David Brady

David milks 100 cows on his farm near Stradone, Co. Cavan on a heavy farm.

The farm is stocked at 2.5 LU/ha and has made huge progress over the past number of years to grow and utilise more grass.

David gravel-mole ploughs 5-10 acres of his farm each year transforming the wettest paddocks on the farm to some of the driest he has.

These paddocks have went from growing 5 T DM/ha to 13 T DM/ha. 70% of the rain that falls is drained away within 24 hours.

Soil fertility is a big focus on heavier farms to prepare ground for profitable reseeding. Reseeding is helping to grow more grass.

In 2019, David’s farm grew 14 T DM/ha, this was back to 13 T DM/ha in 2020. He delivered 520 Kg MS per cow (supplied to Lakeland Dairies) from 910 kg meal in 2020.

David walked his farm 40 times in 2020 and is also a member of the Grass10 grazing course.