Teagasc Beef Farm Walk 30th March 2023

By Gerry Cregg,

Beef Advisor,

Teagasc Castlerea.

Padraig and Catherine McGrath are to host a Teagasc Beef walk on Thursday 30th March @ 5:30pm in Cloonshanagh, Elphin Co. Roscommon. They calve 40 suckler pedigree cows in June and July every year under the prefix Kye Hereford herd and the pedigree Charolais Drumulian herd. The pedigree Herford and Charolais bulls are sold at 15-20 months at pedigree sales. Heifers that are not kept as replacements are sold as breeding heifers.

In 2022 Padraig and Catherine were focused on reducing costs on the farm particularly through reducing Nitrogen input and making better quality silage.  The decision was made to reseed 15 acres of the silage ground and establish a red clover silage crop. Red clover silage is higher in protein than conventional silage and this combined with its ability to yield over 12-16t DM/ha should allow Padraig and Catherine to reduce their concentrate feed bills and reduce their Nitrogen input. As it has a high protein content of 16 to 20% the feeding value of red clover silage is higher than grass silage resulting in greater animal intakes and higher levels of animal performance. Results from an experiment conducted at Teagasc Grange found the mean liveweight gain in beef cattle offered different types of silage were grass silage 0.59 kg/day, grass/white clover silage 0.83 kg/day and red clover silage 1.04 kg/day. It was sown as part of the Red Clover Silage Measure. Padraig will discuss the management of the crop and its performance to date at the farm walk.

The plan for 2023 is to incorporate white clover on the grazing paddocks on the farm. White clover has rhizobia bacteria in its roots that “fix” nitrogen from the air, and this can supply 50-200 kg N/ha per year. Increasing the clover content in grazing paddocks will result in increased production and quality with less nitrogen fertiliser on the farm. Overall it will help to reduce the need for chemical nitrogen which increases the nitrogen use efficiency on farm to reduce costs. On the day there will be a demonstration of various methods to incorporate clover.

Using Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) Equipment will be demonstrated on the day. By using LESS slurry can be spread on heavy covers and fields with lower Phosphorus and Potassium indexes can be targeted. The fertiliser plan, costs and application rates for grass silage swards will also be discussed on the day.

Maximising days at grass is a key focus for Padraig and Catherine. They will discuss the importance of good grazing infrastructure and the key steps they take to getting stock out to grass early to reduce costs and maximise grass in the diet.

Padraig and Catherine will be sowing over 500 meters of hedging and 300 native tress as part of the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). On the day they will demonstrate how the plants will be sown and managed. The plants must be sown at a rate of five plants per metre in a double staggered row with at least 3 species with no one making up more than 70% of the total.

Local Teagasc advisor Gerard Cregg said ‘There are ongoing concerns around sustained high input prices in 2023. Increasing grazed grass in the diet is one way farmers have in their control to reduce costs. On the day we will focusing on increasing sustainability through the use of red and white clover, improving soil fertility and using LESS technologies This walk will offer an opportunity for farmers to see how Padraig and Catherine are implementing these on this farm’. Contact the Teagasc Office Castlerea for more information on the walk 094 9620160.