I farm: “Around 200 head on 55ha. I operate a dairy calf-to-beef system and buy in some stores. I buy 60 calves at three to five weeks old from three different farmers. They are a mix of Angus, Herefords, and Belgian Blues. I also buy dairy-bred Limousin heifers at 400kg. They are here for one winter and they go to the factory the following spring off grass.”
Dairy: “I was dairy farming up until four years ago. It wasn’t a hard decision to get out of the cows, my children are grown up, and I decided to go for a better lifestyle. I have two daughters, Ciara and Emma. Ciara has a good interest and gives me a hand in the evenings. My wife Cathrina looks after the paperwork.”
Silage: “I have my own mower and tedder. I just ring the contractor to bale or pit. We cut silage on 13 May this year. Last year’s silage was 80% DMD. First and second cuts go into a pit; we bale the rest.”
Reseeding: “We reseed at least 10 acres a year to keep it right. I put in a red clover silage mix, it was very good for the first two years, we got four cuts every year. It’s all about quality. I think if you are finishing cattle, you should adopt the same thing as you did when you are dairying and go for quality in grass and silage.”
Finishing: “It’s a simple enough system. I squeeze the bulls – I don’t keep bulls on the farm at all. Everything here is brought to beef. Heifers are finished at 26 months, bulls at 28. I try to get them into 350-360kg carcase weight.”
Meal: “There’s no real need for a whole lot of meal. They get meal in the first winter, but I try to finish from grass. The only thing that is getting meal here at the moment are bullocks, they were too far on to let out. They get around 6.5kg of meal a day and bale silage. They’ll be 28 months at slaughter and hopefully come into 360-370kg carcase weight.”
SHARING OPTIONS