Ballymore farm event to showcase calf-to-beef development

A farm walk taking place in Ballymore tomorrow will demonstrate a progressive calf-to-beef system being overseen by Teagasc.

Fixed for Wednesday October 4 at 2.30pm, the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef farm walk is taking place on the farm of Michael Ryan and family outside Ballymore.
Farming outside the village, Michael currently runs a dairy calf to beef enterprise and the walk is to focus on Michael’s system of production, what system he previously operated and his plans for the future.
There will be informative talks on grassland management, winter fodder, and Michael’s health programme for the winter period. There will also be discussion on the markets for beef cattle and the financial performance of Michael’s system will be scrutinised.
Traditionally, Michael ran a suckler to weanling system and over the last number of years he started rearing dairy calf to beef stock. As the numbers of calves reared grew, he decided to get out of the suckling enterprise altogether and concentrate solely on the calf to beef enterprise.
Since joining the Teagasc Green Acres calf to beef programme, Michael has continued to develop his calf to beef enterprise and in the spring of 2017 the numbers of calves reared had almost doubled in a three-year period. Traditionally Angus/Hereford heifer calves were bought in April and May and slaughtered out of the shed as 
22 to 24-month-olds. In developing his enterprise, Michael has changed a number of practices on his holding.
Calves are now bought earlier, with all calves on farm before the end of March.
Buying earlier means the calves have a longer first season at grass, benefiting from cheaper weight gain and also allowing many heifers to be slaughtered before the second winter, thereby reducing the overall wintering cost.
Having a lot of heifers slaughtered before the second winter also allows for a higher stocking rate to be carried over the second grazing season, making maximum use of grazed grass in the diet.
 

Automatic

Michael also invested in an automatic milk feeder to reduce the labour involved in rearing a large number of calves in the springtime. Due to the increasing number of calves to be reared, a comprehensive animal health plan was been put in place in conjunction with his local vet, focusing on a good vaccination programme to protect against IBR, pneumonia and clostridia diseases.
This enhanced health programme has greatly helped with increased performance, fewer sick animals, less time spent treating calves and more opportunity to deal with other tasks on the farm.
Calves are bought in at two to three weeks of age, and following a rearing phase for the first 10 weeks they go to grass for their first grazing season receiving one kilo of concentrate. A strategic dosing programme is carried out during the first grazing season.
Depending on weather, animals are generally housed in mid to late November and fed silage and concentrates. Concentrate level is now based on silage quality, with the target that all animals gain a minimum of 0.6kgs per day over the winter period. Animals are treated for worms, fluke and lice.
In the spring, heifers are returned to grass as early as possible. Following a second year at grass, around mid to end of August, heifers are introduced to a finishing diet of 4-5kgs of concentrate at grass. Heifers are slaughtered off grass in October/November with the last few slaughtered out of the shed as they became fit in December/January.
 

Increase

The plan for Michael over the course of the Teagasc Green Acres programme is to increase beef output on the farm and sell more kilos of beef per hectare by utilising more grass. In order to do this Michael has decided to make a few adjustments to his grassland management.
A grassland plan has also been put in place where Michael will make better use of grazed grass through the introduction of a paddock system, grass measuring, maintaining soil fertility levels, getting cattle out earlier and also introducing a reseeding programme. Over 10% of the farm has been reseeded each year over the last three years.
Michael will be available on the day to answer any questions in relation to challenges and rewards of setting up a dairy calf to beef enterprise. There will be excellent information available on the day with advisers and specialists from Teagasc along with representatives from the sponsoring companies available to answer queries in relation to calf to beef systems. All are welcome to attend.
This farm walk is a DAFM-approved Knowledge Transfer event.