Ger McSweeney
William Kingston - Farm Update | John Pringle - Farm Update | Top Tips for September | Scheme Deadline | Upcoming Events
National Beef Welfare Scheme - closing date September 12
Applications are open online at www.agfood.ie for the National Beef Welfare Scheme and will remain open until midnight on September 12. Applicants may apply themselves online or they can get their approved Farm Advisory System (FAS) advisor to apply. It is important to note that there is no late application facility with this Scheme, so September 12 will be the final date for applications. applications.
Farmer Profile: Ger McSweeney
Ella, Ger and Karen McSweeney
Ger McSweeney farms with his wife Karen and daughter Ella in Tooreenbawn, Milstreet, Co. Cork. He works full-time on farm. He is farming 31.1ha in four blocks. He owns 13.22ha and rents 17.88ha.
The soil is heavy mineral. Over the last number of years he has concentrated on improving the infrastructure and soil fertility to allow him to get stock out earlier and keep them out. He is stocked at 140kg nitrogen (N)/ha.
Ger runs a suckling to beef system consisting of 38 spring-calving suckler cows. The males are finished as under-16 month bull beef, while the heifers not retained for breeding are finished at 21 months. He is using 100% AI to allow him to use the best genetics available. Two years ago Ger installed an Alflex SenseHub to aid in heat detection.
The farm is well paddocked with 37 main divisions and the ability to split fields with temporary fencing. Ger is measuring grass and using PastureBase Ireland and his Teagasc Advisor is Shane Randles.
Ger's plan is to get to 40 suckler cows and to increase the efficiency on farm. Reducing the age at slaughter for heifers and increasing the amount of grass grown through improved soil fertility by liming are the main focus areas. He also wants to look at increasing calves/cow/year and incorporating clover to reduce chemical N usage.
Click ‘Read more’ to learn more.
Farm Update - Ger McSweeney
Ger is planning to wean the suckler bulls in mid October and the heifers on November 1. Weaning is a stressful period for calves and Ger’s aim is to reduce changes to their environment as much as possible.
The calves have been creep grazing paddocks ahead of the suckler cows by going under the electric fence. This helps to break the cow-calf bond and gives them access to the best quality grass while the cows can graze paddocks tighter. It also helps to reduce the worm burden on the calves.
Ger started using nose paddles to wean his calves last year and found that they worked well. One week before weaning, the nose paddles are fitted on the calf. This prevents them for suckling and helps to break the maternal bond.
The herd is then brought into the yard, the calves are separated and have the nose paddles removed and the cows are housed. The bulls are typically kept in the shed too and the heifers go back to grass, weather permitting. Watch the video below to see Ger’s vaccination protocol and meal feeding pre-weaning, and click ‘Read more’ for further information.
Farm Update - William Kingston
Aisling, Chloe, William, Mark and Diana Kingston
William Kingston has 22 bulls for finishing under 16 months of age this year. Eight bulls were housed for finishing on August 1. They were selected according to their date of birth, which was around August 1, 2022 and they are due to be finished in November.
They were dosed with an albendazole drench for gastrointestinal worms and lung worms. No vaccinations are given as the herd is closed and no issues have historically arisen with pneumonia at housing.
The bulls were fed no ration pre housing due to time pressure during silage season, cows calving and challenging ground conditions. At housing, they started eating 3kg/head/day of a 15% crude protein, high energy ration, which was split into two feeds. This was built up gradually (0.5kg every three days) and they will eventually be finished on 10-12kg/head/day.
The next batch for finishing will soon be housed and they will also start on 3kg of ration/head/day. They will be housed separately to the first batch of bulls to help avoid any fighting in the shed. There is a range of 17 weeks between the youngest and oldest bulls, but they averaged 424kg on June 24, 2023.
If weather conditions improve, the remaining bulls will be fed 2-3kg/day at grass before housing, to help adjust them to their new diet. Click ‘Read more’ for further information.
Farm Update - John Pringle
John Pringle
For the first time in almost five years, there is plenty of grass in Aughrim, Co. Wicklow. The suckler calves are looking well and will be weighed for the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) within the fortnight.
They will also get their first shot of Bovipast to cover RSV, Pi3 and mannheimia haemolytica, meaning the second shot will be given around October 10, in plenty of time before weaning or housing. John plans to give IBR Live with the second shot of Bovipast. Its cover lasts for six months so he doesn’t want to give it too early.
So far John has heard no coughing in the calves, so is going to do a faecal egg sample to see if he needs to dose when they are in for weighing and vaccination.
The lambs are drafting well. John has pulled 70 ewe lambs and 60 have already gone to the factory, killing out at 19.7kg. He has another 60 ready to go in the next week or so, and the rest (approximately 130) are on meal and plenty of grass. They are 37-38kg on average, so he is not concerned about them not being gone by the end of October.
Ewes are following the lambs, but grass is plentiful so they are in great condition. John is hoping for a better breeding season than last year. His scan was down 0.2 lambs per ewe, a hangover from the drought.
John has four acres of swedes and they are really pushing on after a worrying start. He has 38 bales, which will keep the ewes from mid November to housing, allowing him to save up grass for the spring. He strip grazes them and has the required 1ha per ha of crop.
John will apply his last round of fertiliser over the next week or so, before the weather cools. He expects a good response with the warm wet conditions. The red clover silage and multispecies swards are all powering on, says John: “All in all things are good and it’s all down to weather!”
Lastly John bought a new bull for replacements and the heifers.
Click ‘Read more’ to see his figures and to find out more on all of the above.
Clockwise from top left: New LM bull; cows and calves; multispecies sward; red clover silage cut August 11 – no fertiliser, just 1,500 gallons slurry); swedes; and, another cow with calf.
Upcoming Events
Three excellent farm walks coming up on Suckling- come meet the farmers, talk through their systems, breeding policy, grassland management and financials. We will have free refreshments after and you can talk to staff from Teagasc, Animal Health Ireland (AHI), the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Bord Bia on all things suckler beef. These are free events and all are welcome.
- Thursday the 7th of Sept – Ger Mc Sweeney – Millstreet, Cork at 2.00pm (Parking at St. Nicholas Church, Kilcorney. Eircode: P51 FW65)
- Friday the 8th of Sept – Kildalton College at 2.30pm Eircode E32 YW08
- Wednesday the 13th of September – Wesley Browne – Monaghan at 5.30pm Eircode: H18 R921.
