Teagasc FUTURE BEEF Programme in Ballyheane Co. Mayo

Cathal Irwin is one of two Future Beef Farmers in the Mayo region. Cathal farms with his father Padraig, wife Bridgin and two children Conor and Síofra on the outskirts of Ballyheane, Co. Mayo, while also working full-time in his own business Advanced Safety in Castlebar.

As a participant in the Future Beef Programme, Cathal aims to increase on-farm efficiency to produce quality beef as environmentally sustainable as possible.

Cathal Irwin - Mayo's Future Beef Farm

Cathal is farming 18 Ha of owned land in two separate blocks 5 km apart. The soil is a mix of heavy clay and peaty soil types, which can make grazing conditions challenging especially in late Autumn and early Spring. With a high stocking rate and a full time job, a large proportion of the work is completed by a local contractor such as silage harvesting, slurry spreading and reseeding.

Suckling to store beef system

Cathal currently runs a spring calving suckling to store beef system selling all offspring at 18 -20 months. The herd consists of 20 Simmental and Limousin cross cows and a Charolais stock bull is used. Some breeding heifers are purchased and artificial insemination is used on replacement heifers that are retained for breeding. Breeding performance is good on the farm with a 100% six week calving rate, a 366-day calving interval and 0.95 calves per cow per year in 2021. Cows begin calving in December; this ensures that both cows and calves are getting the most from grass during the grazing season. Cathal believes this is key to the system as he says, “I like to have a calf that hits the grass and can make use of it, I don’t want a calf that is just out running around the field when let out, and as a result I find I have a heavier weanling going back into the shed”.

Focus on grassland management

Grassland management is an area that has been of particular focus in recent years. The farm was split into 23 grazing paddocks in 2015, which can be further divided if required. Grass is measured weekly and recorded on pasturebase. 73% of the farm has been reseeded with clover incorporated in the seed mix. Cathal has observed that he can achieve three grazing’s from his newly reseeded paddocks up to mid-May, in comparison to paddocks with older swards where he is only getting one grazing. This highlights that reseeding is paying dividends on this farm. A large emphasises has also been placed on improving and monitoring soil fertility with annual soil sampling being practised and a Nutrient Management Plan is followed to best target lime, organic manure and chemical fertiliser.

Cathal's Future Plan

Cathal's plan for the future is to stay at the same cow numbers but possibly look at bringing animals to finish, with bulls being finished at under 16 months and heifers finished at 22 months. He plans to build a shed in order to facilitate the housing of the finishing animals but also to relive pressure around slurry storage. Cathal also wants to look at using protected urea as his main nitrogen source while continuing to address soil fertility in an effort to grow more grass. With a high level of clover throughout the farm, overall nitrogen use will be reduced into the future. Over sowing clover in existing swards will be practised to further reduce nitrogen input, and more reseeding is planned for the future with multispecies swards possibly being incorporated when reseeding. With a young family, Cathal also wants to keep focus on work life balance in planning for the future. 

You can follow Cathal’s story throughout the course of the FUTURE BEEF programme at Cathal Irwin .  You can keep up-to-date with the Future Beef Programme here and can access regular updates and articles about the farmers here on Teagasc Daily.

Read about the father and son team of Michael and Niall Biggins who farm in Ballynalty, Glencorrib in South Mayo and are Mayo's other Future Beef farmers at: Teagasc FUTURE BEEF Programme in Mayo 

Teagasc Advisors write regular articles of interest to farmers here on Teagasc Daily.  Teagasc provides a Local Advisory and Education service to farmers. Find your local Teagasc office here