Over 400 farmers attended a farm walk hosted by BETTER Farm programme participant Billy Glasheen, Ballingarry, Co Tipperary. The event was the first in a series of regional spring farm walks being held on the BETTER Farms. Billy operates a store-to-beef system and is planning to increase numbers from 109 animals slaughtered in 2013 to 240 cattle by 2015.

Since joining the programme in 2012, Billy has invested heavily in grassland production. He has eliminated all soils at index one on the farm in just over one year which has helped to produce more grass and will support a higher stocking rate in future.

Gross Margin has increased from €205/ha in 2011, when cattle were finished on an ad-lib meal system, to €707/ha in 2013.

While the rising beef price will have had an influence on this increase, the main driver behind the higher GM/ha is animal performance at grass. The farm will be featured in-depth on next week’s BETTER Farm pages.