Future Beef Newsletter May 2023
Ken Gill
Michael & Niall Biggins' - Farm Update | Michael McGuigan - Farm Update | Top Tips for May
Top Tips for May
Ken Gill Farmer Profile
Ken Gill with some of his stock in Co. Offaly
Ken is operating an organic suckler-to-beef and tillage enterprise at Ballydermot Organic Farm Ltd, Clonbullogue, Co. Offaly. He also manages forestry and farms full-time.
Farm size: 121.4ha in one block. This is made up of 69.82ha in grassland, 14.23ha in spring oats, 5.92ha combi-crop (peas and wheat), 4.85ha red clover, 3.82ha willow (which supplies the local power station), 2.32ha woodland, and 20.28ha forestry. Being organic means that crop rotation is vital to ensure the continued health of the soil and to aid weed suppression in new swards. For these reasons, grassland and cropping areas change annually.
System: 73-cow autumn-calving suckler herd. The progeny are finished off grass as heifers and bullocks at 24 months of age. The heifers born in 2020 had an average carcass weight of 343kg, grading R=4- and the bullocks had an average carcass weight of 362kg, grading R=3=.The heifers kept for breeding calve between 22 and 26 months of age and 100% AI is used on the farm.
Key focus areas:
- continue to improve the quality of cows using 100% AI – may try sexed semen for 2023;
- improve grass swards through reseeding and using an Einbock grass harrow to stitch in grass/clover mixtures in the old pastures;
- target pre-grazing yields of 1,400kg DM/ha to maximise animal performance and grass growth; and,
- make adjustments to the handling area to improve animal flow and allow scraper access – this will reduce labour and improve health and safety.
Ken's Update - Reaping the benefits of red clover
Swards with a high red clover content have the potential to fix 150-200kg nitrogen (N)/ha, which allows for reduced chemical N use on conventional farms, while reducing greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions.
Different species in the sward allow for enhanced biodiversity, while the deep taproot gives greater drought tolerance and contributes to improved soil structure. Research from Teagasc Grange shows that red clover silage achieves higher voluntary intakes from animals, which supports higher growth levels.
For Ken Gill, red clover fits into his tillage rotation, which is typically: grassland > oats (two years) > red clover (three to four years) > oats (three years) > grassland. The mix used for the current crop was organic and contained 10kg perennial ryegrass, 3kg red clover, and 1kg white clover. It is advisable to use red clover varieties from the UK recommended list as no Irish list is available. Soil fertility is crucial and the red clover field has a pH of 7.1 and is in index 4 for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).
The field yielded 13 bales/acre in 2022. The silage analysis for the first cut showed 77.56% dry matter digestibility (DMD) and 14.8% crude protein at a dry matter of 34.38%.
The Red Clover Silage Measure is open until May 29th and is paying €300/ha to farmers who wish to establish red clover on their farms this year. Find out more here.
To learn more about Ken’s farm this month click here.
Find out more about how Ken manages red clover for silage in the video below:
Farm Update: Michael & Niall Biggins
Michael (left) and Niall Biggins are focused on making high quality silage
Irish weather flipped from one of the driest months on record in February to one of the wettest in many locations around the country during March and early April, according to data released by Met Éireann.
This has meant that closing for silage has been delayed on most drystock farms, which may result in a later cutting date this year. Aiming to harvest high-quality 70% DMD+ silage should always be a target to feed priority stock such as weanlings, finishing stock, or autumn-calved cows.
However, with many farmers using more fodder this year, silage reserves have become depleted. There will be a focus on making sufficient fodder and rebuilding reserves by allowing the crop to bulk up by delaying the cutting date into June. This will result in a drop in silage quality to 68% DMD. This type of silage will be fine for a spring-calving suckler herd that just wants to maintain body condition. Feeding this type of silage to weanlings for example will mean supplementing with at least 2kg of concentrate to meet the target weight gain of 0.6kg/day over the winter period.
Michael and Niall Biggins’ farm is located just outside Glencorrib, south Mayo. They calve all their cows in spring. The Biggins have to readjust their plan in order to still make high quality silage for the weanlings, while providing sufficient fodder for the main suckler herd.
Read more about the Biggins’ operation here.
Farm Update - Michael McGuigan
Michael McGuigan has worked hard to control docks on his farm
Docks are the major weed of intensively managed grassland. Despite the best efforts of many farmers to control them, their persistence is stubborn and unyielding.
There are many species of docks but the most common and damaging in Ireland are the broad leaf dock and curly dock. Docks mainly prosper in silage fields where soil fertility is high. In particular, docks favour high index K soils and silage fields tend to get high volumes of slurry and high K fertiliser.
Silage fields also tend to have an open sward, which favours dock establishment. Docks compete with grass for light, moisture, and nutrients thus, reducing grass yields. The big concern is that with a heavy infestation of docks, silage yields could be reduced by up to 20%.
One dock plant can produce 60,000 viable seeds in a year and the seeds can germinate in the ground from July onwards in favourable conditions. Dock seeds can remain viable in the ground for up to 70 years and will germinate any time when conditions are suitable. Taproots have a large surface area and an ability to take in large amounts of water and nutrients. These taproots can penetrate deeper than one metre into the soil. In this way, it is easy to understand why and how docks persist in grassland swards.
Michael McGuigan is a suckler farmer with 30 cows, and farms outside Longwood in Co. Meath. He has worked hard on controlling docks over the last number of years. While walking the farm last week, it was evident that the majority of the docks are now gone. How has Michael achieved this?
Click here to find out.