Sean Hayes
Location: Tulla, Co. Clare
Farm Size: 63.9ha - variable
System: Suckler to store
Details:
Sean currently runs a suckler to store system, calving 40 cows in the spring and an additional 20 in the autumn. Like many farms in the west his ground is fragmented with many parts heavy in nature.
Quality of stock isn’t an issue on the farm as Sean carries out AI himself, running the later calving cows with a terminal Charolais stock bull. Facilitating cheap weight gain on cattle from grass needs to be pushed here as it is the cornerstone of all beef systems. Silage quality must be of super quality to keep the fed costs of his autumn cows down.
System needs to be simplified as he works off-farm part time also. Cutting down on cow-numbers and bringing all progeny to finish must be considered.
Mandatory Challenges
- 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
- Farm safety challenge - Farms to introduce 2 positive changes annually
Optional Challenges
- Breeding challenge - Increase average replacement value of herd by €20 over course of programme and meet all herd fertility targets
- 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.
Updates
IFJ Articles
- IFJ - 16 Dec 2017(PDF)