today's farm jul-aug 2010

JULY-AUGUST 2010 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 4

Zero grazing key for liquid milk producer 10Dairyman – sharing ideas 16Beef: the view from Scotland 18Managing covers for sucklers 21Sheep: don’t stand for lameness 26Winter wheat – a ten point guide 33Why Irish forests are world beaters 36Botanics: It’s time to visit open gardens 38 and more...

Reseeding: High Returns

15010 TEAG TODAYS FARM JULY_AUG_Final Cover 22/06/2010 11:14

Today’s

farm

July/August 2010 | Today’s farm | 3

COMMENT

Reseeding�anunbeatableinvestment

MarkMooreEditor,Today’s farm

Reseedinggrass leys is suchagoodthing, it’s astonishing that morefarmers don’t do it more

regularly. It’s a bit like taking exercise;weall knowweshoulddo it,weallknowitwill do us good, but we often don’t quiteget around to it.The trend to measuring grass coversfor paddock management has had aspin-off benefit:the performanceof individualpaddocks is mea-sured regularly.The range ofperformance inpaddocks rapidlybecomes appar-ent.

‘‘We knew therewould be adifference but wewere surprised tosee that youngpaddocks wereyielding almostdouble theamount of grass ofolder paddocks,’’says Noel O’Tooleof Killimor, nearBallinasloe, CoGalway.

The hugeincrease in yield from a new ley makesreseeding a great investment.Theautumn season for establishing leys isapproaching.Weather is a factor toconsider in establishing a ley; ifconditions look dubious, you may wantto postpone until the spring.

The key point is to do at least 10% ofthe farm each year.The return in higheryields is guaranteed, unlike with manyinvestments!

Is e Today’s farm an iris do chliaint Teagasc. Bıonn altanna teicniula ann faoi chursaıdeirıochta, faoin eallach, faoi chaoirigh agus faoin gcuradoireacht, agus faoi go leor eile. Isminic altanna faoin timpeallacht agus faoi dheiseanna eagsulaithe feirme san iris freisin.Gne an-tabhachtach den iris is ea na haltanna faoin gcaoi le cursaı gno na feirme alaimhseail. Ar na topaicı eile a chludofar amach anseo beidh tairgeadh fuinnimh ar anbhfeirm, an fhoraoiseacht, an ghairneoireacht, srl. Agus beidh altanna ann o thrath gocheile faoi chursaı feirmeoireachta thar lear freisin.

Today’s farm is a bi-monthly publication produced in a joint venture between Teagasc andthe Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal and The Irish Field.

Editor: Mark Moore | Editorial team: Alison Maloney, Joanne Carroll, Eric DonaldChief sub-editor: Leslie Horgan | Sub-editors: Regina Horan, Niamh O’Doherty, |Artwork: Joe Lenehan, Garrett AllenCover design: Design at DBA | Imaging: Owen McGauley, Sean O’FlahertyPrinting: Boylan Print Group, Drogheda, Co Louth | Advertising: Frank McGouranAll Media Matters (01) 4941071 086-8111567 [email protected]

All editorial enquiries to: Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow Tel: (059) 9170200 Fax: (059) 9183498e-mail: [email protected] | web: www.teagasc.ie

The publishers do not accept responsibility for any private and trade advertisements oradvertising insertions included in this publication. Occasional reference in thismagazine totrade names and proprietary products may be inevitable. No endorsement of namedproducts is intended, nor is any criticism implied of similar products which are notmentioned.

contents4 News

6 Upcoming events

8 Etc pages

Reseeding13 The route to high returns

Dairy10 Zero grazingkey for liquidmilk producer

16 Dairyman� sharing ideas

Beef18 Beef: the view from Scotland

21Managing covers for sucklers

24 Targetinghuge returns inTipp

Sheep26 Don’t stand for lameness 26

Tillage30 Organic cereals meet high demand

33 Winter wheat � a10-point guide

Renewable Energy34 Growingnicely

Forestry36 Why Irish forests are world beaters

Botanic Gardens38 It’s time to visit open gardens

COVER | caption:Mary McEvoyat Mooreparkevaluates anewgrass in avariety trial.Reseeding candramatically increase sward yield.Seepage13

Picture:Mark Moore

Weknewthere wouldbe adifferencebut we weresurprised tosee thatyoungpaddockswere yieldingalmostdouble theamount ofgrassofolderpaddocks

ZEROOPTION10 Tomilkingblock

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4 | Today’s farm | July/August 2010

newsTo

day

’sfarm

CATTLE farmers from acrossthe country travelled toTea-gasc Grange, Co Meath, to seethe recently established ‘Der-

rypatrick Herd’, which was set up as aresearch demonstration unit to show-case the best and most profitable tech-nologies and management practices.

Speaking at the open day,Teagascbeef research enterprise leader Dr Ed-ward O’Riordan said: ‘‘A target of produ-cing over 1,000kg of beef liveweight perhectare, and a gross margin of €1,000 perhectare, has been set for this sucklerherd.To achieve this, we must producehigh levels of high value beef output.

‘‘Grazed grass is, comparatively, thecheapest feed, and maximising the pro-portion of high digestibility, grazedgrass in the annual feed budget, whilesimultaneously achieving high animalperformance and providing sufficientgrass silage of appropriate digestibilityfor the indoor winter period, is centralto the production system.’’

MarginsTeagasc beef specialist Bernard Smythsaid: ‘‘Increasing stocking rate is the keyto driving gross beef output and finan-cial margins. High calving rates, goodanimal growth performance and theright genetics to produce higher valuecarcases are also important.

‘‘All of these are being pursued at thenew unit in Grange to reach the targetsset, which are up to three times higherthan those being achieved on the topthird of farms, as measured by theTea-gasc eProfit Monitor results and the Na-tional Farm Survey.’’

Grass utilisationTeagasc drystock business and tech-

nology advisers, along with New Zeal-and grassland expert Adrian vanBysterdveldt, demonstrated the idealpre-grazing grass covers and the opti-mum post-grazing heights to maximisegrass utilisation in a suckler beef situa-tion.

Teagasc beef specialist Pearse Kellyshowed how spending as little as onehour per week on grass measurementand grazing management has the poten-tial to deliver a return of €200/hour for a25 hectare farm.

GrangeOpenDayhighlightsbest a

MAINPICTURE:Mark Slatteryand Michael Dalydemonstrate grass covers at Grange.

RIGHT:Michael Diskin discussed reproductiveperformance in sucklers.

FARRIGHT:Professor Gerry Boyle at thewellattended forumat the Grange open day.

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t andmost profitable technologies

Climate change conference

A major conference onclimate change, organisedby the Teagasc GreenhouseGas Working Group, washeld at the Mansion House,Dublin, on 25 June.

Almost 200 national andinternational delegates heardpresentations on how climatechange might become anopportunity rather than athreat for Irish farming.

Other topics discussed in-cluded ‘Which on-farm mea-sures are practical and cost-effective in further improvingcarbon-efficiency on tillage,dairy and beef farms here?’

Teagasc, together with thefood and drink industries,

recently agreed to establish ajoint action forum on climatechange.

Dr Rogier Schulte said:‘‘Based on the low carbonfootprint of our Irish dairy andmeat products, it is possibleto turn the threat of reducinggreenhouse gas emissionsinto an opportunity for Irishfarmers. To make this hap-pen, we need coherent andurgent action from all playersin the debate, includingTeagasc, Government de-partments and agencies, farmorganisations, food proces-sors and retailers. The jointaction forum initiates thisprocess.’’

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upcoming eventsTo

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WORKSHOP:MONDAY5JULY,HAYESHOTEL,THURLES,COTIPPERARY

Theuseof Irishashforhurley productionTeagasc in co-operation with the ForestService and the Irish Guild of Ash Hur-ley Makers will host a workshop on theuse of Irish ash for hurley production onMonday 5 July starting at 9.30am in

HayesHotel,Thurles, Co.Tipperary.Thisevent is an insight into the hurley ashcycle in Ireland.

Registration feeA registration fee of €10 applies and ispayable in advance. If you wish to at-tend, please register with Michael Som-ers before Friday July 2. Registration isadvisable as places are limited.

Further information* Michael Somers, 087-1216163, TeagascForestry Development Officer* Travel directions to the event (enteryour starting point at ‘A’ and clickreturn).

ORGANICFARMINGOPENDAYS

Organic open days in July and August6 July at 2pm Kearns Organic Growers, Druminardly, Vegetables

Ruskey, Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon

7 July at 2pm Eamonn Holohan, Barney, Grogan, Beef

Rathdowney, Laois

8 July at 2pm Michael Seymour, Sheepwalk, Beef/Sheep

Finnoe Road, Borrisokane, Tipperary Farmers’

Market

13 July at 2pm Desmond & Olivia Thorpe, Knockroe House, Field-scale

New Ross, Wexford Vegetables,

Tillage & Beef

14 July at 2pm Pat Lalor, Ballard Farm, Kilbeggan, Westmeath Beef & Tillage

15 July at 2pm Jimmy Barlow, Glinsk, Ballymoe, Galway Poultry, Pigs,

Sheep & Cattle

27 July at 2pm John McDonnell, Shalvanstown, Slane, Meath Beef, Sheep

and Tillage

26 August at 2pm Philip Dreaper, Coolnagrower, Field-scale

Fortral, Birr, Offaly Vegetables

31 August at 2pm Dominic Leonard, Castlewood House, Beef, Sheep,

Durrow, Laois Pigs, Tillage,

Direct Selling

LEGALLABELS IRELAND:ASHTOWNFOODRESEARCHCENTRE,DUBLIN,7TO8JULY

Legal labels Ireland� the essential guide to Irish food labelling

Legal Labels Ireland is structured tofunction as a fully comprehensive re-view of current regulations and officialrecommendations.

Starting from first principles, pre-

sentations cover all major labelling con-siderations, with emphasis placed onmore topical and complicated issues,such as product specific labelling forfoods with compositional standards, al-

lergens, additive controls and labelling,nutrition and health claims, and the newdevelopments in general food labelling.* Ashtown Food Research Centre,Dublin from 07/07/2010 to 08/07/2010

DAIRYBETTERFARMS

July date fordairyBETTER farmwalk14 July BETTER Dairy James

(starts Farm Walk Walsh,

11am) Carrick

on Suir

TEAGASCBETTERFARMCROPSPROGRAMME

Teagasc Oak Park trials on cropnutrition,weedand disease controlwill feature duringtheTeagasc BETTER farmopen days in July

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2010MAREINSPECTIONS

Preparing for the new 2010 HISMare Inspections

Date Venue Admission

Monday 28 June at 7pm Maryville Equestrian Centre, Carrigaline, Co. Cork Admission Free

Thursday 1st July at 7pm Kildalton College, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny Admission Free

Monday 5th July at 7pm Tubberbride Riding Centre, Collooney, Co. Sligo Admission Free

Thursday 8th July at 7pm Mullingar Eq. Centre, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath Admission Free

The demonstration will provide information on:* What to expect on the day of the inspection* How to prepare yourmare for the autumn inspections.

Further Information*For further information contact Lorraine McMahon, HSI on045-854517 or Wendy Conlon, Teagasc on 087-9879083.

Horse Sport Ireland in association withTeagasc invites you to demonstrations on Preparing for the New 2010 HSI mare in-spections (for Irish Sport Horse and Irish Draught Horse mares).

Teagasc BETTERFarmCropsProgramme(Business, Environment andTechnology throughTrainingExtension and Research)

TheTeagasc BETTERFarm Crops Pro-gramme aims to assist Irish tillagefarmers to avail of cutting edge farmtechnology and business method to im-prove profitability.

Teagasc advisers, specialists and re-searchers are working with these farm-ers to look at all areas of theirproduction systems and, by implement-ing the latest technologies and research,ensure that maximum efficiency isachieved.These farms will become abenchmark for efficient production andfor transferring knowledge to otherfarmers.The events will feature:* Teagasc Oak Park trials on cropnutrition, weed and disease control* Department of Agriculture varietytrials* Financial/technical appraisal of til-lage crops* Grain marketing, including farm tofarm trading and storage.

This is an opportunity for grain andlivestock farmers to get to know the truevalue of Irish grain and find out the de-tails of storage and the associated costsof the different methods involved.

6 July George & Ken Williamson,

Ambrosetown, Duncormick,

Co Wexford

8 July Joe O’Donohue, Glassmerry

House, Herbertstown,

Stamullen, Co Meath

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Today

’sfarm

‘Higher Ground’, the rural entrepreneurialseries, returns to the RTE this summer.

Last year, the show featured topicsranging from duck eggs to micro brewing,direct selling of beef to Liam Murphy’sinvention, the Bale Shearer.

Eight budding rural entrepreneurs withinnovative ideas from across Ireland havebeen selected for the new series and theywillbe helped once again to turn their ruralbusiness ideas into lucrative realities. Thementors Paul McCarthy, Teagasc RuralBusiness Specialist, and Peter Young, IrishFarmers Journal advise and coach the eightcandidates as they deal with issues such asfinance, product development, marketing,possible business investors, partnershipissues and also how to run and plan theirbusiness but not at the expense of family life.

‘Higher Ground’ begins transmission onRTE 1 on 14 July, at 8pm.

MinisterCallearycalls forfarm safetyvigilanceDara Calleary, Minister for Labour Af-fairs and Public Service Reform, withlegislative responsibility for workplacehealth and safety, has called for heigh-tened safety vigilance on farms thissummer.

