John Watchorn - Beef Award Winner
Name: John Watchorn
Enterprise: Beef Farmer
From: Newbawn, New Ross, Co. Wexford
Farm Size: 44Ha
2017
Annual Tonnage: Avg 13.5T Grass DM/Ha
Grazings: 7 Grazings/Paddock/Year
Stocking Rate: 2.45LU/Ha
Output Kg/Ha: 1427Kg/Ha (Liveweight Sold)
John Watchorn is the 2018 Beef Grassland Farmer of the Year. John farms in Wexford with his wife Shirley, they run a store to beef system bringing them through to slaughter the following year. They have developed an excellent paddock system which the groups of stock graze for 36 hours. This a high output farm that is grass based. There is a very strong relationship between the number of paddocks on the farm and number of grazings achieved. The more grazings achieved per paddock the higher the yield and utilisation achieved.