farmers on lighter soil, it has been a testing period for Ricky. The extended dry spell, coupled with the difficult spring left it difficult to save much-needed fodder reserves. However, a number of proactive steps were taken to ensure the required level of feed would be achieved. While this year has been one to forget, I know Ricky will continue to drive on his farm to reach its full potential.