As this issue of Today’s farm goes topress, 13 of 21 workplace deaths haveoccurred on farms. This is one morethan the total for all farmdeaths in 2009.

Teagasc continues to strengthen itsfarmhealth and safety programme.Thisincludes safety information in publica-tions and newsletters; farm walks andevents; provision of training on com-pletion of the Farm Safety Risk Assess-ment and on-farm advice, along withcomprehensive training on all Teagasctraining courses.

Discussion groupsFarm health and safety will be ad-dressed in discussion groups as part ofthe Dairy Efficiency Programme.

Teagasc Health and Safety OfficerJohnMcNamara points out that amajorshift in the demographic pattern of fatalfarm accidents has taken place since2008. ‘‘Just 12% of fatalities involvedvictimsover theageof65comparedwith41% for the previous seven-year period.Seventy six per cent of farm fatal acci-dents have involved those in the 17 to 65age category, with 37% aged 46 to 65years. Increased vigilance is vital in thebusy summer months,’’ he said.

Focusonprofit Kerry

THE joint Teagasc Kerry Agri-businessprogramme,‘FocusonProfit’ includes: 26 monitor/support farms; 35 discussion

groups, and a grass budgeting pro-gramme, with farmers meeting regu-larly to discuss issues relating to grassmeasurement and budgeting.The an-nual monitor farm financial and pro-duction outcome document waspublished recently.

Lessons from monitor farms* On-off grazing was practised on anumber of monitor farms during par-ticularly difficult grazing conditionsand worked well.*Dairy farms require a reserve of highquality feed. High quality bales madefrom surplus grass will help to providethis reserve.*You can’t have toomany access pointsand roadways, particularly on heaviersoil farms.* Grass measurement gives you con-fidence and helps you make betterdecisions.* Having enough high quality AI-breddairy replacements is key to improvingprofitability on dairy farms.

* Sharing of experience within groupsassisted in overcoming major chal-lenges.

Breeding and fertility

On the monitor farms, herd EBI rosefrom 70 in 2008 to 75 in 2009. Fertilitysub-index rose from 36 to 40.Six-week calving rate fell to 66 from 67in 2008. Replacement rate remainedconstant at 26%. Dairy AI straws percow increased from 1.57 to 1.70 as themonitor farms increased theirAIusage.

Physical performanceThe table shows physical performanceon the Kerry Monitor farms.

‘‘Despite the difficult weather condi-tions in 2009, grass utilised was esti-mated at 8.8 tonnes dry matter perhectare on monitor farms.This com-pares with seven tonnes of grass drymatter used on dairy farms nationally,’’said Ger Courtney,Teagasc.

‘‘However, a more realistic target forthe group is 10t/ha utilised, with lowerconcentrate feed input. In 2009, fivemonitor farms utilised more than 12tonnes of grass dry matter/hectare,’’ heconcluded.

Spring | calvingherds

2008 2009 Change

Cow number 78 82 +4

Milk Yield(kg Milk Solids/Cow) 394 367 -27

Milk Yield/Cow (litres) 5,252 4,919 -333

Milk Protein % 3.43 3.36 -0.07

Milk Butterfat % 3.86 3.88 +0.02

Milk Solids (kg/ha milking block) 894 870 -24

Stocking Rate (Cows/ha milking block) 2.27 2.37 +0.10

JohnMcNamara; TomKelly,Teagascdirector of knowledge transferandMinisterDara Calleary.

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Today’s

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BOOKREVIEWS

The NewComplete Bookof Self-Sufficiency

�John Seymour(Dorling Kindersley e27)

JohnSeymourwas an influential figurein the self-sufficiency movement whenhemoved toCoWexford in the1980s.Athis small holding inKillowen, he begansummer courses which still continue(www.self-sufficiency.net). Over a mil-lion copies of his Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency have been sold since it wasfirst published and this new, expandededition should keep it in print formanyyears to come.

A range of skills and crafts, fromworking in stone and pig husbandry, toplumbing and irrigation of crops, are

covered in detail, and always withhelpful illustrations.

If you are fencing, for example, andfind yourself in a spot inaccessible to atractor, thenSeymour shows how threeposts and a piece of rope can achievethe stayingpower to strain 50metres ofsheep fencing.

Self Sufficiency�LizWright (Hachette e23)

LizWright’s new book covers much thesame ground�growing your own food,raising animals, preserving food pro-duced in your fields, self-sufficiency inthehome�andpresents theessentialsinanaccessibleandveryknowledgableway.

You won’t need both of these books,butoneof themshouldearn its placeonyour shelf.

High quality balesmade fromsurplus grasswill help to providea reserve of feed.

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dairyingTo

day

’sfarm ZERO

OPTIONtomilkingblockThis Co Monaghan

farmer has most of his

land away from the

milking platform

Joe PattonTeagasc

HEIFERS and housing are themain obstacles to dairy ex-pansion identified bya recentMoorepark survey. Interest-

ingly, land around the milking parlour isnot yet limiting the average dairy farm,where stocking rate now stands at abouttwo cows per hectare. But what aboutthose farms that have already reachedcapacity on the milking block? What arethe options if they are looking to growtheir enterprise?

David Gartlan finds himself in justsuch a quandary. He milks 84 Holsteincows at Killanny, Co Monaghan, supply-ing liquid milk to Drogheda Producers’Co-op.

About 30% of the 6,800-litre herd iscalved in the autumn to fulfil milk con-tracts. David farms 40 hectares of steep,but relatively dry, land, quite typical ofthis region on the south-east edge of theDrumlin belt.The problem? Only 19hectares of the total land area is acces-sible from the parlour, the rest beingthree kilometres away across the countyboundary in Louth.This leaves a stock-ing rate of 4.4 cows per hectare on thegrazing block� not excessive for thesummermonthsbutachallenge inspringand autumn. How does David see the si-tuation?

‘‘We’re in an unusual position, youcould say; highly stocked and lowlystocked at the same time,’’ he David. ‘‘Onpaper, the farmcangrowenoughgrass tofeed theherd, but access to grazing is themain concern.’’

Cow numbers have increased by athird in the last five years, which bringsthe issue into sharp focus. Some farmsmight opt for more meal and bufferfeeding butDavidwas determined to usethe resources at his disposal.‘‘Wewantedto get more feed value out of the outsidefarm. I tried growing maize for a coupleof years, withmixed results for yield and

cost.So threeyearsagoIdecidedtomoveto zero grazing. It has been trial and er-ror since then but we’re learning as wego.’’

Feed budgetingThe principle of zero-grazing is simple:the field is brought to the cows, not viceversa. David is adamant that the key tosuccess remains in managing pasture onthe home block ‘‘If you’re asking aboutthe workings of themachine, then you’remaybe asking the wrong questions. Itjust cuts fresh grass and canbedrivenbyan 80hp tractor. It’s probably more im-

portantto lookathowthisgrass isusedtofeed the herd.’’

In David’s case, the extra grass is pre-dominantlyusedduringearlyspringandlater in autumn, similar to grazing silageground on other dairy farms. Cows areturned out to pasture in early February.Spring feed demand is high because ofthe autumn-calved cows in milk. How-ever, grass allowance on the home blockis rationed to stretch the first rotationuntil early April. At the same time, zero-grazed grass makes up 4kg to 5kg DM ofthe diet, along with silage and meals.

>>

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Today’s

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Web: www.dairytec.ie

ABOVE: Zero-grazedgrassmakesup4kg to 5kg DMof the spring diet, alongwith silageandmeals.

LEFT: John Lawlor,Teagasc,Drogheda,David Gartlan andJoe Patton,Teagasc.

ABOVE,RIGHT:Theprinciple ofzero-grazing is simple: the field isbrought to the cows, not viceversa.

Threeyears

ago I decided tomove to zerograzing. It hasbeen trial anderror since thenbut we’re learningas we go’’

David Gartlan

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The cutting area is usually fully har-vested by late March and is then closedfor first-cut silage.The aim is to park thezero-grazer until September, unless def-icits arise during the main grazing sea-son.

Regular grass measurement hashelped decisionmaking.‘‘When I startedwith zero grazing Iwas definitely guiltyof overuse,’’ said David. ‘‘I suppose whenyou pay good money for something youfeel it needs to be in constant operationto justify the cost.This just led to badgrass utilisation on the home block. NowIuse the grass wedge to monitor covershere. My target is to keep 170kg per cowon the farm, or 10 days grass ahead.Grass isbrought inonly if this falls too farbelow target.’’

Examining feed costsJohn Lawlor,Teagasc Drogheda, agreesthat the important thing is figuring out ifandwhen zero grazing is needed.‘‘Thereis always a dangerwith this, or anyotherbuffer feeding system, that it becomes agimmick or distraction to profitablefarming,’’ said John, who is David’s localadviser.

‘‘It is easyto lose focus andallow it to areplace good pasture management in-stead of complementing it,’’John added.‘‘I think David is taking a reasonable ap-proachhere, in thathis feedingdecisionsare based around grass covers on thegrazing block. At a stocking rate ofaround four cows per hectare mid-sea-son, the need to import grass might onlyarise once or twice under normal condi-tions.’’

What does this mean for milk pro-duction costs? The profit monitor re-turns for this farmshowthat zerograzing

is adding in theregionof0.6 centperlitreto milk production costs, through acombination of depreciation and ma-chinery running costs.

Accounting for additional cash costs,it’s estimated that David needs to bemaking a meal-feeding saving of 150kgper cow at current stocking rates tobreak even on his investment. JohnLawlor points out that increased zerograzing would only dilute costs if it al-lowed stocking rate to be driven further.

‘‘As in any situation where expansionis fuelled by imported feed, you need tocompare additional milk revenueagainst full and comprehensive costs.Most farms are a long way off having toworryaboutthisproblem,butwemayseemore questions as farmers increasinglylook to expand their herds on a limitedland base,’’ said John.

Liquid milk productionLiquid milk forms an essential compo-nent of David Gartlan’s dairy farmingsystem. He is part of theTeagasc BET-TER Liquid Milk Programme, which in-

volves benchmarking physical andfinancial performance of 14 liquid milkherds across the country.

Year 1 of data collection in the pro-gramme has been completed. Herd ex-pansion has meant a decliningproportion of total production suppliedas liquidmilk� a trend that is repeatedon many liquid milk farms nationwide.Does this change anything in terms offarmmanagement?

‘‘More and more of our milk will bepaid for on a solids basis so I have putmore emphasis on milk solids percen-tages when choosing bulls,’’ said DavidGartlan.

‘‘There is a bigger percentage of theherd calving in spring now sowe need tolook for a cow that can perform at grassas well as indoors.We will continue tocalve 25 to 30 cows in autumn, but try todo so more compactly. Drying off thesecows in late summer helps to reduce de-mand as growth begins to slow down.’’

Liquid milk will continue to be im-portant for us into the future because ofour high stocking rate.

As in any situationwhere expansion isfuelled by imported feed, you need to

compare additional milk revenue against full andcomprehensive costs.Most farmsarea longwayoffhaving toworryabout thisproblem, but wemay seemore questions as farmers increasingly look toexpand their herds on a limited landbase

John Lawlor,Teagasc Drogheda

David Gartlan (centre) with hisTeagasc adviser John Lawlor (right) and Joe Patton,Teagasc.Theprofit monitor returns for this CoMonaghan farmshow that zero grazing is adding in the regionof 0.6c/l tomilk production costs, through a combination of depreciation andmachinery running costs.

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GRASSLANDRESEEDINGAnunbeatableinvestment

Forget shares, prize bonds, or

flats in Bulgaria; reseeding

pasture will give you the best

return on investment.

MaryMcEvoy,Teagasc Moorepark

THANKS to our mild, moist, mar-itimeclimate, fewcountries canmatch our ability to growgrass.Over 90% of the agricultural

land in Ireland isgrazedand, givenhalf achance and decent management, fieldswill typically easily yield eight tonnes ofdrymatter perhectare.Butthepotentialis far greater. An extra three tonnes ofdry matter per hectare can be achievedwhere there is a high proportion of per-ennial ryegrass in the sward.

The extra output can be used to in-crease stocking rate or reduce the needfor expensive supplementary feeds. Per-ennial ryegrass not only yields better, itis also of higher quality than other spe-cies, which boosts individual animalperformance.

Sadly, the high quality, high yieldingryegrass can be muscled-out by speciessuch as annual meadow grass (AMG).There’s a huge number of AMG seeds inall Irishsoilsand,overanumberofyears,AMG gradually crowds out the vastlymore productive perennial ryegrass.

Reseeding will restore the balance. Ifyou reseed 10% to 15% of the farm eachyear, the entire farmwill be reseeded in,at most, 10 years.

Walk the farm weekly throughout thegrowing season to estimate herbageproduction.This will identify the lowestproducing paddock for reseeding.

Benefits of reseeding

Reseeded perennial ryegrass swardswill:* increase spring and autumn growth* increase response to nutrients* improve sward quality* increase animal output.

Swards with low levels of perennialryegrass content have limited ability toprovide sufficient grass in the early lac-tation period, possibly forcing laterturnout.

Early turnout will mean higher milkyield and higher protein levels. As grassis thecheapest feedavailable, increasingthe proportion of grazed grass will re-duce the requirements for alternativefeeds, so reducing total feed costs.

