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With policymakers considering how future farm payments might reward farmers who lower greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, those who have already taken steps to reduce carbon output should not be forgotten, a leading NI grassland farmer has suggested.
“Hopefully, policy will recognise things that are already done to balance the equation,” Greyabbey farmer John Martin told attendees taking part in a British Grassland Society visit to his farm last Monday.
The main enterprise on the 73ha Martin farm is a flock of 730 ewes, but the Martins have a long-standing short-rotation coppice willow enterprise of around 15ha.
Harvested every three years, the willow is dried on farm, and the resultant woodchip utilised as a renewable heating source at a local National Trust property.
John told visitors that the financials around the willow enterprise “stand up fairly well”, but given the crop was established in 2004-2005 it is now reaching the end of its productive life, and a decision will have to be made about what he does next. One alternative is that he waits to see what incentives might be in place to encourage future growing of energy crops in NI.
It highlights a delicate balance in policy development between encouraging change, while also rewarding those who are already making a positive impact (whether by growing energy crops, sequestering carbon in soils and trees, etc).
Sheep flock
The sheep on the Martin farm are homebred with Highlander, Belclare and Aberfield genetics used to create a composite ewe.
Ewes are split into two batches, with 160 ewes lambing in January to maternal rams, and providing replacements for the flock.
The main bulk of the ewes are lambed in March.
Replacement ewe lambs are chosen from ewes that lambed easily, and mostly had a multiple birth. All purchased rams are performance recorded.
John has looked at wool shedding genetics but “I am not there yet,” he said.
With a high stocking rate of 14 ewes/ha across 52ha, and also a dairy heifer-rearing enterprise on the farm, grassland management has to be a top priority.
Stock are rotationally grazed, with grass measured weekly.
In 2021, growth across the paddocks ranged from 8t to 18t dry matter per hectare (DM/ha), with an average of 11.5t. In a good year (such as 2019), up to 13.5t is grown.
The land is free-draining, and in a dry area (only 216mm of rain since 1 January 2022), so moisture is often the limiting factor in grass growth during summer months.
John has planted some multispecies swards on the farm, which should help reduce reliance on nitrogen fertiliser and improve resilience during dry periods.
“We will focus more on clover and multispecies swards. There is mileage in it, but I wouldn’t want the whole farm in multispecies swards,” he said.
Silage
Last year, the Martins made excellent first-cut silage, with a D-value of 75 and ME of 12MJ.
While the Ards peninsula might be a dry part of the country, it did get rain at the end of May which made silage making difficult.
“Our silage this year is stemmier than I would like, and has more effluent than I would like,” said John.
He is also one of seven farms across NI currently participating in an AgriSearch-led project looking at the potential to target worm dosing treatments at selected groups of stock, so as to minimise the threat of anthelmintic resistance.
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