Growing Organics: Sucklers, sheep and tillage in Donegal

Cathal McCauley, Teagasc Organics Advisor, shares insights from John Hamilton’s farm in Co. Donegal, the host of a recent Growing Organics farm walk and home to a suckler, sheep and tillage enterprise.

Split between the home farm in St. Johnston of 14.82ha of predominantly grassland, and an out farm in Newtowncunnigham consisting of 32.42ha, conversion to organic farming started in 2009 and full organic status was granted in 2011.

Overall, the holding is made up of: 20.65ha of grassland; 0.4ha of pea/bean mix; 5.62ha of combi crop; 14.29ha of red clover silage; 1.85ha of multispecies swards; 1.90ha of forage rape; and 2.45ha wild bird cover. This grassland area can support 20 cows and calves, 15 finishing cattle/replacements, as well as 50 ewes and 85 lambs, resulting in a grassland stocking rate of 1.24LU/ha.

Attendees at John Hamiltons farm walk

The suckler and sheep enterprise

John’s suckler cows are predominately Hereford cross Simmental, with plenty of milk and the ability to produce excellent calves. These are mated with a Red Angus bull, which has recently been acquired, but follows on from Hereford breeding to meet John’s desire to produce easily finished animals. With the exception of replacements, all cattle produced are finished on farm and are sold through an organic processor. Details of the finishing performance being achieved from such a breeding policy are outlined in table 1 below.

Table 1: Finishing performance of steers and heifers sold in 2023

A mid-season lambing flock of 50 ewes are also carried, with a scanning rate of approximately 1.8 annually. Again all lambs are brought right through to finish, however, at the moment, John does not have an organic market for his lamb.

John Hamilton speaking at the Growing Organics farm walk

Grazing and silage production

Livestock are grazed on a rotational basis around the farm using a paddock system. John aims to begin grazing from March until late November. Livestock graze pastures of permanent grassland, multispecies herbal ley and white clover ley.

Clover’s role in organic farming stems from its ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. There are two main types of clover; white clover and red clover. Most grazing paddocks have white clovers incorporated into the mix. There is a continual re-seeding programme on the farm that is incorporated with growing of crops for feed.

Multispecies herbal leys contain a diverse range of grasses, herbs and clovers. Its aim is to produce a well-balanced forage and not just large volumes of grass. Many of the species used are deep rooting and have the ability to unlock nutrients from deeper in the soil profile. The herbal mixture does not demand high fertiliser inputs and is therefore ideally suited to organic farming. These leys provide increased levels of minerals and vitamins to livestock. Also, when herbal leys are grown for around four years, they have the ability to naturally improve soil structure with their deep roots

John places a big emphasis on making good quality silage through the use of red clover, and focuses on having a good rotation plan for the tillage and grassland system for the management of weeds, plant pests and soil fertility. John’s winter diet is made up predominantly of red and white clover silage, while a small amount of combi crop (pea, barley and oat mix) is used to finish cattle where required.

Cut three times each year, red clover meets the bulk of the silage requirements on the farm, and offers a highly digestible silage with high protein content. This silage is tested every winter to determine the dry matter digestibility (DMD) and protein content, and is then mixed with the combi crop to make up the required beef finishing diet. The red clover swards demand significant organic nutrients and these are supplied through applications of slurry and farmyard manure. The red clover is lasting 5+ years on this farm, with some paddocks lasting for up to 7 years.

Minister McConalogue addressing the Growing Organics farm walk

The tillage enterprise

The tillage enterprise is largely used for growing feed for the cattle and sheep on the farm, but there is also a small amount of feed sold off farm to local organic farmers. The tillage enterprise for 2024 consists of a combination crop (pea, barley and oat mix), arable silage, forage rape and a pea/bean mix as part of a nationwide trial. The combination crop is also used to feed ewes pre lambing. The growing of a mixed pea/bean crop in 2024 aims to grow extra protein for the diet. This is being carried out as part of the Teagasc VALPRO Path project.

Also discussed at the Growing Organics open day were: organic regulation for seed usage; animal welfare in organic farming; organic animal housing standards; organic certification in Ireland. The open day was joined by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., who spoke on the supports his department have made available to organic farmers nationally.

Further details on the Growing Organic Farm Walk on John Hamilton’s farm are available here.

Learn more about the Growing Organic demonstration farm programme, including upcoming events, here.