Grazing swards in early spring hasalso been shown to increase the qualityof the available grass in subsequentgrazing rotations. Swards with a lowerproportion of perennial ryegrass arealsoasmuchas25%lessefficientatusingexpensive nitrogen.

Good grazing management is key tomaintaining high quality grass swardsduring the main grazing season. Peren-nial ryegrass swards, when managedcorrectly, tend to be leafy in mid-seasonand less prone to a drop in quality.

There isalsosomevariation inqualitybetween varieties. Selecting varietieswith a higher digestible value will havepositive effects on animal performance,assuming good grazing management

practices are being implemented.

When should you reseed?Aswith any investment, timing is every-thing.The majority of reseeding cur-rently takes place in the autumnand thiscan pose problems, depending onweather conditions.

In recent years, we have had wet au-tumns and, as a result, it was difficult todo a post-emergence weed spray.Thishas resulted in problems with weeds,such as docks, on many reseeded pas-tures across the country.

If you decide on autumn reseeding,target early to mid-August to have theseed set and allow time for establish-ment of the crop before soil tempera-tures drop.

Consider spring reseeding, whichmay be preferable, depending on localconditions. It’s possible to achieve a 60-day turnaround time from spraying offthe old sward to grazing the new sward ifits’managed correctly, although pre-vailing weather conditions can also in-fluence the turnaround time.

Reseeding in spring allows enoughtime for successful crop establishmentand a greater window of opportunity forpost emergence spray, with high qualityreseed available to calves or milkingcows in the early summer period to opti-mise performance.

>> Next page

Reseeding inspringallows

enough time forsuccessful cropestablishment and agreater windowofopportunity for postemergence spray

MaryMcEvoy,TeagascMoorepark, whoevaluates grass varieties, saysa newsward canoften addthree tonnes per hectareof grass drymatter.

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’sfarm Selecting the right varieties

Perennial ryegrass is the most produc-tive and nitrogen responsive grass spe-cies available. Invasions of other species,especially annual meadow grass, takesplace due to the availability of a hugenumber of seeds in the soil profile. En-suringadequatepH (6 to 6.5) andPandKlevels will minimise the invasions ofweed, while a post emergence spray isstrongly advised to control docks andother problem weeds.

Variety selection will depend on anumber of factors.The most importantpoints to look out for when selecting avariety are:* Seasonal DM yield* Is the quality or the digestibility valueof the variety high?* Is the ground cover (or persistency)value high?

The Department of Agriculture’s na-tional recommended list of grass andclovervarietiesoutlines the seasonalDMyield, quality values and ground coverscores of varieties which have success-fully passed through their evaluationtrials, and should be consulted when se-lecting varieties.

Three to four varieties should be usedwhen selecting varieties for a grazingmixture.The mixture should contain ap-proximately one third tetraploid vari-eties.Varieties should be heading inearly June, with a relatively small rangein heading dates between varieties.

Varieties that have a high springgrowth should be selected to extend thegrazing season.They should also have ahigh quality value. If using clover, med-ium or large leaf clovers are advisable.

A mixture for silage ground shouldhave up to 40% tetraploid varieties. De-pending on harvest date, select inter-mediatesorlates,butensure therange inheading dates between varieties withinthe mixture is small (less than sevendays). Avoid using clover in silageground.

Remember that reseeding is an ex-cellent investment. A sward with 40%perennial ryegrass compared with a100% perennial ryegrass sward is losingyou €202 per hectare per year. It costsapproximately €250/acre to reseed (ex-cluding a post emergence spray), so itonly takes two years for a reseed to payfor itself.

Pat ConaghanTeagasc Oak Park

TEAGASC is actively breedingperennial ryegrass and whiteclover to improve the most im-portant traits for Irish grass-

land farm systems.Themain emphasis isplaced on improving crop performanceunder grazing. Consideration is also gi-ven to silage quality and production, gi-ven that this is our most importantwinter feed.The specific plant traits se-lected for improvement in the breedingprogramme are chosen their economicbenefit to our animal grassland produc-tion systems and their genetic charac-teristics.

Breeding is man-directed evolution.Evolution, or the genetic change in aspecies over time, is a natural and on-going process. Man’s involvement is ne-cessitated by the fact that evolution is anexceedingly slow process. Furthermore,the direction of evolution favoured byman and nature may be completely dif-ferent.

The breeding process consists of a

multi-step and cyclic process where thebest genotypes are evaluated, selectedand intercrossed to produce a new, im-proved variety.Teagasc varieties arestringentlybredand tested foruseunderIrish farm systems.Varieties are testedunder real-world conditions using acombination of cutting and animal graz-ing over multiple years and locations.

Commercial seed production of eightnewTeagasc perennial ryegrass, and twonewTeagasc white clover varieties, hasstarted.The seed will be available forreseeding in the coming years.

Our ultimate target is to breed vari-eties that provide sufficient yield tomatch the animal feed demand curveover the entire season.Therefore,we areplacing major emphasis on improvingspring and autumn yield where cur-rently forage supply is significantly lessthan animal demand. Persistency, de-fined as the change in yield benefit overtime, isalsomonitoredandconsidered inproducing a new variety.

Reseeding is expensive. Avarietywith a yield advantage declining rapidlyover time will require more frequent re-

Varieties thathave a high

spring growth shouldbe selected to extendthe grazing season.They should also havea high quality value

Teagascgrassand clov

White clover evaluation andselectionunder sheep grazingat Teagasc Oak Park.

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FARM MAPPING

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. EQAUL PADDOCK SIZES CAN BE CREATED

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. TAKES THE GUESSWORK OUT OF SETTING UP A DAIRY FARM

. A RANGE OF MAPS PROVIDED INCLUDING LARGE LAMINATED WALL MAPS

& A MAP FOR ONES COMPUTER.

PLANNING

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Contact Bertie Troy

t: 087 272 8668

f: +353 (0) 21 4348343

e: [email protected]

www.grasstec.ie

Maximizing Farm Performance

seeding.This will offset the profit andbenefit from any improvement in yieldand quality from this variety.

During the mid-season, grass supplytends to be greater than demand, butpoor quality can limit animal perfor-mance.We are selecting for improvednutritive value in perennial ryegrassthrough a combination of increasing di-gestibility, increasing the ratio of leaf tostem and reducing repeat heading.

Another approach to improve mid-season quality is to increase the propor-tion of white clover in the sward.The di-gestibility and intake characteristics ofwhite clover are typically higher thangrass. Increasing theproportionofwhiteclover can have a marked positive effecton animal production.

Ground cover is also an importanttrait for improvement. High ground cov-er is a desirable trait for a variety as itindicates a dense sward with little bareground.This reduces invasion by weedsand less productive grasses into thesward while also reducing the threat ofpoaching during wet weather.

Measuringgrass covers‘opened eyes’ to theimportance of reseedingNoel O’Toole, who farms at Killimor nearBallinasloe, Co Galway, said that mea-suring grass covers as part of theTeagasc/Germinal seeds initiative openedhis eyes to the value of reseeding.

‘‘We always did some reseeding, butwhen we started recording the output fromvarious paddocks, it really became ob-vious what effect reseeding can have,’’ hesaid.

‘‘New, young leys were yielding 16tonnes of dry matter per hectare, whichwas double the yield from older paddocks.

‘‘I’ve found that the newer leys respondbetter to nitrogen and give you additionalgrass at the start and end of the season.The extra grass (his most recent varietymix included Dunluce, Tyrella and Mez-quita) outweighs the cost by a long shot.The cost of reseeding is paid back in twoto three years.’’

overbreeding

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The DAIRYMAN project

aims to bring together the

best in knowledge and inno-

vation on dairy farms, from

farmers, researchers and ad-

visory staff across NW Eur-

ope, to benefit dairy farmers,

thewider rural society, econ-

omy and environment, write

Andy Boland, Paul Mur-

phy, John Upton, LenaMi-

hailescu,MingjiaYangand

James Humphreys

Acollaborative project invol-vingTeagasc and partners ineight other dairy regions ofnorth-west Europe is now un-

derway.The project, Dairyman, aims todevelop amore competitive dairy sector,stronger regional economies and an im-provedenvironmentthrough the sharingof knowledge and management tools.More information can be found at http://www.interregdairyman.eu/

Dairyman will assess the environ-mental and economic performance ofdairy farms and implementation of EUregulations in the main dairy regions innorth-westEuropeandanalyseneeds forimprovement through comparisons be-tween the different regions.

A network of pilot farms is being es-tablished to carry this out and to de-monstrate improved managementpractices and tools.

Encouraging and supporting farmersto adopt such practices and tools is a keyobjective.This includes co-operationbetween dairy farms and other ruralstakeholders, such as wind farm opera-tors or nature organisations, for exam-ple.

As part of this effort, pilot farmers,researchers and students from the dif-ferent regions will visit other regions.TheDairyman project includes Brittany,

Pays de la Loire and Nord-Pas de Calaisin France, Ireland, Northern Ireland,Flanders andWallonia in Belgium, Ba-den-Wˇrttemberg in Germany and TheNetherlands.

It is an INTERREG program (IN-TERREG IVBNWE), co-funded by theEuropean Regional Development Fund.The project will run until 2013.

Nutrient use efficiency andgreenhouse gas budgetsA network of 120 commercial dairy pilotfarms that span the participating dairyregions ofEurope has been set up.The21pilot farms inIrelandare located inCork,Limerick,Tipperary, Kilkenny,Water-ford,Wicklow and Carlow.

These farms will be used to demon-strate the practical possibilities andbenefits of improved resource-use man-agement to the wider farming commu-nity. Data collection to assess resource-use efficiency on the Irish farms startedlast January.This aspect of the project ismanaged by Joe Kirk of Acorn AdvisoryServices,Youghal.

All farm inputs and outputs are beingrecorded, including livestock, fertilizer,feed, fuel, herbicides, pesticides, labour,milk andmeat.This datawill beanalysedbyMingjiaYan, a PhD student at UCD, tocalculate a total farm greenhouse gasbudget, using a Life Cycle Assessment.

Elena Mihailescu, a PhD student atWIT, is looking at nutrient use efficiencyon the farms, together with economicdata, to assess the economic and envir-onmental performance of nutrient man-

agement practices on the farms.

Reducing energy consumptionTwenty-one dairy farms are now beingfitted with electricity monitoring equip-ment as part of the Dairyman project.This equipment will measure total farmelectricity usage, along with the break-down of electricity used in the wintersheds and the milking parlour.

The amount of electricity used formilk cooling, water heating, vacuumpumpsand lightingwill alsobeavailable.Power consumption of dwelling houseswill not be included.

Information will be transmittedthrough the mobile phone network to adedicated software package in Moore-park. Baseline electricity consumptiondata will be collected in year one andrecommendations for reducing electri-city consumption will be made in yeartwo.This energy auditing is of great im-portance to the energy research pro-gramme in Moorepark.

Firstly, it will provide an insight intothe electricity consumption trends ofcommercial Irish dairy farms which, todate, has never beenmeasured in detail.Secondly, the economic impact of im-provingenergyefficiencyoneach farm inthe study can be calculated, based onenergy efficiency experiments carriedout in the energy research laboratory inMoorepark.

Knowledge exchangePilot farmers, their advisers and re-searchers from Ireland will visit their

DAIRYMAN�bringing together the

John Upton,Teagasc energyspecialist.

The pilot farmswill be used to

demonstrate thepractical possibilitiesandbenefits ofimprovedresource-usemanagement to thewider farmingcommunity

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colleagues in other regions toexchange experiences, assessregional strengths and weak-nesses and obtain knowledgefor further farm improvement.

Farmers in a region with alow performance for a certainsustainability indicator (e.g.nutrient use efficiency) willvisit regions with a high per-formance for that indicator tolearn from their colleagueshow to strengthen sustain-ability in that area.

They will complete a stan-dardised questionnaire tosuggest improvements fortheir own farms, based onwhat they observed at thefarms visited (taking ideas),and improvements for thefarms visited based on theirown farms (giving ideas).

The intention is to maxi-mise the benefit to the parti-cipating pilot farmers andtheir advisers and, by exten-sion, to dairy farmers in theregion as a whole.

During theprojectperiod, agroup from each region willvisit two other regions. In thefinal year of Dairyman, an in-ter-regional seminar will beorganised for pilot farmersand their advisers to compareand discuss expectations, out-comes and limiting factors forimproving resource-use ontheir farms

In north-west Europe, var-

Dairyfarmers

and theiradvisers will betrained toimproveresource-usemanagementon dairy farmsand effectivelyco-operate withother regionalstakeholders

iousmanagement tools are used bydairyfarmers to improve their managementpractices in areas such as fertilizer orfeed requirements.These tools are oftenused in only one region, typically wherethey were developed.

An inventory will be made of suchmanagement tools, for efficient resourceuse, which are currently applied in theparticipating regions.

The tools will be described and themost suitable selected.Theywill then beadjusted to specific regional conditions,tested in the various regions on the pilotfarms, and the most promising will bepresented to the wider dairy farmingcommunity.

