John Hurley

Introduction

Before going organic, the Hurley family had been eating organic food for many years. They realised the’ benefits of organic food for human health as for the earth’. At the time, they kept 58 suckler cows and had ‘a massive feed and fertiliser bill’. They felt ‘production costs were too high’ and the numbers of stock were not sustainable.

After careful consideration, the farm entered conversion in 2015 with full organic status for the land and produce being achieved in 2017.

On the farm today, there is a suckler herd of 23 cows with weanlings sold in autumn. There is also a sheep enterprise of 100 ewes.

Farm Profile

Farmed area 39.6 hectares
Mainly free-draining land
100 breeding ewes
23 suckler cows
Farming organically since 2015

Land Details

The holding is made up of two blocks of land, which is divided by a public roadway all of which is owned. The area farmed is 39.6 hectares

Suckler cow and calf

Suckler Enterprise

The suckler herd is made up of LimousinX and Belgian BlueX cows. The stock bull on the farm is a Belgian Blue and AI is also used (Charolais). Most of the calving takes place in January-February with some autumn calvers. Weanlings are sold from August (those born the previous autumn) to October (born in spring).

The Hurley’s place a big emphasis on genetics to breed high genetic merit replacements as well as aiming to breed U+ grade weanlings. The aims are as follows:

Cow to calve every year
Produce quality weanlings from milk
Go back in calf easily

When selecting replacement heifers they use the Eurostar replacement index paying attention on milk, docility as well as carcass weight when making their decision.

They also use the Eurostar index when purchasing replacement bulls and when selecting AI bulls. The following are the specific traits that the Hurley’s look at:

Dual purpose bull with 5* on the terminal and maternal side
A low calving difficulty %
Growth rate characteristics

Replacements on the farm

Sheep Enterprise

The ewe flock is made up approximately 70 Rouge de Louest x Charollais ewes and the rest are Rouge de L’ouest x Texel. There are three rams on the farm 2 5* pure bred Charollais and 1 5* pure bred Rouge de L’ouest for keeping replacements.

The Hurley’s breed all their own replacements. Their aim is to produce prolific replacements by selecting lambs from top quality dams matched with a top quality 5* ram. Their criteria used when selecting replacements includes:

Quantity of milk
Mothering ability
Lambs born without assistance

Three groups of ewes are run during the breeding season. One group with the maternal ram and the others with the terminal rams to produce lambs for slaughter.

Rams are selected based on their pedigree and physical attributes. The Hurley’s pay attention to the rams genetic index and always opt for a 5* pedigree ram with a high reliability in his genetic index. In doing this they believe that this will result in a higher scanning rate and better growth rates.

Finished Lambs

Livestock Health in Organic Farming

A healthy herd in organic farming is achieved by a combination of good management, sound nutrition and good animal husbandry skills.
When a farm undergoes conversion to organic status an Animal Health Plan is required to be drawn up by the veterinary practitioner, who specifies the current animal health issues on the farm and how the farmer will tackle these problems into the future, while conforming to the requirements of organic certification standards.
Detection of problems needs to be early, and timely veterinary advice is invaluable – when an animal is ill the organic farmer reacts in the same manner as their conventional neighbour and veterinary assistance is required immediately

Animal Health on the Farm

The switch to organics has not lead to any adverse effects with regard to animal health on the farm.

A closed sheep flock is operated as much as is possible to help minimise disease risks.
Faecal analyses are taken to assess the level and identify the type of internal parasites if present.

Organic Animal Housing Standards

Adjustments to meet organic standards may be necessary – depends on farm situation.
Housing is not compulsory.
At least 50% of floor area must be bedded.
Straw, rushes or untreated wood shavings are acceptable bedding materials and these need not be organic.
All animal housing is subject to inspection and approval by the Organic Certification Body.
See Figure 4 for organic space requirements.

Calculating the stock carrying capacity of your shed

Conversion of animal housing to become compliant with the organic standards can be one of the major tasks drystock farmers have to undertake. To calculate the stock carrying capacity of your shed, you will need three figures;

The total indoor area of the shed
The lying area in the shed
The area required for each animal to be housed

In John Hurley’s situation, if we assume that the existing shed is to house suckler cows weighing 600kgs, then these 3 figures are;

Total indoor area = 107.80 m2 (14.0 x 7.7)
Lying area = 54.6 m2 (14.0 x 3.9)
Total area required for a suckler cow = 6 m²

With the above figures at hand, we can then easily calculate that John’s house can accommodate 18 suckler cows (54.6 /3)

Soil Fertility on the Farm

The whole farm was recently soil sampled as part of the DAFM Pilot Soil Sampling Programme 2021.

Soil fertility is good on the farm.
The soil pH on the farm ranges from 6.3 to 7.2
Outlined below is an overview of the soil Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) levels on the farm

Soil Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) Levels on the Hurley Farm

Slurry is spread in spring. The farmyard manure is spread in autumn. The Hurley’s also use bioinoculants including biostimulant pelleted fertilisers for the land and biostimulant additives for the slurry and farmyard manure.

Sources of Organic Manures that are permitted to be imported onto Organic Farm

Imported farmyard manure or slurry must come from stock that have been outside during the year, not from intensive pig and poultry units where animals are inside all the time or from zero grazing farming systems. Farmyard manure must be composted for at least 3 months before it can be land spread.
Dairy processing sludge is available from some dairy processors who have sludge registered with an Organic Certification Body.

Grazing, Fodder and Feed

The grazing on the farm is managed by using a rotational grazing system.

The plan is to finish lambs early to allow more grazing for the cattle.

30 acres is cut for silage and 8 acres of hay is made. This produces 250 bales of silage and 60 bales of hay. Silage fields are rotated.

In 2021, an organic ration was fed to the weanlings. In addition, the ewes were fed an organic nut for 60 days and the lambs. There is no ration fed over the winter.

Financial Performance

Overall the Hurley’s believe that a combination of ‘genetics, grassland management and an excellent health programme are key to a profitable sheep and beef enterprise’.

Organic Certification in Ireland

A major factor that distinguishes organic farming from other approaches to sustainable farming is the existence of internationally acknowledged standards and certification procedures. The standards for organic production within the European Union are defined and enshrined in law by Council Regulation EC 834/2007 as amended.

In Ireland the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the competent authority (i.e. - the Department’s Organic Unit is based at Johnstown Castle Estate Wexford) for regulating the organic sector and ensuring that the obligations and requirements of Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 as amended and adhered to.

The Organic Unit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have designated Official Certification Bodies whose role is to certify organic producers, farmers and processors through and inspection process of each individual’s unit or farm. Further information can be sourced from these organic certification bodies:

IOA (Irish Organic Association)
Unit 13, Inish Carraig, Golden Island, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. N37 N1W4.
Tel: 090 6433680 | Email: info@irishoa.ie | Web: www.irishorganicassociation.ie

Organic Trust
Unit M4, Naas town centre, Dublin Road, Naas, Co.Kildare. W91F7X3
Tel: 045 882377 | Email: info@organictrust.ie | Web: www.organictrust.ie

Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme Organic Capital Investment Scheme (OCIS)

A standard rate of aid of 40% on investments up to a ceiling of €80,000 (i.e. can generate a grant of €32,000 from an investment of €80,000). For qualifying young organic farmers who meet the specific eligibility criteria, the standard rate of aid is 60% on investments up to a ceiling of €80,000.

How to Apply
Online applications only through www.agfood.ie facility.

Full details and T&C:
organic capital investment scheme ocis

Queries:
DAFM Organic Unit, Johnstown Castle: organic@agriculture.gov.ie

Organic Processing Scheme

Grant aid of up to 40% on €1.75 million (i.e. can generate a grant of €700,000 for an investment of €1.75 million) in facilities for the processing, preparation, grading, packing and storage of organic products with minimum level of investment in excess of €3,000.

More Details:
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/pressreleases/2015/august/title,84203,en.html