On what was a very pleasant spring day in Kildare, a crowd of close to 100 people attended the second Teagasc/Irish Farmers Journal BETTER farm beef challenge spring event on Thursday.
?@TeagascBeef? ?@farmersjournal? BETTER farm beef challenge farm walk kicking off here on Ricky Milligan’s farm just outside Robertstown, Kildare. 49.2 Ha, suckler to finish farm along with some dairy beef. Gross Margin: €367 in 2018, hope to be €863 in 2019. pic.twitter.com/H5BA1pDZau
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) April 11, 2019
The walk, which was hosted by suckler-to-steer and dairy-calf-to-beef farmer Ricky Milligan, covered a broad range of topics focusing on key management factors for this spring.
Plan is to grow dairy beef enterprise to 60 calves alongside 45 sucklers. Going to buy dairy weanlings in 2019 as better value. 2018 a tough year, cost Ricky €20000. Some valuable lessons learned. Big focus on grass and finishing animals off grass. @farmersjournal @TeagascBeef pic.twitter.com/BN5cuE709b
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) April 11, 2019
Disappearing before my eyes
The first stand on the day was presented by BETTER farm adviser Tommy Cox, who gave an in-depth breakdown of the farm’s profit targets for the next three years (Table 1). Given the free-draining nature of the soil on the farm, the drought of 2018 resulted in significantly higher-than-normal expenditure on fertiliser, fodder and concentrates.
Listen to "Ricky Milligan on his farm in Kildare" on Spreaker.
“I think the most stressful time of 2018 was when I looked out on to the silage ground that had been fertilised and I realised the grass was almost disappearing before my eyes,” Ricky reflected.
Soil fertility on the farm: Phosphorus index: 93% index 1 and 2. Potassium index: 81% index 1 and 2. pH is good on the farm. Has changed to compound fertiliser and targeted use of organic manure. High stocking rates need high soils fertility to grow enough grass. @farmersjournal pic.twitter.com/RbaTeZWzGZ
— FJ Beef (@FJBeef) April 11, 2019
Ricky looking at moving to more continentals as terminal sires. Looking at more AI to match cows to bulls and breed high index replacements.Replacement index: €108.Calving interval: 377 days.0.95 calf/cow/year. 100% of heifers calved at 24 mths. @farmersjournal @TeagascBeef pic.twitter.com/AKyFYm7o3B
— Adam Woods (@ajwwoods) April 11, 2019
Other stands on the day featured technical advice in the areas of growing silage crops, optimising soil nutrition, managing grassland weeds and preparing for breeding.
Maximising the value of slurry: slurry should be spread on cloudy, cool, moist days. Spring better than summer for spreading. In terms of spreader Ammonia emissions: 1. Trailing shoe, 2. Dribble bar, 3. Moscha, 4. Splash plate. @farmersjournal @TeagascBeef pic.twitter.com/tIwTWvzYQY
— Adam Woods (@ajwwoods) April 11, 2019
Calf-to-beef
At the stand on dairy calf-to-beef systems, BETTER farm adviser John Greaney went through the key considerations for farmers when it comes to purchasing dairy calves this spring, particularly in relation to price.
No calves purchased in 2019, price was too high, going to target off grass in May/June slaughter date. Going to buy reared calves as better value. Paid €300 for calves last year. @farmersjournal @TeagascBeef pic.twitter.com/Jyh06pYS4z
— Adam Woods (@ajwwoods) April 11, 2019
A calf-rearing budget for Ricky Milligan’s farm in 2018 was also presented (Table 2). “The plan is to certainly have calves on the farm but so far this year I’ve held off on buying any because of price,” said Ricky.
For more, see next Thursday’s Irish Farmers Journal and listen to the podcast above.
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