KnowledgeTransfer Centres (KTCs)have been established in the participat-ing regions to facilitate the use and

transfer of knowledge. On the KTCs,highly innovative farming systems aretested and evaluated.The participatingcentres areTre¤ varez (Brittany), Derval(Pays de la Loire), De Marke (the Neth-erlands), Moorepark/Solohead (Ire-land), Hillsborough (Northern Ireland),Hooibeekhoeve (Flanders), Gembloux(Wallonia), Bildungs-und-Wissenszen-trum fˇrViehhaltung, Gruenland-wirtschaft,Wild und Fischerei (Baden-Wˇrttemberg) and Lyce¤ eTechniqueAgricole (Luxembourg).

The centres will be virtually con-nected via the Internet and video con-ferencing facilities to enable effectivecollaboration and a fast exchange of in-formation.

Training programmes will be formu-lated that focus on the requirements ofEUand national environmental legisla-tion and opportunities for improved useof resources.

Dairy farmers and their advisers willbe trained to improve resource-usemanagement on dairy farms and effec-tively co-operate with other regionalstakeholders.

hebest inknowledgeand innovation

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’sfarm Lessons from

Scotland

INmid-May, the management teamfrom theTeagasc/Irish FarmersJournal BETTER farm beef pro-grammevisited four diverse suckler

units in southern Scotland over a two-day period.The purpose of the visit wasto look at how the Scottish managedtheir suckler systemsandwhat lessons, ifany, we could take home.

The four farms we visited were:* John MacIntosh in Stranrear, who isrunning 2,000 suckler cows, bringing allprogeny to beef . He also had 500 in calfheifers, some of which were sourced inIreland. All cattle were outwintered oneither woodchip corrals or on sandyground.*Robert Neill farms near Jedburgh. Hefarms a total of 450 ha with 300 sucklercows bringing all progeny to beef. Healso grows 243ha of cereals.* John Finlay farms at Corsock, nearDumfries. He has 728ha of hill groundand he runs 750 pure Scottish Blackfaceewes and 45 pure Galloway cattle. Hefattens steers at 22 to 25 months andheifers are sold as breeding heifers at 24months.*Doug Greenshields has amixed farm,near Sanquhar. He runs 190 cows, which

are all crossed back to Stabiliser bulls,and he sells forward stores. He has 600Blackface and 700 mule ewes and is oneof the SAC grass monitor farms.

Good cattle handling facilitiesGiven the sheer scale of some of thesefarms, labour efficiency is a key factor ifyou are to get around all the jobs.Whilewe were on the farm of Robert Neill, hedemonstrated the ease of managementinvolved in working with stock using hishandling facilities and electronic tag-ging.

Thirty finishing cattle were taken outof a straw-bedded shedandwalkeddownto the handling yard. A circular holdingpenwith a self locking forcinggate easedthe cattle up a curved sheeted race and afullyautomatic squeeze crush fittedwithanEID scanning board read the animalselectronic tag and, at the same time, theanimal was weight recorded.

All thecattlewere through inabout10minutes. Itwas impressivebecauseof thespeed of operation.There was no stresson the animal; the operator was safe be-cause youdidnot have to get into thepenwith cattle and, with the electronic tag-ging andweighing, you generated a lot ofuseful production data.The weighingunit was able to show the liveweight ofthe animal, its average daily gain (ADG)from the lastweighingand theADGfrombirth, all highly valuable information foranyone finishing cattle like Robert. Ithas been proposed that, in Scotland,from 2012, there will be an option to vo-

luntarily electronically (EID) tag cattleand this would eliminate the need forcattle ID cards.

The cost of the electronic reader forthe crush, along with the weigh bars andweighing clock, works out at €3,400.Thetag set costs €2.50, which includes thelarge primary tag and the smaller elec-tronic tag. Certainly, after seeing it inaction, it is a system that a number oflarger scale operators at home should

AidanMurrayTeagasc Grange

RIGHT:Doug GreenshieldsABOVE:Robert Neill

A Teagasc/Irish FarmersJournal initiative, supportedby industry sponsors:

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consider. John Finlay at Corsock runsboth the well known Blackcraig Scot-tish Blackface Flock and Gallowaycattle.

He owns over 700ha of hill groundandhehas to rent in lowlandgroundtomake silage.

Where he farms is certainly not forthe faintheartedand it is certainlynotthe type of place you could imaginesome of our big Continental cowsthriving, even at low stocking rates.

He admits, from experience, that‘‘crossbred cows just won’t do’’ on histypeof land.So, he lookedattwohardytraditional breeds, Luing and BlackGalloway, opting for theGalloway.Thisbreed was developed to thrive onpoorer land types and under extremeweather conditions.

Cattle are outdoors all year round.Cows and calves go off to the hill overthe summer and weanlings receivecreep before weaning. Cows are fedround bale silage and meal andminerals over the winter.

Yearling steers go out to greenerareas on the hill during their secondseason and are grazed.They receive2kg of meal over the summer before

they are put on to ad lib meal and even-tually slaughtered in December at be-tween 22 and 25 months. At peak, theyconsume about 7kg/day.The averagecarcaseweight this year was 340kg to350kg and they averaged €1,250/head.The beef is highly sought after for thespecialist butcher and connoisseur mar-ket and generally goes to London.Thebeef price is flat across the year at €3.57/kg. Heifers are grazed and sold asbreeding heifers at a sale in Castle Dou-glas and, this year, they averaged €1780.

Certainly, the breed won’t contributemuch to the liveexporttradebuttheyaregood functional stock.The cows arehardy, regular breeders and goodmothers that suit marginal land and aneasy care type system.

In Britain, there is a premium nichemarket available for the beef.

Our visit highlighted the importanceof having the right cow for your condi-tions and John Finlay was certainlymaximising his returns from suckling onextremely difficult land.

Staying focusedIt isveryeasytoget sidetrackedor to takeyour eye of the ball, no matter what youare doing. OnRobert Neill’s farm, he hasLimousin x British Friesian type cowthat is crossed back with Limousin andall progeny are finished at between 13and 24 months.

>> Next page

The farmwalksthrewupsome ofthe sameissues wehave athome ongrass

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Replacement heifers are sourcedfromthe familydairyherd in thenorthofEngland. Cows calve in April and Mayand they go straight to grass.

Calvesaretagged,dehornedandmalecalves are castrated using rubber ringsat one dayold. After weaning, calves arehoused on strawand fed a total mixedration of silage, straw and homegrownconcentrates.

Steers receive 3kg to 4kg ofmeal overthewinterbefore beingmoved over ontoad lib feeding the following spring. Hei-fers get 1kg to 2kg and go to grass thefollowing spring before being re-housedin late summer/autumn, where they tooreceive ad lib meals up to finish.

Robert sells all his stock live at thelocal mart in St Boswells. He sells threeto five animals every week and targetsthespecialised local smallbutchertrade.He is very focused on what his customerwants. He weighs and selects animalsweekly, having them clipped and wellpresented for the sale.

Typically, he wants animals at 580-620kg liveweight. In recent weeks, he isaveraging €2.15/kg liveweight for ani-mals sold.

When asked why he was not temptedto sell off his heifers as replacements, hesaid that it would only be a distractionfromhismain focusof supplying the localbutcher tradethat is servinghimwell.Healsoacknowledgedthe factthat itdoesn’tpay to ‘jump ship too often’.

The focuson the farmisveryapparentfrom the type of animal he breeds to theway the system is planned and stream-

lined towards consistently hitting histarget market.

Grassland managementThis is the second year that the SAC (theScottish research/education/advicebody) has been working on the grassmonitoring farm of Doug Greenshield,near Sanquhar.The farm walk we at-tended threw up a number of the sameissues we have at home about managinggrass and it helped to reaffirm some ofour own findings.

The cold late spring highlighted thevalue of reseeded ground versus oldpastures. Figures presented at thefarmwalk showed that between mid-April and mid-May, grass growth on newgrass was almost double that recordedon old pastures.This was broadly in linewith our ownmeasurements on theBETTER farms.

The value of the paddocks systemwasalso very obvious, where a number oflarger fields were subdivided on thefarm.The paddock system has givenhigherliveweightgainoncattleandevenlast year inwhatwas averydifficult year,yearling cattle did over 1kg per day overthe grazing season.

Thepaddock systemallowed the farmto run larger groups of stock, cuttingdown on actual group numbers of stockcompared with a set stocking regime.

Cattle were easier to handle becausethe rotational system led tomore humancontact with the stock.

The paddocks gave greater flexibilityin managing grass and, as a result, grass

quality improvedonthe farmandclosingin rotation last autumn, allowed earlierspring turnout.

Future of the Single Farm PaymentAsyou arewell aware, if wewere tomoveto a flat rate area-based Single FarmPayment (SFP), Irish farmerswould loseout on over €200m a year.

When we asked a number of thefarmerswevisitedwhohavemuch largerholdings than we have here as to howmoving to an area-based SFP would af-fect them, we got some interesting re-sponses.

The farmerswith themost productivefarmsonthebetterlandsaid thatmovingto an area-based payment would effec-tively halve their SFPand, as a result,could have serious repercussions ontheir ability to hold on to existing labour.It would curtail their ability to pumpmoney back into the local economy.

Onthemoremarginal, lessproductiveland, the response was that their SFPwould increase under an area-basedpayment system and, therefore, theycould possibly ease back on stock num-bers.These comments raise a number ofissues. An area-based payment, bothhere and in Scotland, would have thegreatest effect on the more productiveunits. It would also raise concerns overlong-term food security, if these farmswere forced to cut back on production. Italso calls into question how feasible itwouldbe tomove fromahistorical-basedpayment system to a completely area-based system, literally overnight.

Anautomatic squeeze crush fittedwith an EID scanning board reads an animal’s electronic tagandweighs it at the same timeon Robert Neill’s farm.

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Managinggrass,makingmoneyAdamWoodsBETTER farmadviser,Teagasc,Grange

ONE of the key objectives oftheTeagasc/Irish FarmersJournal BETTER farm beefprogramme programme is

that each participant will be a compe-tent grassland manager by the end ofthe programme. In this article, we pro-file the Carlow farm of Dermot O’Connorin Hacketstown, and how he is master-ing grassland management by using theTeagasc grassland programme to aidhim to make important managementdecisions on a weekly basis.

Each farmer in the programme wasprovided with a plate meter with whichto measure grass weekly, improve grass-land management, achieve earlier turn-out dates and maintain grass qualitythroughout the grazing season.

‘‘At the beginning of the programme, Iwas a little sceptical of spending two anda half hours each week walking the farmto measure grass.I now see it as one ofthe most important jobs to be done eachweek.The programme allows me takecorrective action 10 to 14 days in ad-vance.There is no point in taking actionwhen it’s too late.You need to see theproblems coming.’’

Farm facts* Area: 72ha*Blocks: Three separate farms within athree-mile radius.* Stock: 40 Spring calving suckler cows.Bulls finished at 18 months and heifersfinished at 18 to 20 months.* Dairy calf to beef system purchasingautumn dairy bull calves and finishingthem at 16 to 18 months out of shed onad-lib system.* Stocking rate will increase from1.57LU/ha to 2.2LU/ha over the courseof the programme and the target grossmargin is €1,098/ha.

Grassland managementGrassland management for 2010 on thefarm began on 1 October 2009, when the

first of the dry grazing paddocks wereclosed. Silage groundwas then closed on1 November and all cattle were housedon 15 November.

Average farm cover at closing was650kg DM/ha which was on target. How-ever, the cold weather with snowandfrost in December and January took itstoll on this fairly high-elevation farmand average farm cover had actuallydropped to 125kgDM/ha at turnout on 8February. Seventy-two of the lightestweanlings were turned out at this timeand fed meals at grass (as there was vir-tually no pasture) to reduce demand un-til growth kicked in.

We have found over the past two yearsthat this is quite a slow farm to get goingin spring regardless of closing dates. It isquite high at 180mabove sea level andsoil temperatures are slow to get abovethe magic 6oC needed to sustain growth.Temperatures in March were running1oC to 1.5oC behind the rest of the BET-TER farms.

While growth was slow to get started,grass utilisation was excellent with allpaddocks being cleaned out fully in therotation.

Growth rates over the past fourweekshave been excellent with the farm con-sistently growing 70kg to 80kg/DM/hafrommid-May to present.This has al-lowed Dermot take out strong paddocks

as surplus grass in the form of pit silageor round bales.

First cut silage was harvested in asplit cut system with the first half of thefirst cut taken on 1 June.This silageshould be of high quality and will beprioritised for weanlings and youngstock, while the second split was let bulkup and this will be lower quality but willsuffice for the spring calving sucklercows on the farm.

Fertilizer use on the farmThe farm was soil sampled on entry tothe programme and a detailed fertilizerplan drawn up. Slurry is generally re-turned to silage ground and paddockslow in P and K.

Over the past six weeks, paddockshave been receiving 20 to 25 units of ni-trogen after grazing in the form of sul-pha can or pasture sward, depending onP status.

Some paddocks with a high percen-tage of clover did not get any N sincemid-May.When first cut silage was cut,this ground received 27 units of nitro-gen. No second cut will be taken as suchbut, instead, surpluses will be taken outof the grazing rotation to control qualityin the second half of the grazing season.

>> Next page

Dermot O’Connor uses a platemeter tomeasure grass covers each Monday.

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Grass budgeting — the basicsWhybudget?1.To maintain enough grass ahead of

stock2.To maintain the quality of grass

being grazed nextBudgeting is carried out by regularly

measuring the quantity of grass that isavailable on the farm. Dermot walksevery paddock on the farm on aMondaymorning and measures the amount ofgrass in eachpaddock in cmusing aplatemeter.

