Niall and Jane Patterson, Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, will host the first of the autumn walks in the BETTER farm programme. The farm has gone through a lot of changes over the past few years and the Pattersons are consistently trying to increase the gross margin and output from the farm, which is heavy in nature.

The wet and relatively cold summer has taken its toll on the farm over the past few months. Because the farm type itself is very heavy and difficult in nature, a number of changes have taken place. These include the addition of a sheep enterprise to help utilise grass on the wettest parts of the farm or to utilise grass in early spring or winter, when ground may be too wet to carry cattle or weanlings.

The farm itself is 32ha of grassland carrying 30 suckler cows, 70 mid-season ewes and 30 ewe hoggets. The farm is typical of the area and is fragmented in nature with three sections in total. The cows are calving from December to March and all weanlings are sold at approximately 10 months of age.

Over the past few years, there has been a focus on increasing output and the quality of cattle produced on the farm. Artificial insemination (AI) and a stock bull are used; for replacements, the Limousin stock bull and AI is used, while Belgian Blue AI sires are used as a terminal sire to increase the sale value of terminal progeny.

Costs on heavy land

Despite having excellent quality stock in the herd, land type and weather have the greatest effect on the profitability at farm level.

Table 1 details the cost of keeping a cow on the farm in 2013 versus 2014, with figures generated from the Teagasc e-Profit monitor. The fodder crisis and long winter in 2013 had a profound effect on costs. The feed cost for that year was €225/cow, with total variable costs coming in at €738/cow. The output was €821/cow, resulting in a gross margin of €82/cow. In 2014, although all costs bar feed were up, the output was also up at €1,021/cow. Total variable costs were €683/cow, while gross margin was €338/cow.

Profit monitor

Table 2 details the profit monitor analysis for the farms over the past few years. Although the stocking rate is one of the lowest in the programme at 1.87/ha, increasing the stocking density on this land type could lead to higher costs and a lower margin.

The constant struggle is to keep variable costs and, in particular, feed costs to a minimum. In 2011, although cow numbers were higher at the time, output was €953/ha.

With lower cow numbers in 2014, improved weight for age has resulted in the liveweight output increasing slightly on a per-hectare basis, while output value jumped by €417/ha to €1,370/ha.

Variable costs have been changeable due mainly to weather-related issues, ranging from €710/ha to €1,080/ha. The gross margin last year hit €453/ha, up from €243/ha in 2011.

Breeding performance

Table 3 details the key calving details of the farm over the past few years. The number of cows in the herd has decreased slightly over the past few years in line with the increase the ewe flock.

Fertility is paramount; the aim is to have a calving date as close as possible to 365 days. During the breeding season, cows are served by AI for the first eight weeks. The stock bull, sired by Ampertaine Commander, has good maternal traits and is used when cattle are out at grass.

The average calving interval was running at 394 days in 2013, which dropped to 372 days in 2013-2014.

Over the past few years, the calving spread has been tightened from 20 weeks back to 12 to streamline work on the farm as Niall works full-time off farm.

Weather has had a serious effect on the fertility of the herd over the years, but all efforts are made to keep energy high in the diet even throughout periods where cows are housed during the breeding season.

Mixed grazing

The introduction of the sheep enterprise has been a major benefit to grassland management on the farm.

As the land type is heavy, grass utilisation can be tricky during a poor summer such as this one, and particularly in the shoulders of the year. The addition of the ewes has meant that grass can be grazed at times of the year when it is not possible to do so with cows, weanlings or replacement heifers.

In addition to this mixed grazing on the farm, the use of dry ewes has been beneficial as along with reducing worm burdens, etc, the ewes can be used to graze out paddocks after cows and calves to ensure quality regrowth.

Investing in land drainage

Most of the farm was drained in the 1970s but, in recent years, the Pattersons have embarked on the drainage crusade once again as a number of the old drains have broken down and stopped working.

Drainage work is carried out on a field-by-field basis. Drains have been installed at a depth of 0.8m and placed 20m apart. An 80mm drainage pipe was used, as well as 40mm clean stone for the shores.

A mole plough was then used at an angle to the pipes to create fissures and allow water to permeate to the drains. After this, fields were ploughed and reseeded. Grass production on the farm has doubled through reseeding, drainage and improving soil fertility.

When reseeding land post-drainage, grass mixes that are suitable for heavy land and with good ground cover and persistency were selected. The mix used this year consisted of Aberchoice, Tyrella and Drumbo. The Pattersons estimate that the drainage and reseeding work has cost about €759/acre (€1,875/ha), plus VAT.

  • Stocking increased from 1.47LU/ha to 1.87LU/ha.
  • Output value increased from €953/ha to €1,370/ha.
  • Ewe flock of 70 ewes present to aid grassland management.
  • Drainage works carried out to improve trafficability.
  • 2013 had a severe negative effort on gross margin due to higher feed costs.
  • Gross margin in 2014 was €453/ha.