As we sit dissecting their enterprise at Eamon’s kitchen table, it soon becomes evident that they are a logical, focused duo.

Their farm is split in four, but with a total area of 238 acres it is one of the biggest farms in the programme and one of only two store-to-beef enterprises.

Heifers are bought all year round. Sean and Eamon aim to finish in excess of 400 heifers this year, 200 from grass and 200 out of the shed.

When it comes to stocking the farm, Sean takes the reins. He’s a seasoned campaigner around the rings and knows exactly what kind of beast he wants.

“The breed doesn’t bother me. I want an R-grader, or an O+ at the worst. We look for an animal around 300 to 350kg. Importantly, I don’t want over-done animals. Big fleshy, shiny cattle will go backwards on you for the first few weeks. The best way to describe the heifer I look for is probably one that is “empty with frame”.

Sean’s spec is tight, but obviously achievable given the nature of the stock on the farm: though the fields are a plethora of colour, the bunches are noticeably uniform size-wise.

“In terms of price, we obviously give a bit more for the beefier-type animals. They’ll convert the weight for you. But, when I do my figures after a day in the mart, or at the year’s end, I like to see an average price of €2.40 to €2.45 per kilo paid.”

The herd health strategy on the farm is simple, and it works. Animals arrive straight into an open, straw-bedded shed for 24 hours, regardless of time of year. The next day, they are vaccinated against IBR and blackleg and treated with a pour-on for parasites.

Sean is frustrated that there aren’t more trading farmers in the BETTER farm programme. Recently, Billy Glasheen, the sole other trader in the programme, spoke in the Irish Farmers Journal Grass Plus section of his disillusion with his bull system. Billy sees the future of trading systems being grass-based, like Sean’s.

While many others struggle to see a positive future for trading operations, Sean is defiant. He insists that their system works.

“The most important day of the week is your day in the mart. Or days for that matter – I spend a lot of time buying. It’s a numbers game and joining the BETTER farm programme helped us realise that. While the store heifer system was working for us on a per-head basis, we weren’t getting the most from the farm. We needed to carry more stock.

Since 2011, the Powers’ stocking rate has increased by 25% to 2.4 LU/ha. As a result, both output per hectare and gross profit have increased by 22% (Table 1).

Indeed, trends from most of the programme farms are comparable. But while increasing stocking rate seems the magic pill for beef profitability, Eamon Power says that grassland infrastructure improvements made it all possible.

“At eight acres, our fields were too big. We split plots and introduced more drinkers. It allows us to utilise more grass, carry more groups of stock and take out strong grass much more easily. Our soil tests showed a mixed bag, with some parts of the farm low in P. Slurry is spread on the low-index plots and they receive a bag of 18-6-12 following grazing, while index 3/4 areas get CAN.

Sean is keen to stress how the sheep flock has helped with grassland management. One hundred and eighty ewes lamb in March and a further 450 store lambs are bought in each year. The whole farm is fenced for sheep and their influence on sward density and quality is plain to see. The Powers’ grass swards are like carpets. The sheep’s ability to graze ultra-tight stimulates growth and stops the plant from becoming too strong.

Sean and Eamon aim for a carcase weight of 330 kg. The first of 2016’s animals will be fit in two weeks. From then on, there will be truckloads leaving the farm roughly every fortnight until early 2017. In terms of cashflow on a beef farm, it is the ideal scenario.

In a few weeks, Sean and Eamon will draft aside the more forward heifers. They will aim to finish these outdoors before winter takes hold. As grass feeding value dips in late summer, a couple of kilos of meal under the electric wire will maintain their thrive. The rest will return to the yard for finishing on the TMR, while light heifers bought in the back-end will be stored and sent to grass in 2017.

When it comes to silage, the Powers think outside the box. Relying too much on silage when trying to push on beef animals was growing frustrating.

“There is too much variability around silage quality year-on-year. Then when you’ve to pay a contractor, the question is whether you lean toward bulk or quality. We need quality more so, but then the financials mightn’t add up,” Eamon said.

The Powers reduced their first-cut area by 60% in 2016. Just 20 acres were taken and the tiny pit is a strange sight in a yard that has the housing capacity for 300 animals. Eamon explains the decision.

“We decided to drop the amount of silage in the finishing diet. The quality was too inconsistent when we needed to make a large amount. It now forms part of a TMR based on fodder beet and a simple cereal mix. The quality of the beet and cereal is much more consistent, and someone else is incurring the risk of growing it.

As we stood in the yard, Eamon pointed toward the small silage pit and a stack of fresh round bales made from surplus grazing ground.

“That stuff is top quality. We don’t need bulk anymore and whip paddocks out quickly when grass gets strong. Some of our surplus grazing bales were 84% DMD last year. We’ll store about 100 heifers for the winter when the fattened heifers clear shed space. The silage that is made here will be of good enough quality to store the heifers without any meals and there’ll be a sufficient amount to do so.

Down the line, if there’s a bad year where the main cuts and surplus bales don’t provide enough silage, we would buy it in or look at alternatives.

“Less silage ground means more grazing ground. Feed the grass to the cattle, not the harvester. It’s about converting kilos of grass to kilos of beef at the end of the day,” Sean exclaims.