He then inputs these figures into thegrassland programme, along with theamount of stock grazing each farm.

Theprogramme then indicates tohimwhether there is a shortage or surplus ofgrass comingandallowshimreactwell inadvance of this shortage or surplus com-ing.

The programme also calculates theoptimumgrazing cover forhis farm, soheknows that if he goes above these, thequality is reduced and the option of tak-ing paddocks out has to be looked at.

Important grassland measuresDays ahead (the number of days grazingleft on the farm if growth were to cease):* Derived from total amount of grassavailable/daily herd demand.*This tells whether there is too little ortoo much grass ahead of stock.* As the season progresses, the targetnumber of days ahead increases.* Real value to this measure is predict-ing what it will be in seven to 10 daysallowing pre-emptive action.

If days are running ahead:* Take out a strong paddock for roundbale silage.* Take out a paddock for reseeding.* Increase the stocking rate and, hence,increase the daily demand to reduce thedays ahead.

If days ahead are running behind:*Spread more nitrogen to boost growth.* Reduce demand by removing stockfrom grazing block or housing.* Introduce supplementary feed toreduce demand and slow down rotation.

Herd demand (the amount of grass thatthe herd eats each day):* This is calculated by allocating 2% ofbodyweight for daily intake for eachanimal on the farm, the total kgDMrequired is then divided by the totalarea available for grazing.* Can compare it with growth forprevious measurement period or to

figures in national farming press.* Where growth is less than herddemand, days ahead will be falling.* Where growth is more than herddemand, days ahead will be increasing.

Targetpre-grazingcover (the targetgrass

cover to be going into for the farm to en-sure that there is enough grass ahead ofstock and to keep the grass DMD at amaximum).* This is calculated by the formula:Intake x Stocking Rate x RotationLength + Residual

Table1: | Guideline grazing stocking rates

Date Stocking rate

Turnout to mid-June 1,000-2,500 kg/ha

(400-1,000kg/acre)

Mid-June to late August 1,500-2,000kg/ha

(600-800kg/acre)

Early September 1,000-1,500kg/ha

to housing (400-600kg/acre)

Table 2: | Days ahead

Turnout

Feb/March Apr-June July-Aug Sept-Closing

Target days ahead 28-30 12-14 16-18 >25

Action required

if > than - 16 20 40

Action required

if < than - 10 14 House

Dermot O’Connorand BETTER farmadviser AdamWoods.

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* Highly stocked farms will have ahigher target compared to lower stockedfarms.

CommentsWe can see from theTable 3 that cutting1.9ha will bring days ahead back to 14

(one within target).Dermot is continuing to apply nitro-

gen after each grazing andwill taken outsurpluses as they arise. This will ensurethat quality is maintained and it alsomeans that he is growing the maximumamount of grass possible.

Table 3: | Pre-grazing cover

Days grazing ahead 16

Grazing stocking rate (kg LW / ha) 2,183

Current target aays ahead (from 1 April) 13

Average farm cover/hectare (kg DM/ha) 764

Cutting 1.94ha reduces days ahead by 1.6

Target pre-grazing cover 946

Grass growth (kg DM/ha/day) 75.5

Growth needed to meet herd demand 46.7 (kg/ha/day)

WHAT ABOUT the wedge?

Astute readers may query how the ideaof ‘days ahead’, as used in the beefprogramme, relates to the ‘grasswedge’ concept used by Teagasc dairyadvisers. In terms of grass manage-ment philosophy, there is no difference.Both are based on rotational grazingwith the farmer estimating the supply ofgrass available in each paddock on thefarm and then comparing it with herddemand.

The key objective of both is thatanimals are constantly supplied withfresh young grass which is the cheap-est, most effective, feed available.

In both systems, the farmer man-ages fertilizer, stocking rates, reseed-ing, etc, so that animals are constantlymoving onto pastures with grass at theoptimum stage of development — leafyand high quality. Animals are rotatedthrough the paddockswhich are each ata slightly different stage of develop-ment. As the animals graze out apaddock, another should be justreaching the ideal stage for grazing.Thewedge system could be said to be amore visual representation, the days-ahead more figure-based.

In either system, if one or morepaddocks ‘gets away’ — threatening tobecome ‘stemmy’ before it reaches thefront of the queue, it will be taken out ofthe rotation and cut for baled silage.Animals will move into the paddockwhich was ‘next-up’ and will be at theright stage for grazing. Ultimately, the‘wedge’ and the ‘days-ahead’ conceptsare about money more than grass.Dermot O’Connor put it well:

‘‘The focus on this farm has changedfrom farming for the sake of it to farmingas a business to makemoney. A budgetis now done at every stage of the cyclebe it at purchasing, summer grazing orwintering. I need to know that there is adecent margin in return for my labour.Bymanaging grass better, I can achievethat.’’

You shouldbudget to

maintain enough grassahead of stock and tomaintain the quality ofgrass being grazed.Budgeting is carriedout by regularlymeasuring the quantityofgrassthat isavailable

22/6/1018:00


beefTo

day

’sfarm NorthTipp groups

target DerrypatrickMichael DalyTeagasc

THE ambitious financial targetsset and publicised for of theDerrypatrick suckler beef herdat Teagasc Grange offer all

suckler farmers a benchmark for theirown performance. Some farmers mayeven aim to exceed the Grange results.

At local discussion group level, thequestion is will it be realistic to achievesuch performance?As a group, where dowestandcollectively, andwhatmeasuresneeds to be taken to reaching a potentialgross margin of E1,000/ha?

Members of theThurles and Nenaghsuckler discussion groups have alreadycompleted 2009 beef profit monitors,and their results are similar to theTea-gasc National Farm Survey (NFS)/Tea-gasc eProfit Monitor (ePM) nationally.

Calculating your gross margin givesan automatic advantage in terms ofknowing where you stand.

To date, members have comparedtheir ePMwithin the group and againstTeagasc national figures, but the re-search work at Grange has added a newdimension by offering a whole new per-formance target.

Thurles & Nenagh Derrypatricksuckler discussion target atgroups 2009 top 2010 pricesthird ePMrange

Financial (E/ha)Gross output 963 to 1,269 1,797Variable cost 378 to 788 745Grossmargin 481 to 632 1,052Stocking rate 1.80 to 2.14LU/ha 2.88LU/ha

Some group members are well ontrack to matching the future Grange tar-get.The feedback from group memberswho attended the open day was very po-sitive, and all were very interested inreturning again to monitor the perfor-mance of the current crop of calves laterin the year.

As an adviser, Iwas expecting a lotmore comments on the cow breeds used,etc but instead, most feedback was ontwo key drivers that are maximising

output at Grange: stocking rate and li-veweight per day during suckling andgrazing periods (i.e. grassland manage-ment).

Stocking rateIf the level of production efficiency ismaintained, increasing stocking ratewill lead to a direct increase in farmprofitability. For the Derrypatrick herd,at current prices, each 0.1 livestock in-crease in stocking rate corresponds toanincrease in gross margin of E33/ha, withstocking rates ranging from 1.9LU/ha to2.9LU/ha.

While the local discussion groups areat the lower end of this range, there aresome members that will be able to in-crease their stocking rate and, in turn,increase overall gross output and po-tentially gross margin/ha. For others,concentrating on the other aspects ofmaximising output will be the preferredoption in the short to medium term.

Liveweight per dayThe Derrypatrick herd has a targetmean liveweight/day of age for bull andheifer progeny of 1.17kg and 0.92kg re-spectively. Bulls finished at 390kg car-case at approximately 18 months andheifers at 310kg carcase at 20 months.

Ata local level,membersofdiscussiongroups have differing production sys-tems, but the basic principle of live-weight gain per day, especially duringthe grazing period, still apply.

As per Grange, cows must have ade-quate milk, a breeding programme pro-ducing progeny with high growth ratesand high weight gains at grass and dur-ing finishingperiods. Grazed grass is ourcheapest feed, and maximising thegrowth potential from a long grazingperiod is one of the biggest challenges totheThurles&Nenaghdiscussion groups.Their figures are as follows:*Turnout days:15Februaryto15March* Housing dates: 10 November to 24November* Days at grass: 240 to 280

An increase of just 25g/day in animalperformance can increase gross marginby E30/ha.

Relative to targets being set by theDerrypatrick Grange herd, a reductionof six weeks in the grazing season willreduce grazed grass in the total feedbudget by 8% units, and increase vari-able costs by 13%, resulting in a 9% re-duction in gross margin.

Calving rateThe number of live calves born perbreeding female per year is the calvingrate. A high level of reproductive per-formance is critical for profitable suck-ler beef production. Each additionalpercentage unit increase in calving rateequals an E11/ha increase in gross mar-gin for theGrangeherdatcurrentprices.

Carcase grades are also rewarded forbetter conformation and appropriate fatscores.

Table1 |

Teagasc NFS Teagasc ePM Derrypatrick

top third top third target

Gross Output ( /ha) 772 1,126 1,797

Variable costs 435 555 745

Gross margin 337 571 1,052

Fixed costs 407 514 479

Net margin -70 57 576

Stocking rate (LU/ha) 1.70 1.95 2.88

Liveweight output (kg/ha) 483 663 1,036

E

22/6/1018:00


Today’s

farm

JOHNFITZPATRICK

Maximisinggrassqualityandquantity

ATa recent Thurles discussiongroup meeting hosted by JohnFitzpatrick, Clonmore,Tem-plemore, maximising the

quantity and quality of grazed grass inthe annual feed budget was highlightedandlinkedspecificallytoreducingJohn’scurrent variable costs.

John Fitzpatrick 2009eProfit monitor results

Financial (E/ha)Gross output 1,269Variable costs 788Grossmargin 481Stocking rate 2.14LU/ha

John runs a 108 suckler HerefordcrossContinental cowherd (70%autumnand 30% spring ), finishing all progenytobeef both as steers and heifers.

Increasing his stocking density islimitedbysoil type, grass qualityand thefragmented nature of this farm. Redu-cing variable costs was targeted to in-crease gross margin.The areas forpotential improvement, as highlightedby the group, are reducing purchasedconcentrate, currently at E243/ha, and

fertilizer at E182/ha or 19% and 14%respectively of total variable costs.

John operates a rotational paddockgrazing system on 50% of the farm, butthe productivity of the sward on somefields is low.Heplans tobeginmeasuringcovers to identify poor performingswards.The biggest challenge in grass-land management, he feels, is to budgetgrass availability and to have the cour-age to remove surplus grass as it arises.

The average number of days at grassare 245. All pastures are 14 years old orolder, and his plan for the future is to

reseed on a phased basis all non-pro-ductive pastures, thereby ensuring thatleafy swards of high digestible materialare presented to the herd at all times.

Overfeeding of concentrates toweanlings, both on grass and duringhoused periods, was also highlighted bythe group as a potential area for redu-cing costs, and is directly influenced bygrass quality and quantity.

Liveweight gainMaximising liveweight gain fromgrass ishis focus. Earlier access to spring grassby the autumn-born weanlings was alsodiscussed, with the possible option ofallowing such weanlings access to pad-docks that adjoin the wintering sheds.

While John is at 50% of the Derrypa-tick herd target of E1,000/ha, improvedgrassland use through reseeding andgeneral grass budgeting will increasethe herd days at grass, reducing currentvariable costs, ensuring cheaper live-weight gain from beef progeny. Thiscould generate an additional E150 grossmargin/ha, a good first step on the roadtomatching or beating the Derrypatrickperformance.

Allpasturesare14 years old or

older, and the plan is toreseed non-productivepastures, ensuring thatleafy swards of highdigestible material arepresented to the herd

John Fitzpatrick (second from right) andMichael Daly (farright) at a recent meetingof theThurles discussion group.

22/6/1018:01


sheepTo

day

’sfarm Put your footdown

on lamenessArealistic target for every sheep farm is to keep

the number of lame sheep at any one time below

5% (one animal in 20)

APART from being an animalwelfare issue, lame sheep donot thrive to their full poten-tial and this loss inproduction,

combined with the cost of treating lamesheep (labour, footbath solution andantibiotics), represents a huge cost tosheep farmers.

The causes of lameness in sheep are

many and varied. In Ireland, the maintwo causes of lameness are scald andfootrot and these account for approxi-mately 90% of lame sheep.The remain-ing 10% arise from other infections andinjuries to the feet. Proper diagnosis isessential if the control/prevention pro-gramme is tobe successful.The followingare some of the more common causes:

1) Sores between the digits at the backof the foot, no smell from the sore andsheep have become severely lame veryquickly. This is most likely to be scald.

2) Hoof horn lifting, foul smell, rot-ting in hoof, usually starting around theoutside of the hoof. This is most likely tobe footrot.

3) Infection breaking out between thecoronary band and the hoof (i.e. wherethe hoof meets the hair on the leg).Severe lameness and no smell. This islikely to be Contagious Ovine DigitalDermatitis (CODD). You should seekveterinary advice.

4) Injuries and infections in the joints

Michael Gottstein

ABOVE:Abad caseof foot rot.

Table1 | Various products that can be used, their dilution rates and advantages/disadvantages

Chemical Concentration Advantages Disadvantages

Formalin 3% of 40% formaldehyde. 1) Sheep can walk through 1) Cannot be reused after one day.

(i.e. 300ml per 10 litres of water). — fast working. 2) Stops working if contaminated with

Avoid higher concentrations 2) Cheap. mud, straw, faeces/organic matter.

due to risk of skin damage. 3) Breaks down naturally 3) Unpleasant — irritant, toxic

and is easily disposed. and carcinogenic.

4) Very painful for lame sheep.

5) Hoofs become hard/

brittle with repeated use.

Zinc Sulphate 10% (1kg per 10 litres) 1) Can be reused. 1) More expensive.

using Zinc Hexahydrate. 2) Not painful. 2) Can be toxic if drunk.

6.5% (650g per 10 litres) 3) Not deactivated by organic matter. 3) Can be difficult to dissolve.

using Zinc Monohydrate. 4) Need to stand sheep in bath.

Add a few squirts of washing up 5) Harder to dispose — heavy metal.

liquid to improve horn penetration.

Copper sulphate 10% (1kg per 10 litres) 1) Can be reused. 1)Very expensive.

2) Quicker to penetrate than zinc. 2) No longer recommended by SAC

due to risk of copper poisoning.

3) Reacts with galvanised metal.

4) Colours fleece.

5) Toxic if drunk.

6) Difficult to dispose.

Other organic Use as directed. 1) Quick to penetrate. 1)Very expensive.

acid zinc/copper 2) Some stick to feet 2) Cannot be reused.

salt mixtures improving penetration further. 3) Reduced efficacy if soiled with

organic matter.

Antibiotic Use as directed by 1) Useful against CODD. 1) Expensive.

footbaths veterinary surgeon 2) Cannot be reused.

3) Reduced efficacy if soiled

with organic matter.

NOTE: Table adapted from Heather Stevenson, SAC Veterinary Services, SAC sheep & Beef Notes

22/6/1018:01


Today’s

farm

are characterised by swelling, heat andtenderness in the affected area.

Identifying the cause of the problemis relatively easy. Putting in place an ef-fective control programme, which curesinfected sheepandprevents other sheepfrom getting infected, is a different mat-ter altogether.

I find that I can nearly always guesshow good the handling/footbathing fa-cilitiesareonafarmjustbylookingatthesheep. Flocks with good handling/footbathing facilities ‘in general’ havefar fewer problems.

The key to managing lameness isearly intervention. Sheepwith lame feetwill do all in their power to avoid thesores from coming in contact with afootbathing solution. Itmakes sense thattheywoulddosoas the solutionwill stingcausingpain to thealreadysore foot.Butif the infected foot is not immersed in thesolution, how can it be treated?

Ideally, sheep should be footbathedevery time they are in for handling/drafting. In most instances, this meansthat the sheep will be footbathed once amonth, or so. If, in the intervening time,there is an outbreak of scald in younglambs, an additional trip to the yard willbe warranted.With this approach, lame-ness levels canbekeptverylow,provided

that there is an effective footbath on thefarm.

An effective footbath must be de-signed andmanaged well.Walk throughfootbaths, where the sheep literally justrun through the bath in a few seconds is,inmymind,notagreatoption.Theyworkfine for lambs with scald, where a quickdip in something like formalin is quiteeffective. But they aren’t much use whentrying to control outbreaks of footrot orCODD, where the length of time that thesolution is in contact with the feet has abearing on the success of the operation.

Best solutionInmyopinion, a ‘stand in’bath is thebestsolution.This isabathsituatedattheendof the dosing race, which holds about10%more sheep than the race.This al-lowsall thesheep in therace tobeheld inthe footbath, while the race is being re-filled with new sheep. As the next batchof sheep are being treated in the race,thepreviousbatcharebeing footbathed.It takes no extra effort as the sheep aregoing through the race anyway.

A roof over the footbath is a good ideaas it prevents rain water from dilutingthe solution.

It is also a good idea to have a shortwater bath before the sheep enter the

footbath (to clean their feet). Runningthe sheep across an area with looseround stones can also help to clean feet.

Even the best designed footbath willfail if it is not filled with a suitable foot-bath solution.Work out the size of yourfootbath� length by width and thedepth of the solution in metres.This willgive you the volume of water that thebath holds.

An example would be a footbath 2mwide, 3m long and 5cm of solution.Toworkoutthevolumeof solutionrequired,we multiply 2m by 3m, which gives us6m2.Next,wemultiply6mx5cm,which is0.05m to give us the volume of 0.3m3. Onecubicmetre is 1,000 litres; therefore, thevolume of solution in the footbath givenin this example is 300 litres.

Try to carry out the footbathing on adry day and aim to have the sheep’s feetas cleanaspossible.This canbeachievedby running them through awaterbath oracross slats or round stones.There is noneed to turn all sheep to pare their legs.However, sheep with overgrown feet orlame sheep should have their feet exam-inedandpared, if necessary.Donot over-pare. Drawing blood is not a good idea.All you are trying to achieve is to correctthe shape of the feet in the case of over-grown feet.

Oncesheephavebeen footbathed, thesolution must be given a chance to work.Standing the sheep on a dry, clean andhardsurfaceafter treatment is essential.Ideally, sheep shouldbe allowed to standon this surface for one hourbefore beingturned out to grass.

It is a good idea to draft off any sheepthat are lame. Keep these animals in aseparate paddock to avoid contaminat-ing the healthy sheep post footbathing.Lame sheep should be bathed every fivedays until they are cured before beingreturned to the main flock. Serial re-of-fenders (i.e. sheep that keep gettinglame) should be culled.

There is a vaccine available to helpcontrol footrot in sheep (Footvax). It isexpensive and is only an aid and not areplacement for having proper facilitiesas it only controls footrot.

Flocks that have problems gettingfootrot under control often use vaccina-tion to help them get on top of an out-break before embarking on an intensivefootbathing regime to keep the diseaseat bay.

Foot paring. Stand-in footbath.

22/6/1018:01


farmmanagementTo

day

’sfarm Lessons

fromadifficultyearProfitmargins for dairy,

beef and tillage farms

drop in 2009

Liam ConnollyTeagasc,National Farm Survey,Athenry,Co Galway

AVERAGEprofitmargins in 2009for dairying, cattle, and tillagecrops show a decline on the2008 gross and net profit mar-

gins, due mainly to a decline in prices ofmilk and cereals, coupled with unfa-vourable weather and growing condi-tions.

Results on profit margins from the2009 National Farm Survey show disap-pointing returns for all the main farmenterprises, with the exception of sheep.

Enterprise returnsThe average gross profit per hectare forcreamerymilkproductiondeclined from€1,967 per hectare in 2008 to €1,034 in2009, while the net margin per hectaredeclined from €863 to €177perhectare in2009.

However, there was considerable var-iation between dairy farmers, both inrelation to profit margins and technicalperformance as shown inTable 1.

The data inTable 1, based on arandom sample of dairy farmers, showclearly that even in one of the mostdifficult years on record, the mostefficient dairy producers obtained rea-sonable gross and net profit margins.

These margins exclude all directpayments and subsidies.The top third offarmers produced 12,123 litres of milkper hectare more than one-third morethan the national average of 8,837 litres/hectare.This was achieved by a combi-nation of higher stocking rates (21%higher) and higher milk yield per cow(14% higher).

TheTeagasc National Farm Surveydata clearly shows that increased tech-nical efficiency is required to survive thevolatile changes in farm product and in-

Table1 |Manufacturingmilk: financial and technical performance 2009

AVERAGE TOP ONE-THIRD

Financial

Gross profit (/ha) 1,034 1,691

Net profit (/ha) 177 596

Technical

Milk yield/cow (litres) 4,760 5,426

Milk per ha (litres) 8,837 12,123

Stocking rate (LU/ha) 1.9 2.3

Concentrates (kg/cow) 900 950

Table 2 | Single suckling : financial and technical performance 2009

AVERAGE TOP ONE-THIRD

Financial

Gross profit (/ha) 111 337

Net profit (/ha) :

excluding direct payments -178 -70

including direct payments 268 430

Technical

Livestock units 54 34

Suckler cows (head) 18 28

Stocking rate 1.3 1.7

N kg/ha 58 70

22/6/1018:01


Today’s

farm

put prices and, even in a difficult year,generate a positive net margin.

Teagasc National Farm Survey datashow a similar scenario for the maincattle system in the country, i.e. singlesuckling. Again, the results shown inTa-ble 2 are based on a random sample ofsuckler farms for 2009.

Last yearwas also difficult for sucklerfarmers with lower cattle prices, higherinput costs and unfavourable grassgrowing conditions. Net profit marginsfor all cattle systems were on averagenegative and producers had to rely onsubsidies and direct payment for alltheir income, as shown inTable 2.

The data shows that excluding directpayments, even the top one-third, ormost efficient producers, were unable tocover production costs and had to ‘eat’into their direct payments.The most ef-ficient third lost €70 per hectare, whiletheaverage suckler farmerlost €178 fromthe marketplace.

When subsidies and direct paymentsare included, the top performers ob-tained a net margin of €430/hectarecompared with €268 for the average na-tionally.

As on dairy farms, higher technicaloutput resulted inhigherprofitswith themost efficient farmers having a stockingrate of 1.7 LUs/hectare, compared to 1.3LUs/ha on average.This resulted inhigher financial output and increasedprofit margins.

Farm returnsThe2009resultsonaper farmbasiswereequally disappointing, with incomes onspecialist dairy farms declining by 48%to €23,684 per farm (incomes stood at€45,732 in 2008), due mainly to a declineof 30% in the price of milk.

Farmers in the Dairy Other Systemalso sawdecreased incomes in 2009,withfamily farm income (FFI) per farm de-clining by 27% to €17,280.This declinewas due to lower milk and livestock out-put and higher direct and overheadcosts.

Farm income on suckler farms de-clined by 15% from 2008 to 2009� to thelower average level of €6,563.

This was due to a decline of 9% inoutput per farm and increased directcosts of 1.3%, while overhead costs de-clined by 12%.

Incomes on the Cattle Other Systemdeclined by 17% to €9,302 in 2009, withoutput down by 10% and costs by 7%.

2009 was another difficult year finan-cially for tillage farmers, whose averageFFI declined from €19,380 in 2008 to€15,247 in 2009� a drop of 21%.This re-sulted from a 13% fall in output, despitean 11% decline in total production costs.

The last two years have been disas-trous for tillage farmers, who have seentheir average FFI fall from €40,611 in2007 to €15,627 in 2009� a decline of62%.

Average FFI on sheep farms in-creased by 1% in 2009 to €9,688 per farm(€9,593 in 2008) due mainly to reducedcosts, as output declined by 3.5%.

On 52.6% of all farms, the farmer and/or spouse had an off-farm job� a 3.7%declineon2008.Thiswas the secondyearoff-farm employment has declined (-2%in 2008), reflecting the difficulties in ob-taining employment nationally.

On 35% of farms, the job was held bythe farmer. Overall, on 79% of farms, thefarmerand/or spousehadsomesourceofoff-farm income, be it from employment,pension or social assistance.

Direct payments and subsidiesNational Farm Survey data show thegrowing importance of subsidies from1995 onwards, especially in the drystocksector, where their contribution ex-ceeded FFI by over 30% in most yearssince 2000 and increasing to 204% in2009. In other words, returns from themarketplace were not sufficient to covertotal production costs.

In 2009, market-based output fromthe cattle rearing system, which ac-counts for almost one-quarter of allfarms in the country, was €13,396 perfarm.Totalproductioncostswere€19,125,resulting in a loss from the marketplaceof €5,729 per farm.

Subsidies as a percentage of FFIwasalso high in the tillage sector at 162% ofFFI in 2009.

Direct payments contributed 45% tospecialist dairy farmers’ income in 2008but increased to 87% in 2009, due to adecline inmilkprice.The2009data showtillage farms and dairy/other farms re-ceiving the highest direct payments at€24,668 and €24,351 per farm respec-tively.

Optimistic outlook for 2010The outlook for the agriculture sector in2010 looks more optimistic than 2009.Milk price has increased with May priceof 30c per litre frommany processors.Cattle prices, while weak in the earlypart of 2010, have become firmer andlamb prices are ahead of 2009 prices.

The outlook for grain prices has alsoimproved but cereal yield may be lowerdue to poor growing conditions, espe-cially for spring sown crops.

The unfavourable weather in thespring and early summer of 2010 has alsoresulted in increased feed costs, whichwill reduce profit margins in 2010.

ABOVE:Professor Gerry Boyle,Liam Connolly, Anne Kinsella and Cathal O’Donoghue.

22/6/1018:05


tillageTo

day

’sfarm

Organic tillage –

Paul (4), Trevor and Anna (6) Harris.

22/6/1018:05


Today’s

farm

JamesMcDonnell,Teagasc organicspecialist,Oak Park andMark Plunkett, soil specialist,Teagasc, Johnstown Castle

WHILE still a niche, organicproduction is growing andthe area under organicmanagement is up 50% in

the last three years.The majority of recent entrants are

drystock farmers, which has generatedstrong demand for organic cereals. Only1,200ha of organic tillage in Ireland in2009butwithwheatpricesat €250/tonneand €340 for oats last harvest, it is anenterprise worth considering. Organictillage works best on a mixed farm be-cause there is a readysupplyof nutrientsin manure and it is easier to practise agood rotation.

