March Update: Grassland Management and Livestock Progress at Tipperary Farm
Chloe Millar gives an update on the Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm. She provides an update on grassland conditions, livestock management, and recent developments on the farm, including the arrival of 2024 born calves.
Grassland
Ground conditions are extremely wet on farm. We did however enjoy a few dry days at the start of March and we took this opportunity to spread 23.5kg/Ha (½ a bag/ha) of protected urea + Sulphur (38-0-0-7) across 89Ha.
Grass cover on farm is 700kg/Ha and predicted growth for Tipperary is 12kg/ha for the week of the 11th of March. As soon as conditions allow – animals will be turned out to grass.
2024 Livestock
On the 27th of February the farm welcomed in the first load of 2024 born calves. Over the past three weeks, calves have been arriving every Tuesday and as of today, we have 149 calves. Average weight of the calves arriving is 47.5kg at an average of 20 days of age. Overall we are very pleased with the quality of the calves that arriving on farm. The aim is to take in 340 calves.
2023 Livestock
We have 319 weanlings. 70 weanlings are on off grazing since mid-January as weather permits. All weanlings are on 1kg of a 21% heifer nut (Barley, Maize, Rapeseed Meal, Soya bean).
All 2023 born animals were weighed on the 5th of March
| Group | Days of Age | Weight | ADG (41 days) |
| Male | 375 days | 304kg | 0.87 kg/day |
| Female | 372 days | 287kg | 0.82 kg/day |
| Average | 296kg | 0.84 kg/day |
2022 Born
We have 11 heifers remaining on farm out of 235 animals. These heifers were averaging 470kg on the 4th of March and are doing 0.74kg/day over the past 45 days. We increased meal from 4kg to 6kg split 3kg am and pm on the 14th of February. They are on a 13% finishing nut (Rolled Barley, Maize, soya bean).
To date we have 224 animals slaughtered off farm
| Draft | Heifers | Steers |
| Number killed | 101 | 123 |
| Kill weight | 510 kg | 574 kg |
| Carcass weight | 251 kg | 290kg |
| Kill out % | 49% | 50% |
| Carcass grade | O= | O= |
| Carcass Fat | 3= | 3- |
| Average days on meal | 99 days | 114 days |
| Average finishing meal | 350kg | 416kg |
| Age at Slaughter | 20.4 months | 21.3 months |
Follow us on Social Media
We recntly launched social media accounts for the farm! You can now follow along with the day-to-day events on the farm.
Follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) @Tipp_DemoFarm and on Facebook Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm