Trevor Minion

Address: Ballinteskin, Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow

Farm Size: 54 Ha all owned

Soil type: Clonroche soil series (Fine loamy drift with siliceous stones) - Free draining farm suitable for early turn-out in spring

Farming system: Suckler calf-to-beef and dairy-calf-to-beef with tillage

Farm plan: Trevor plans to increase his suckler cow herd from 25 to 40 cows all calving within a 12 week period from late January to mid-April and increase the size of his dairy calf-to-beef enterprise. Ultimately, the goal is to produce an output of beef of €1,800/Ha and control variable costs to 40-45% of this output value to achieve the target €1,000/Ha gross margin. Maintaining a compact calving pattern and keeping the calving interval close to 365 days will be important. Improving animal weight for age through good herd health, cow milk yield, grassland and nutrition will be critical.

This farm demonstrates how a dairy calf-to-beef enterprise can complement a suckler calf-to-beef enterprise to increase farm stocking rate and output.