Trevor Harris is a well establishedproducer, who operates an organic farmwith his wife and five young childrennear the picturesque Donadea forest innorth Co Kildare. In the late 90s,Trevorhad lengthy discussions on potential de-mandandprices fororganiccereals,beefand lamb, and implications for supportpayments, with his local Teagasc adviserDavid Wallis. He then decided that or-ganic production could enhance the re-turns from his land.

He converted to organic in 1999 andhis land achieved full organic symbolstatus in 2001. Since then, the farm hasbeen expanded to its current 100 hec-tares.

Drystock includes20suckler cowsandfollowers and 100 ewes and 30 hoggetewes.The suckler herd was added afterconverting to organic and the first cropof organically certified calves were bornon the farm in 2006. All animals are nowreared to slaughter. Artificial insemina-tion is used on the herd and the cowscalve down from January to April. Eweslamb in February, Belclare replace-ments are being introduced to for theirparasite resistance and higher prolifi-cacy.

Trevor maintains that the key to suc-cessful organic farming is the mix of en-terprises.Why?

*Clover must be part of an organic croprotation as this provides the nitrogen todrive crop yields.* Animals are used to graze/eat clover.Otherwise, the clover must be mulchedin which adds significantly to costs ofproduction.* Animals housed provide a source offarmyard manure and slurry, which isapplied in a targeted way to the crops inthe rotation.* Sheep can be fed very efficientlygrazing them on stubbles after harvest.

Grain prices have been good for thepast few years by comparison with con-ventional production, but Trevor cau-tions that it is not all rosyas hedoes havethe same weather for sowing and har-vesting!

Delivering oats to Flavahan’s for theorganic porridge market is his target;with €340 available for oats at 15%moisture content in 2009. ‘‘Flahavan’scurrently imports some oats and wouldlike to buymore organic porridge oats inIreland,’’ saysTrevor.

‘‘So, there is a ready market at €340last year. Other grains sell inter-farm forabout €250/tonne and, again, there isplenty of demand.’’

Nonetheless,Trevor is conscious ofnot growing too many oats in the rota-tions in case there is a disease risk likeoat mosaic virus.The other crops in hisrotation are fed to ewes at lambing andalso to finish his own cattle.

The remaining grain is dried, rolledand sold in half tonne bags to other or-ganic farmers. Organic concentrates areexpensive to purchase in Ireland as theyare imported and generally retail in ex-cess of €550 per tonne.

There are some important pointsworth noting to operate a successful or-ganic tillage enterprise likeTrevor Har-ris’s:* Crop rotation* Sowing date* Nutrient management — N, P, K andlime* Weeds* Disease* Crop choice* Markets

Crop rotationsClover is the nitrogen factory on the or-ganic farm.Nitrogen is fixed andusedbythe clover as part of its normal growthand clover is ploughed in the decayingclover plant and roots release nitrogen,which is then exploited byother crops inthe rotation, such as cereals. Dependingon the farm system/rotation, red orwhite clover is selected.

Red clover fixes a far greater amountof nitrogen (greater than 200kg/ha) thanwhite clover (120kg to 150kg N/ ha) butcan really only be used effectively for si-lage production.

Red clover is very popular among or-ganic farmers in Ireland as a nitrogenfixer. It achieves optimum fixation aftertwo years. High nutrient demandingcrops like winter cereals are generallysown after clover ley, followed by springcrops towards theendof the rotationoralegume, as shown inTable 3.

Good crop rotation with suitable cer-eal crops is essential to control weedpopulations and build up of disease. Agood crop rotation requires planningand, inmany cases, will be farm specific.

Sowing dateWinter crops are the crop of choice, as:* The crops are sown when weed seedsare entering winter dormancy and areadvancedwhenweed seeds germinate inspring.*The crops are longer in the ground and,so, have more time to take up nutrientsand, thus, have a higher yield potential.

Aim to have crops in by mid-October(these are the best looking crops in 2010)and if you miss autumn sowing, it is bet-ter to sow spring crops early (the earlyMarch sown crops are the better of thespring crops)

Nutrient managementGetting the basics right is the secret tosuccessful organic crop production. Soiltest regularly to establish P andK levelsand lime to maintain pH at 6.5 is thestarting point. In a mixed system, cloverpastures can be fed to livestock.

>> Next page

getting themix right

Table 2 | Typical crop yields onTrevorHarris’s farm

Crop Yield Yield

tonne tonne

hectare /acre

Winter wheat/oats 4.4 - 5.1 1.8 -2.1

Spring Oats 4.0 — 4.4 1.6 -1.8

Peas 4 1.6

Table3 |Croprotationsonmixedorganicfarms

Farm 1 (5-year) Farm 2 (8-year)

Red clover White clover

Red clover White clover

Winter oats White clover

Winter wheat White clover

Winter oats Winter wheat

Winter oats

Peas

Spring oats

Table1 | Trevor Harris’s rotation

Year Crop

1-4 Grass/clover ley

5 Winter wheat /triticale

6 Winter oats

7 Beans/peas

8 Spring oats

22/6/1018:06


tillageTo

day

’sfarm

Providing N for the following crops andthe farmyard manure/slurry will supplythe crop’s PandK requirements, so bothgrassland and tillage crops are satisfied.

In all organic farming systems, nutri-ents are exported off the farm in theform of crops, meat or milk.

This has long term implications forthe farm.There must be some form ofnutrients imported back to replace nu-trients lost to prevent a decline in soilfertility.

Let’s look at Table 4 to see theamounts of nutrients removed by parti-cular crops.

In an organic crop rotation, we aim toharvest at least three viable crops priorto returning land to grass/clover mix.Table 4 shows the nutrients removed byarange of crops; for example, a 5t/ha cropof winter oats will remove approxi-mately 18kg P and 56 kg K in both grainand straw.

Over the course of a long rotation,where nutrient off-takes are not re-placed, the soil P and K fertility couldpotentially drop a soil index over anumber of years.

A nutrient plan is a vital tool. For ex-ample, to replace the nutrient removalsin a 5.0t/ha crop of winter oats, an appli-cation of 25m3/ha (2,500gal/ac) of cattleslurry would be required to replace Pand Koff-takes in grain and straw.

Alternatively, 15t/ha of FYMwouldalso satisfy the crops P and K require-ments.

The fertilizer replacement value ofnitrogen is determined by composition,date of application and method of appli-cation.

To get the best value of the nitrogenin slurry, it should be diluted and spreadin the springtime. Farmyard manure isbest spread in the autumn time as com-posted manure and targeted at wintercereal crops and red clover swards.

Weeds and disease

Acertain level of weeds is not usuallydetrimental to crop growth. However, itis important to know that when weedsreach a threshold, it will result in de-

pressed yields. On larger farms, cameraguided hoes are growing in popularity.

Annual weeds tend not to be a pro-blem.These are managed by adjustingsowing date, taller crops (absence ofgrowth regulators) and higher seedingrates.Wild oats, docks and charlock (lowpopulations) are weeds that requirehand rogueing in the months of May andJune.

Organic proteinOrganic protein is expensive, with or-ganic soya costing in excess of €900 pertonne and there is strong demand for lo-cally grown beans and peas. But beansor peas are poor competitors withweeds. Using machinery (grass tine har-rows or camera guided hoes) is essentialto keep crops relatively clean, togetherwith the optimum position in a rotation.

Disease is not generally a problem inorganic crops due to the absence of che-mical nitrogen and lower crop density. Itis something that you can’t do a lot aboutif it gets into a crop. However, varietychoice, suitable rotation to preventbuild-up and cultural control are someof the critical elements to producing adisease free healthy crop.

‘‘Organic farming can be challengingbut it works for us, both practically andfinancially,’’ concludesTrevor Harris.

Table 5 | Typical N, Pand K levels in organic fertilizers

N kg/t* P kg/t* K kg/t*

Cattle slurry 5.0 0.8 4.3

Farmyard manure 4.5 1.2 6.0

*1 tonne slurry = 1,000litres. 1,000gallons = 4.5 tonnes

Table 4 | P & KRemoval [kg/ha] fora range of crops grown in a crop rotation

Winter wheat Winter oats Spring oats Red clover

(5.0 t/ha) (5.0t/ha) (3.7 t/ha) (35t/ha fresh)

GRAIN Nutrient removal (kg/ha)

P 17 17 13 —

K 24 24 17 —

STRAW Nutrient removal (kg/ha)

P 1.3 1.3 1.0 —

K 17 32 24 —

GRAIN + STRAW Total nutrient removal kg/ha (units/ac)

Total P 18 (14) 18 (14) 14 (11) 20

Total K 41 (33) 56(45) 41 (33) 170

Clover is the driverof nitrogen production in an organic system.

22/6/1018:06


tillageTo

day’s

farm

Your10point planfor wintercereals

YIELD drives profit in cereals.High yields, if costs are con-trolled, will inevitably deliverprofits � unless adverse

weather ormarket conditions intervene.The foundations of a high-yielding

crop are built on favourable soil condi-tions and structure. If key elements suchas soil structure (compaction, consoli-dation,waterretention),pH, fertilityandpest burden are working against thewheat crop, then high yields will not beachieved. Is there a blue print thateverybody can follow to achieve theseyields? The bones of a template are wellestablished, but it’s attention to detail ateach step thatpushesyields fromgood toprofitable.*Plant as many first wheats as possible,as these wheats have the highest yieldpotential. Wheat should follow ley or abreak crop (oats, oilseed rape, beans,beet, maize etc). Think about a landswap with neighbours, or growingmaize etc for sale as part of yourrotation.* Plant first wheats early. This variesfrom north to south of the country.Early planting in the north east meanslate September, whereas in the south,this can be pushed out a week or 10 days.Planting early delivers many advan-tages, such as completing primary cul-

tivations in drier soils, cropsestablishing faster in better seed bedsand it will reduce problems such asslugs.* Delay planting second or continuouswheats for a week to 10 days to reducethe risk of take-all. Dress with Latitudein the high take-all risk years (yearthree, four and five after ley or two,three and four after a break crop).Consolidate the seed bed at planting andapply extra nitrogen at the first timingin spring. Select a variety that showsmore tolerance to take-all (Einstein, J BDiego, Kingdom).* If planting a large acreage, blockvarieties for ease and more precisemanagement through the year.* Choose your variety according toplanting date. If planting early, avoidearly-maturing varieties (Cordial, etc),which have poor disease resistance.Varieties such as Alchemy, Oakley, etcare well suited to this slot.*Control aphids at the four-leaf stage if

sown early, and control weeds in theautumn. It’s the cheapest option.* Correct trace element deficiencies atthe tillering stage of the crop in spring.Apply all P and K by mid-tillering.* In a long-term tillage field, apply firstsplit of nitrogen (approximately 25%) atthe start of growth (early tomid-March).Apply main split (approximately 50%)by first node (early tomid-April) and thefinal 25% by flag leaf peeping (earlyMay).* Apply the main growth regulator byfirst node.* All crops will need a three-sprayprogramme for disease control; the firstat third last leaf emerged, at flag leaf outand at the start of flowering.

These pointers should be adjusted tosuit local conditions such as weather,earliness of the site and crop progress.Above all, be prepared to challenge youradvisor and yourself to improve yields,which canmean changing what youweredoing for the last number of years.

BETTER tillage farmopendays inMeathandWexford

Good forward planning is carried out byall of the growers participating in thecrops BETTER farm programme.

The strong desire of all these growersis to plan rotation, timing of seedbedpreparation and all inputs well in ad-vance of sowing the crops.

There are open days on BETTERFarms inWexford and Meath over thenext couple of weeks.

The details are shown inTable 1. Allare welcome to visit the farms anddiscuss the finer details of growing

winter wheat and other crops with thehost farmers and Teagasc experts on theday.

Table1 | BETTER tillage farmwalks

Date Farmer Address

6 July George and Ken Williamson Ambrosetown, Duncormick, Co Wexford

8 July Joe O’Donoghue Glassmerry house, Herbertstown, Stamullen, Co Meath

Michael HennessyTeagasc

22/6/1018:07


tillageTo

day

’sfarm ENERGYCROPS

GrowingnicelyThe relatively small

area of crops planted to

energy crops belies

their significance

and potential, according to

John Finnan &

Barry Caslin, Teagasc

THE concept of a crop that isgrown for energy rather thanfood or fibre is very new; re-search began as recently as the

1970s. It’s only in the last 10 years, how-ever, that energy crops have been growncommercially, driven by rising oil pricesand concern over the environmental im-pact of burning fossil fuels. Energy cropscanbegrowntoproduce liquidbiofuel orsolid biofuel.

The past few years have seen the areaof energycrops grown for solid biofuel inIreland rise to over 3,000ha, approxi-mately 2,500ha of miscanthus and 500haof willow.

Both willow andmiscanthus are sup-portedbytheDepartmentofAgriculturebioenergy scheme, which provides grantaid towards thecostof establishing thesecrops.The bioenergy scheme has re-cently been extended until 2012.TheGovernment has plans to supply a con-siderable proportion of our energyneeds from our native renewable re-sourcesandbioenergy isdestinedtoplaya big part. Most biomass is sourced fromthe forestry sector but large additionalsupplies will be needed to supply ourambitious bioenergy targets, hence theneed for additional sources of biomasssuch as energy crops.

Both crops are intended primarily forcombustion.The largest potential mar-kets are the three peat burning power

Amiscanthuspilot demo

programme offers upto 50% grants forbiomass boilers fuelledbymiscanthus

ABOVE:Willow harvesting.MAINPICTURE:Miscanthusharvesting.

22/6/1018:07


Today’s

farm

stations in the midlands, which need toreplace 30% of their peat fuel with bio-mass by 2015.There is considerablescope for energy crops to supply the do-mestic and commercial heat markets.

A large number of biomass boilersandstoveshavealreadybeen installed inIreland.These are fuelled by wood chipsand wood pellets but large additionalsources of biomass will be required forthe significant expansion in this market,which needs to happen if national tar-gets are to be met.

Both energy crops can be supplied inchip form and recent research at OakPark has shown that pellets of goodquality can be made from both mis-canthus and willow.

Provision of both heat and electricityfrom biomass (biomass CHP�Com-bined Heat and Power) could offer anadditional significant market for energycrops.

Recent developments:The Government has recently an-nounced new supports for bioenergy,with tariffs of up to 14c/KWh forbiomassCHPand 9.5c/KWh for energy crop

combustion.The tariffs are index-linkedandshouldprovide improvedsupport forthe energy crop market.

The Government has also announceda miscanthus pilot demonstration pro-gramme which offers up to 50% grantsfor biomass boilers fuelled by mis-canthus.

Hopefully, this programme will en-courage a miscanthus heat market asthere is a range of boilers suitable forburning miscanthus.

Both announcements come on theback of significant recent developmentsfor energy crops, including:* The start of biomass co-firing inEdenderry power station with 9% co-firing achieved in 2009* The development of a significantmarket for miscanthus briquettes,which are now being produced at anumber of locations around the coun-try.

Energy crops are relatively new and,consequently, our knowledge of them islimited compared with other crops.Theemerging energy crops industry needsresearch support to enable it to develop.Research into energy crops is being car-

ried out byTeagasc as well as at third le-vel institutions. Much of theTeagascresearch is carried out at the Crops Re-search Centre at Oak Park, with projectson energy crop agronomy, harvesting,storage and combustion.

Research on the greenhouse gas bal-ance of energy crops is being carried outat Johnstown Castle inWexford ,whileeconomists withinTeagasc are conduct-ing research on the economics of energycrop cultivation.

KEY POINTS | energy crops

* Energycropsareanexpandingsectorin Irish agriculture.* Biomass fromenergycrops is neededto reduce our dependencyon importedfossil fuels and reduce our emissionsofgreenhouse gases.* Recent market developments andGovernment supports should help theenergy crops sector to playa significantrole in the Irish agriculture and energysectors.

22/6/1018:08


forestryTo

day

’sfarm

TIPS for more productive plantations

Here are a few simple tips for maximis-ing the productivity of new plantations:* Provenance/planting stock:The originof the seeds is crucial to theperformanceand quality of tree species. For Sitkaspruce, chooseWashington or Oregonprovenances; these areas are fast grow-ing and can result in increased produc-tion of up to 2m3 ha-1 yr-1 to 4m3 ha-1 yr-1.Contact yourTeagasc forestry develop-ment officer for recommended seedsources for other species.* Site selection: Consider planting en-closed rather than unenclosed land.Thiswill result in increases of up to 6m3 ha-1

yr-1 for Sitka spruce, higher rates of for-

est premium and faster returns.* Soil types:Well drained soils offergreater choice in terms of species selec-tion and are very suitable for a range ofconifer and broadleaved species. Aver-age growth rates on well drained brownearths and grey brown podzolics can beinexcess of 24m3ha-1 yr-1. Poorlydrainedsoils offer less potential for species se-lection, butyields ofSitka spruceongleysoils can also be impressive, averaging22m3 ha-1 yr-1.* Drainage: Soils with stagnant watertables should be avoided as they inhibitnutrient uptake and respiration of theroot system.

* Vegetation: Examine the vegetation ofthe potential forest site. Enclosed landthat has been in agricultural productionshould be very productive.

Landoutofproduction formanyyearsshould retain some inherent nutrientstatus, while the potential productivityof wasteland can be assessed using ve-getative indicators.

Grass species, herbs, bramble, gorse,ferns and soft rush andweeds associatedwith pasture all indicate potentiallygood yields. Avoid heather, cottongrass,cowberry, sedges and blueberry; thesevegetation types are associated withlower productivity.

With timber prices at an

all-time high, forestry is

becoming a highly profit-

able farm enterprise

RECENT Teagasc researchidentified key factors linkedto exceptional production le-vels in Ireland.The study,

which primarily looked at Sitka spruce,indicates that provided adequate moist-ure and nutrients levels are met, treespecies can thrive and be very produc-tive in Ireland.

Yield class is the expression used tocompare productivity among species orfor different sites or soil quality.Thehigher the yield class, the greater theproductivity of the plantation, and thegreater the height and diameter of thetrees.The study found that productionlevels for all species on farm forest

plantations in Ireland were above theaverage for theUK,Sweden,CanadaandUSA.Thenationalaverageyieldclass forconifers was 17.7m3 ha-1 yr-1 (17.7 cubicmetres of wood per hectare per year �roughly equivalent to 17 tonnes per haper annum) and broadleaves was 7.8m3

ha-1 yr-1 compared with 11.0m3 ha-1 yr-1

and 5.0m3 ha-1 yr-1 for the UK.On average, growth in Europe and

north America is much slower; averageproduction in Sweden is 3.3m3 ha-1 yr-1

and 2.6m3 ha-1 yr-1 for the USA. Produc-tion inSitka spruceplantations is amongthe highest reported for the speciesanywhere in the world (4-34), averaging21.2m3 ha-1 yr-1 (yield class 22).

The results indicate that productionlevels onprivatelyownedplantations forall species are very favourable, particu-larly for conifer species and especiallySitka spruce.

One of the key identifiers of landquality is whether land has been en-closed or unenclosed (enclosed land hasbeen fenced). Enclosed land offers sig-nificantly increased levels of production� up to 6m3 ha-1 yr-1 greater than yieldson unenclosed land. Soil type is anothereasily identifiable site quality charac-teristic and is a good indicator of poten-tial productivity.Well drained soils,which have been traditionally used forpasture or arable crops, show excellentrates of production.Evenpoorlydrainedsoils offer excellent production rates.

Vegetation cover gives an indicationof the extent towhich essential nutrientsare available for forest growth and canbe more reliable than soil chemical ana-lysis.Vegetation is also a predictor ofspecies suitability and potential pro-ductivity. Flushed vegetation (such asgrass rush communities, composed ofJuncusspp.) indicate good sites for Sitkaspruce production; heather sites (Cal-luna and Erica spp.) will result in lowyields and should be avoided

Comparison ofaverage growthrates (m

3ha

-1yr-1) formanagedforest

plantations in farm forest plantationsin Ireland versus UK, Sweden,NorthAmerica and theTropics

Region Average

Canada-all species 1.0

USA-all species 2.6

Sweden-all species 3.3

UK-conifer 11.0

UK-broadleaved 5.0

IRE-conifer

(excluding Sitka spruce) 17.7

IRE-broadleaf 7.8

Why Irish forests areworld

Niall FarrellyForestry researcher,Teagasc, Athenry

22/6/1018:08


Today’s

farm

FARMERFOCUS� James Bennett

LiamKelly,Teagasc forestry development officer, and James Bennett,Mountrath,Co Laois,discussing thinningwith a harvesting contractor.

FARMERFOCUS� JimMcDermott

James Bennett, a forest grower inMountrath, Co Laois, planted forestry onrough grazing land in 1989.

He was surprised at the rapid growth ofhis Sitka spruce crop on this marginalagricultural land. Production rates arevery impressive (> yield class 24).

James undertook a first thinning in2002, when the crop was aged just 13years. He is now preparing for his thirdthinning.

The crop has provided supplementaryincome to his sheep and cattle enterprise,as James has realised, significant positivereturns from all thinning operations.

‘‘Any farmer with marginal agriculturalland should consider forestry as anenterprise,’’ he said.

‘‘Production is very impressive andtimber is a commodity for which there isincreased demand from the sawmillingand energy sectors.’’

Jim McDermott planted rushy land inCreggs, Co. Roscommon, in 1990.

The land was enclosed and hadpreviously been let but was very wet anddifficult to work, yielding no real return.

‘‘I planted the land in 1988 with Sitkaspruce, as I was aware that forestryoffered me an alternative income,’’ saidJim. ‘‘I maintained an annual incomethrough the forestry premium payment upto 18 years. After this, I started thinning,which provided another source of in-come.’’

He added: ‘‘I was interested in forestryas a investment and as a hobby. I wassurprised by how fast the crop wasgrowing, especially on marginal agricul-tural land.’’

Jim will carry out a second thinning thisautumn.

* Stocking:Make sure that there aresufficient trees, especially after a num-ber of years of establishment.Tree num-bers can be low due to vegetationcompetition, insect pests, diseases andfrost damage.

High production levels depend on fullstocking rates (few gaps). Reductions intree numbers of up to 50% can result inlower production of 16%.

Any tree failures within the planta-tion should be replaced with new plantsto ensure maximum site productivity.This will also allow for trees to bethinnedandprovideanearly incomeasaresult.

ldbeaters

JimMcDermott,Creggs,Co Roscommon,measureshis crop in preparation for secondthinning.

22/6/1018:08


botanic gardensTo

day

’sfarm Theperfect time toharvest inspiration

Mid-summer isthe ideal time toget out and visitopen gardens

THEmost important thing to doin the garden this month is toenjoy the fruits of your labour.All that hard work planting,

pruning, digging and weeding shouldhavebroughtyou theperfect garden. If ithasn’tquite liveduptoexpectations,whynot relax anyway.

There is also the option of continuingyour interest and ambition by visitingopen gardens, which can be an endlesssource of inspiration.

Favourites of mine include MildredStokes’ award-winning garden at Killur-ney, Ballypatrick, Clonmel, CoTipper-ary, and flower arranger, Carol Bone’ssmall towngarden inBray, CoWicklow.Aguide to opengardens is available onlineatwww.gardensopen.ie

In 1995 the Department of Tourismbegan funding the Historic Gardens Re-storationScheme.Manyhistoricgardensof world standard have been restoredunder this initiative.

While the individuality and personalplant choices of the garden owner ac-counts for a lot of the charm of the smal-ler gardens in the open garden scheme,even among the larger and more presti-gious gardens it is fascinating to comeacross examples where the creative

force of one individual is strongly ex-pressed.

Two outstanding examples come tomind.MountCongreve inKilmeaden, CoWaterford is the lifetime passion of thecentenarian, Ambrose Congreve.

While it is nowmanaged by a profes-sional team of gardeners, this world re-nowned plant collection is open to thepublic free of charge, once aweek.Thereis so much to see and enjoy that it wouldrepay several visits over the growingseason.

A different style of garden was cre-ated by Corina North in Altamont, CoCarlow. It has been handed over to theStateandisnowmanagedbytheOfficeofPublicWorks (OPW).

Her love of thenatural landscape, andthe informal sympathetic style of the

planting, have resulted in a garden thatis a soothing and peaceful haven. Gar-dens in cities should not be overlooked.Within strolling distance of HeustonStationare two finegardensmanagedbyOPW: theWar Memorial Gardens at Is-landbridgeandthe formalgardensattheRoyal Hospital in Kilmainham.

The gardens at St Stephen’s Greenare European award winners, and if asmall hiddengemiswhatyouare lookingfor, seek out the Basin Garden at Bles-sington Street, only about 200 metresnorth of Dublin’s O’Connell Street.

At all of these local authority andOPW gardens you may come across stu-dents of theTeagasc National College ofAmenity Horticulture. If time permitswhile in Dublin, you must visit ‘thebrightest jewel’, the National BotanicGardens in Glasnevin.

With a 215-year history, it is currentlyexperiencing a glorious era and is look-ing at its best at this time of year.

Many of the major structures havebeen restored, its research programmeis expanding, theWorldBotanicGardensCongress has just concluded in the gar-densandplansare inplace toexpandtheTeagasc teaching facilities and to intro-duce a new Level 8 Bachelor of Scienceprogramme in conjunction with DublinCity University.

When you return to your own homepatch you will be inspired to look up theseed catalogues, draw up new schemesandconvinceyourself that,nextyear, youwill finally achieve the perfect garden.

Corina North’s creation,Altamont,Co Carlow. It is nowmanaged by the Office of PublicWorks.

An occasional series by expertsat theTeagasc college at

the National Botanic gardensaimed at adding to the

appearance and value ofyour farm

EileenMurphyTeagasc

When youreturn to your

ownhome patch youwill be inspired to lookup the seedcatalogues, drawupnew schemes andconvince yourself that,nextyear, youwill finallyachieve the perfectgarden

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Closamectin Pour On Solution for Cattle contains 0.5%w/v ivermectin and 20%w/v closantel.

As soon as cattle are turned out, they risk ingesting fluke that have overwintered on the pasture - these fluke will grow and develop in

the cattle’s livers causing potentially irreversible damage before you treat them at housing.

By treating for worms and fluke from 8 weeks after turnout, you will not only help to reduce

the numbers of condemned livers, but control re-infection of your land.

www.closamectin.com

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today's farm jul-aug 2010

Documents

e todays

todays farmreseedinggrass

faoin eallach

ea na haltanna faoin

irish field

ar na topaic eile

irish forests

chliaint teagasc