Signpost Demonstration Farmers Waterford - Kilkenny
Dairy farmers | Future Beef farmers | DairyBeef 500 farmers
Signpost Dairy Farmers
Shane & John. P Fitzgerald, Portlaw | Steven Fitzgerald, Aglish | Cathal Moran, Skeoughvosteen | Francis Nolan, Muckalee
Shane and John P. Fitzgerald, Portlaw East, Waterford
Shane is farming with his father near Portlaw Co. Waterford. They are farming 92 Ha of which 30 Ha is leased. All the land is available to cows. The heifers are contract reared.
Current farm update
Shane Fitzgerald Farm 2023
Portlaw figures 15th May
Fat%-4.11
Milk-28.8
Protein%-3.52
Milk Solids-2.2
AFC-908
Addition info
1. Grazing got tricky after 13mls fell Sun 7th & 30mls Tue 9th
2. We had to avoid the high clover fields & target the drier paddocks
3. Breeding is going well, 60% of the cows & 75% of the heifers done
Steven Fitzgerald, Aglish, Waterford
Steven is farming with his parents near Aglish in West Waterford. They are farming 121 Ha of which 52 Ha is leased. The milking platform is 70 Ha.
Current farm update
Steven Fitzgerald Farm 2023
Aglish Farm figures May 15th
Milk Kg/Day - 29.1
Fat % - 4.02
Protein % - 3.55
Milk solids/Day Kg - 2.28
Average Farm cover - 615
Demand Kg DM ha - 46
Growth Kg DM ha - 62
Additional Information
- I am very happy with how breding is going, its day 11 & 60% bred
- Strong grass plus 1kg meal. 90% are weaned
- Surplus was taken out over the weekend to ensure PGY is kept at 1400-1500kgs DM/ha
Cathal Moran, Skeoughvosteen, Co. Kilkenny
Cathal is farming 177ha of which 57 is owned. The milking platform consists of 120 Ha. Cathal has 1.5 labour units employed on the farm.
Current Farm Update
Cathal Moran Farm Update October 2022
Milk kg/day: 15.77
Fat %: 5.25
Protein %: 4.21
Milk solids day kg: 1.5
Average farm cover: 633
Growth: 25
Farmer comment
- Have 75% plus closed off, earliest closed paddocks have covers of 900kg DM/Ha at present
- The whole Farm has been soil tested in the last week
Francis Nolan, Muckalee, Co. Kilkenny
Francis is farming near Coolcullen in North Kilkenny. Francis is a new entrant to dairying. He is farming 70 Ha of which 4Ha is rented. All the land is available for cows
Current Farm Update
Francis Nolan, Coolcullen Future Farm 2023
Coolcullen May 15th 2023
Milk Kg/Day-28.87
Fat%-4.16
Protein%-3.5
Milk solids-2.23
Meal-4.5
AFC-695
Growth kg DM ha-61
Additional Info
- Cows have been housed at night with grazed grass being brought in as ground conditions are too wet to graze
Future Beef farmers
Ruairi Cummins, Kilmoganny | Eamonn & Donnchadh McCarthy, Glendine
Eamonn & Donnchadh McCarthy, Carrigeen, Glendine, Co. Waterford
Eamonn farms in Carrigeen, Glendine, Co. Waterford with his son Donnchadh. They both farm part-time. They farm 45.47ha in 3 blocks. The soil type is a free draining brown topsoil with a redish hue in the majority of the farm. The farm is stocked at 110kgs N/HA, they plan to increase stocking rate to 160kg N/HA. They are running a suckling to beef enterprise split into spring & autumn calving consisting of 46 suckler cows. The males are finished as under 16mth bull beef, while the heifers not retained for breeding are finished at 18-20mth. Local advisor is Catriona Foley.
Ruairi Cummins, Rossenarra Demense, Kilmoganny, Co. Kilkenny
Ruairi farms with his wife Helen, children Ciara, Eoin & Laura. He farms 35ha of owned land split into 2 main blocks. He also works off-farm with a local suckler farmer. Soil type on the home block is a dry mineral soil. He is stocked at 156kgs N/Ha. He runs a 45 cow spring calving suckler system with bull calves brought through to slaughter at under 16mth & heifers sold as stores at 16-18 mth. Some of the lighter bull calves are castrated & sold as stores at 16-18mth. Ruairi is using two Charolais stock bulls with a small amount of AI used on the farm. Local Advisor is Enda McLoughlin.
DairyBeef 500 farmers
Peter O'Hanrahan, Thomastown | Richard Long, Ballymacarbry
Peter O'Hanrahan
Having transitioned from a suckler enterprise to calf to beef production a number of years ago, Peter, who farms in partnership with his father Tom – has built numbers to increase output over recent years. From Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny the farm is 94ha with friesian steers and early-maturing steers and heifers. Enda McLoughlin is his local Teagasc advisor.
Richard Long
Richard farms 57ha in Ballymacarbry, Co. Waterford. He brings early-maturing and continental calves out of the dairy herd to beef as steers and heifers at 20-24 months. In the region of 100 calves are purchased each year and the breeds consist of Angus, Hereford, Limousin, Belgian Blue, Aubrac and Charolais. Austin Flavin is his local Teagasc advisor.