John Dunne

Farm Profile | Farm Update

Aonghusa Fahy - Farm Update | Technical Update - Reduce Costs and Boost Performance with White Clover on Your Beef Farm | Technical Update - Maximise Your Second Cut Silage Yields This Summer | Upcoming Events | Top Tips for May | The Beef Edge Podcast

Upcoming Events

• Sun 15^th June: AgriAware Farm walk on Aonghusa Fahy’s farm, Ardrahan, Co. Galway

Top Tips for May

Farm Update – Suckler and Dairy Beef System in Co. Offaly: John’s Focus on Fertility, Breeding & Grass Management

John Dunne

John runs a 128-hectare beef and dairy beef enterprise across two blocks near Portarlington, Co. Offaly. His home farm and a 65-hectare leased outfarm—located 18km apart—support an 85 cow spring-calving suckler herd and a dairy beef system.

Each year, John rears 130 dairy beef calves, with the aim of finishing all cattle at approximately 24 months of age. In addition to livestock, he grows spring barley to feed his own cattle and has recently sown 8.3 hectares of red clover silage in 2024 to boost homegrown forage quality.

Breeding Strategy: Building a Better Suckler Herd

After experiencing setbacks with infertile and subfertile stock bulls, John focused on rebuilding his suckler cow numbers. He has reached a point where he no longer needs to buy in replacements and can now breed from his own maternal line. However, he has identified a drop in milk production, which he aims to correct through a targeted AI programme.

This spring, John selected 50 of his best maternal cows, all over 35 days calved, for a synchronised artificial insemination (AI) breeding programme. His goal is to produce high-milk, fertile replacements using three high-performance Simmental AI bulls:

• Lisnacrann Fifty Cent (SI2469): For cows with carcass weight >20kg
• Rubyjen Here’s Johnny (SI4350): For lower carcass cows (<20kg)
• Coose Kingston PP (SI6226): For cows with average carcass weight

All bulls are selected for:

• ≥9kg daughter milk
• ≥14kg carcass weight
• ≤8% calving difficulty (at >85% reliability)
• €150+ on the Eurostar index

AI Synchronisation Timetable:

• Sat 19th April – Progesterone device (P4) inserted + GnRH injection
• Sat 27th April – P4 device removed + prostaglandin & ecG injection
• Tues 29th April – Fixed Time AI

Only cows over 35 days calved were synchronised to maximise conception rates.

Only cows over 35 days calved were synchronised

Heifers will be bred to an Angus AI bull for ease of calving. Remaining cows not in the AI programme will go to the Charolais terminal stock bull, offering strong carcass traits.

Watch the video below to hear John explain how he's managing his outfarm, and why he's investing in AI bulls and synchronisation to improve fertility, performance, and profitability.

Read more here.

Farm Update: Protected urea: A simple step to cut emissions & save money on Aonghusa Fahy’s farm

Aonghusa speaking recently to 2 Agricultural Science classes from the local secondary schools

Aonghusa Fahy runs a 30-cow spring-calving suckler herd across 48 hectares of grassland split between his home farm in Ardrahan, Co. Galway and an outfarm in Tulla, Co. Clare. Farming within a store-to-beef system, Aonghusa is committed to improving performance while reducing the carbon footprint of his beef enterprise.

Recently, he welcomed Agricultural Science students from Clarin College, Athenry and the Presentation Athenry secondary schools to his farm to highlight some of the sustainable changes he has made—starting with his switch from CAN (Calcium Ammonium Nitrate) to protected urea fertiliser.

Aonghusa made the change over four years ago and has seen both environmental and financial benefits:

• Lower workload: With a higher nitrogen content, protected urea requires fewer spreader runs
• Ease of use: Easy to calibrate with existing fertiliser equipment
• Cost-effective: Up to 22c cheaper per kg of nitrogen
• Flexible blends: Can purchase blends containing Sulphur (S) and Potassium (K) as needed
• Reduced emissions:
  • 71% less nitrous oxide than CAN
  • 78% less ammonia loss compared to standard urea
• Suitable for summer spreading, unlike straight urea which carries higher nitrogen loss risk

By adopting protected urea, Aonghusa is improving fertiliser efficiency, lowering input costs, and contributing to climate-smart beef farming in Ireland. He spread 23 units/acre of protected urea on his grazing ground in late February, followed by 2500 gallons of slurry/acre in March and spread another 20 units/acre of protected urea for his April application.

Protected urea is cheaper per kg of CAN

Read more about Aonghusa’s farm update here.

 Technical Update – Reduce Costs and Boost Performance with White Clover on Your Beef Farm

Looking to lower input costs and increase beef cattle performance? Oversowing white clover this May could be one of the smartest moves Irish beef farmers make this year.

1. Cut Fertiliser Bills

White clover naturally fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere, delivering up to 110–120 units of N per acre—the same as 2.5 bags of protected urea (46%).

2. Improve Beef Cattle Weight Gains

Cattle grazing on clover-rich pastures perform better. Teagasc research shows weanlings on a clover diet were up to 27kg heavier at finishing compared to those on grass-only diets.

3. Lower Your Farm's Carbon Footprint

Less chemical nitrogen means lower greenhouse gas emissions. Clover-rich systems can cut GHGs by 6% or more, supporting Ireland’s environmental targets.

Over sowing clover can improve animal performance & reduce costs

Best Time to Oversow: May to Mid-July

For successful establishment:

• Choose fertile, weed-free fields with good soil structure (pH >6.5, Index 3+ P & K)
• Use medium-leaf clover for beef cattle
• Graze or mow tightly before sowing
• Mix 2kg clover seed/acre with 0-7-30 fertiliser and spread in two directions
• Roll after sowing for better seed-to-soil contact

Aftercare Tips

• Graze tight to 4 cm to encourage stolon growth
• Reduce nitrogen use from May as clover starts fixing N
• Watch for bloat, especially after rain or with hungry stock

Maintaining clover-rich swards can reduce fertiliser use, improve weight gain, and support sustainability—a win-win for beef farmers.

Technical Update: Maximise Your Second Cut Silage Yields This Summer

Mark Plunkett, Training and Development Specialist with the Signpost Programme, shares the best fertiliser strategy for second cut silage this year to help rebuild silage stocks.

Silage season is just around the corner

1. Use Cattle Slurry to Save on Fertiliser

Cattle slurry is a valuable source of Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K)—essential for grass regrowth. It also supplies Nitrogen (N), especially when applied using Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) systems, which boost N availability by up to 3 extra units per 1,000 gallons and reduce ammonia losses.

2. Fertilise Based on Yield Targets

Tailor fertiliser rates to expected yields:

• 4t fresh grass/ac (2t DM/ha): 40 units N, 6 units P, 40 units K, 6 units S per acre
  → Apply 2 bags/ac 15-3-20 +S +0.2 bags of pro urea/acre or 1,500 gals/ac slurry + 0.8 bags Protected Urea +S
• 8t fresh grass/ac (4t DM/ha): 80 units N, 13 units P, 80 units K, 12 units S per acre
  → Apply 4 bags/ac 15-3-20 +S + 0.4 bags of pro urea/acre or 2,500 gals/ac slurry + 1.7 bags Protected Urea +S

3. Don’t Forget Sulphur

Apply 6–12 units of Sulphur per acre to support grass dry matter yield and nitrogen efficiency.

Proper planning for your second cut silage—using slurry and the right fertiliser mix—can help maximise yields, reduce costs, and protect soil fertility

You can read more here. 

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