BETTER Farm Beef Challenge
Phase 3 of the Teagasc / Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef Programme commenced in early 2017. Now titled the BETTER Farm Beef Challenge, each of the 22 farmer participants will have to select from a list of mandatory and optional challenges to tackle over the next four years.
The Teagasc / Irish Farmers Journal BETTER Farm Beef Challenge is supported by ABP, Dawn Meats, FBD and Kepak. Martina Harrington is the manager while John Greaney and Tommy Cox will work with the participants as they address the challenges ahead.
Each farmer participant will select from a list of mandatory and optional challenges to tackle over the four years of the programme. The BETTER Farm Beef challenges are:
- Two tonne grass challenge - All farms to aim to increase by 2 Tonne/DM/ha
- Farm finance challenge - Gross margin target €1250/ha on average
- Breeding challenge - Increase average replacement value of herd by €20 over course of programme and meet all herd fertility targets
- Herd health challenge - Aim to reduce antibiotic input by 20% and develop herd health plan
- Soil fertility challenge -Aim for 70% of farm at index 3 P&K. Ph - aim for 6.1 (5.7 on peat soils)
- Green farming challenge - incorporate clover into 20% of swards
- Meet the markets challenge - All farms quality assured. All stock to meet processor specifications.
- Farm safety challenge - Farms to introduce 2 positive changes annually
- Mixed grazing challenge -Establish blueprint for successful mixed grazing on farms
- Labour/structures challenge - Labour use focus/ Drystock farm partnership focus
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