Meet some of the Signpost Farmers and see what they're doing on their farms

Aidan and Luke Maguire farm just over 46ha of free-draining land near Navan in Co Meath. They are operating a dairy-calf to beef enterprise with a high stocking rate of 2.8 LU/ha on the whole farm. Aidan was Teagasc Drystock Grassland Farmer of the Year in 2021. With the price of nitrogen (N) rising in late 2021, Aidan began to research ways to reduce chemical N for 2022. He had heard about the benefits of both white and red clover in grassland swards.

But he was worried about the impact of incorporating clover in the swards and reducing chemical N use on the quantity of grass the farm would grow, particularly as he is operating at a high stocking rate on the farm.

After consultation with his local Teagasc adviser David Argue and DairyBeef500 Programme adviser Fergal Maguire, he decided the benefits of incorporating clover outweighed the risks. So, a plan was formulated to reseed 5ac of silage ground with a red clover mix and incorporate white clover into an existing reseed through over-sowing.

The red clover sward was sown on 1 May and the mix was 12kg of perennial ryegrass and 4kg of red clover. To date, the red clover sward has performed exceptionally well, delivering three cuts of silage and two grazings in the autumn. In total, it has grown over 10t DM/ha since it was sown on 1 May. The only fertiliser that this red clover sward has received is three bags/ac of 10-10-20 at sowing and 2,000 gallons/ac of slurry after each cut of silage.

Aidan has been so impressed with the red clover silage that he reseeded another 5ac of silage ground with red clover in August. The average DMD of the red clover silage is 74 DMD. Aidan would normally use about 1t of CAN along with slurry to fertilise 5ac of silage annually, which is a considerable saving with the clover.

Aidan firmly believes that red clover silage swards will have a massive role to play on Irish farms to reduce our dependence on chemical N, save on costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Using slurry to reduce chemical N usage

Upon joining the Future Beef Programme James Skehan was determined to start spreading slurry by low emission slurry spreading (LESS) instead of by the splash plate. He was aware that by changing spreading method to the dribble bar it would save an extra 3 units of nitrogen for every 1,000 gallons spread.

He took a sample of the slurry from his weanling tank and the results showed that it contained 9 units of nitrogen, 6 units of phosphorus and 31 units of potassium per 1,000 gallons.

James was happy with the results and used the information to balance up the chemical fertiliser applications for silage. The slurry was spread by his contractor with the dribble bar on 2 April for first-cut silage at a rate of 3,000 gallons per acre.

This was then topped up with 58 units/ac of nitrogen, which was spread in the form of protected urea, amounting to 85 units of nitrogen, 18 units of phosphorus and 93 units of potassium per acre. This was sufficient to replace the nutrient offtakes from first-cut silage.

Apart from the nitrogen savings and environmental benefits of using the dribble bar, he had more flexibility to spread slurry on heavier covers of grass in lower index fields to help build the soil fertility.

It also meant that cattle could graze paddocks quicker than if slurry was spread with the splash plate and there was no smell afterwards, which was an added benefit to the neighbours.

By knowing the quality of the slurry through analysis and spreading slurry in spring using the dribble bar instead of the splash plate, James was able to reduce his chemical fertiliser usage this year.

In total, this saved him 9 units of nitrogen per acre, which amounts to €20/ac (at €1,000/t for protected urea) in that land block.

Extra savings have also been made by using protected urea to replace all straight nitrogen used on the farm, which is cheaper per unit of nitrogen and saved him €67/ac for first-cut silage in the same field.

Saved €12,700 and reduced emissions by 5% on my farm this year

Shane O’Hanlon and Padraig Costigan of Teagasc report from John and Debbie Sheridan’s farm in Killoskehane, Borrisoleigh, Thurles, Co Tipperary. John has worked closely with Mark Bourke (Centenary Co-op), Padraig Costigan (local Teagasc adviser) and Shane O’Hanlon (Signpost Programme adviser) to put in place a plan to reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the farm.

Using protected urea as his main source of N was identified as an “easy win” for John. “I made the call to my local co-op (Centenary Co-op) and ordered the fertilisers based on my nutrient management plan,” John explained.

“Having learned that protected urea grows 13% more grass than urea and also has lower ammonia emissions, I swapped my urea to protected urea and was happy with the results.”

Throughout the entire year, 70% of nitrogen fertiliser purchased on John’s farm was a protected fertiliser.

“Financially, it made sense to switch over to protected urea. For every 5t of CAN I would normally use, I switched to 3t of protected urea and I saved €1,200”.

Switching from CAN to protected urea contributed to a saving of €8,000 in John’s overall fertiliser bill. By adopting protected urea, John also reduced total GHG emissions on his farm by 4%.

In 2021, John spread 211kg N/ha. In 2022, he has reduced the nitrogen use to 175kg N/ha, or a reduction of 17%, compared to 2021. Based on PastureBase data up to 1 October in both years, John’s grass grown in 2022 was 10,302kg DM/ha compared to 10,865 kg DM/ha in 2021.

The reduction in yield in 2022 is due to drought and reflective of its impact on yield across the country. This reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use has saved a further €4,700. It has also reduced overall GHG emissions on John’s farm by an additional 1%.

“Overall, I have saved €12,700 and reduced my overall farm emissions by 5%, by changing fertiliser products and reducing my nitrogen application slightly for every grazing round.

“It was the most valuable phone call I made in 2022. Ordering protected urea will be the first phone call I will make for 2023,” he said.

Making best use of soil analysis results

John O’Connell farms in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, alongside his wife Amanda and their three children. The O’Connells operate a mid-season lambing flock alongside a dairy heifer contract rearing enterprise. A key part of John’s plan to increase the sustainability of his farm has been to improve the soil fertility on the farm.

The farm was soil sampled again this year and based on these results, the fertiliser programme for the farm has been updated, which John has done with his Teagasc team – local adviser Tom Coll, sheep specialist Ciaran Lynch and researcher Frank Campion.

A lot of effort has been put into addressing low soil pH across the farm in recent years and John has been spreading lime in response to his soil analysis results.

“One of the first things I had to do to improve my soil fertility and grow more grass was to spread lime, as a lot of the farm was below pH 6.2,” he commented.

“It can be challenging to get lime spread here, as my land can be very wet for long periods of the year, but it pays to be organised and get it spread when the conditions are right’’ John explained.

Just over 64% of the farm area is now at the target pH of 6.2 or higher, which will help to improve the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) indexes across the farm and the response to fertiliser.

John has been measuring grass for a number of years now and sees big benefits from it, even from monitoring the effects of improving his soil fertility.

‘’I grew 13.7t of grass DM/ha in 2021 and 14.4t of grass DM/ha in 2022 without increasing the level of chemical N I’m spreading and I’m using the soil analysis to make better use of the fertiliser I do spread,” he said.