Tomas O’ Leary BETTER Sheep Farm Participant Farm Update
Tomas O’ Leary, his wife Eileen and Children Míchéal, Yvonne and Sinead farm just over 40 adjusted hectares in two blocks of land in Kerry.
Traditionally a suckler and sheep farm, the O’Leary’s joined the Teagasc BETTER Sheep Farm Programme in 2013 with the aim of increasing the performance and profitability of both their sheep and cattle enterprises.
Today the farm runs a mid-season ewe flock (210 mature ewes and 50 ewe lambs) in addition to contract rearing 90 Friesian Cross Heifers. The suckler cows and finishing cattle enterprises were replaced in 2018 with a contract rearing enterprise to reduce market volatility and increase margins. This year ewe numbers have been reduced by 60 head from 320 to 260 to better match stocking rate to grass supply and ease the pressure somewhat.
The farm
The home farm is situated in Readrinagh situated approximately 3km north of the village of Barraduff. It consists of approximately 13ha of heavy, difficult land which is primarily used for silage production (2 cuts) and some grazing with ewes in the spring and autumn/winter. The ewes are housed on the home farm for the winter period.
The second block of land is situated in Rosnacarton Beg (approximately 12km NW of Killarney) and consists of approximately 27ha of good dry land. This block of land is 27km distant from the home farm and is the main grazing block for both the cattle and sheep with occasional surplus grass removed as silage when growth allows. In 2021 this block is on target to grow 15t grass dry matter (DM) per hectare which has enabled it to carry all the grazing animals for the main grazing period. This block also contains the cattle housing which means a daily round trip of 55km for Tomas daily to feed and check stock.
BETTER Sheep Farm Programme
One of the major focuses of the BETTER Sheep Farm Programme is to have a defined breeding programme. The O’Leary farm is achieving a litter size of approximately 2.3 lambs per mature ewe with lambs weaned per ewe mated of around 2 lambs per ewe. The 50 ewe lambs generally perform somewhat lower, scanning around 1.7 – 1.8 and weaning around 1.4-1.5.
In a nutshell the aim is to produce around 470 – 500 lambs available for sale and to select replacements from the 260 ewes put the ram annually. Achieving this level of output it is a combination of the correct female genetics (in this case a Belclare x Suffolk or Texel ewe), coupled with suitable high performance terminal genetics (rams selected for lamb survival and days to slaughter) and having ewes in good body condition at mating time.
2021
In 2021, Fertiliser was applied every three weeks during the growing season at a rate of 25kg N/ha (20 units per acre) in the form of protected urea. All chemical nitrogen that was spread on the farm in 2021 was spread as protected urea (except for some 10:10:20 used to reseed 0.8ha). All cattle slurry is spread with a trailing shoe, hence reducing emissions, retaining more nitrogen and giving greater flexibility in grazing.
Aims for 2022
The primary aim for this farm in 2022 was to reduce the reliance on chemical nitrogen with the main focus on incorporating clover into grass swards. Tomas is part of the Teagasc Moorepark On-Farm White Clover Project. The aim of this project is to establish white clover on 35 grassland farms (dairy, beef & sheep) across the country. This project will establish white clover on farms over a 4-year period, with between 20 and 30% of the area sown with clover per year. White clover will be established on the farms by a combination of reseeding and over sowing over the course of the project, with the overall aim for farms to be in a position to reduce chemical fertiliser when adequate sward clover contents (≈ 20%) have been achieved. The project has just completed its first year, with very successful clover establishment to date.