Joe Murray

Address: Gortnacloy, Elphin, Co. Roscommon

Teagasc Advisor: Gerry Cregg

Farm Size: 52ha. Approximately 40ha owned and the rest is leased

Farming system: Joe’s farm would be heavy type land. He has a herd of 78 continental crossbred cows and these are crossed back to Charolais through AI or using the stock bull. Milkier type cows would be crossed to the Shorthorn stock bull to breed replacements. All bulls are sold as weanlings and heifers are kept over the winter and sold in the spring.

Farm Plan: Achieving high output combined with improved technical efficiency should improve the farms gross margin. The main aim of the farm plan is to maximise output on the farm while controlling costs of production by focusing on a grass based system. The main emphasis on the farm is to maximise the proportion of highly digestible grazed grass into the animal’s annual feed budget.