“When taking on a new farm, there are a number of things you should look at. The first is the previous farming history. In the case of Tullamore Farm, the land was used for cattle and tillage. The land was well farmed and organic matter levels are good,” livestock specialist Aidan Brennan told visitors at this Tuesday’s open day.

“Like a lot of farms in Offaly, the pH is high at an average of 6.9. Just two fields needed lime. Looking at phosphorus, 54% of the farm is at index 3 and 4 which is a reasonably good result. Slurry and chemical P will be targeted at the low P areas.

“It’s a different story with K, with nearly 90% of the farm at index 1 and 2, so well below target. We’ll have to spread more chemical K on these areas,” Brennan said.

The farm’s slurry is also being targeted here.

To date in 2017, we have spread 135kg/ha of nitrogen,10kg/ha of phosphorus and 37kg/ha of potassium.

The target is to have between 10 and 12 days of grass ahead of the cows at this time of the year

The Tullamore Farm manager Ger O’Dwyer (pictured) explained how he manages grass.

“I measure grass once a week with a plate meter and put the figures into PastureBase. The target is to have between 10 and 12 days of grass ahead of the cows at this time of the year. I work this out by dividing the demand per day into the average farm cover,” Ger said.

Ger explained that he tries to graze paddocks when the grass covers are around 1,400kg/ha. Animals are moved on after one or two days grazing, depending on the time of year and grass covers.

Aidan used green, yellow and brown bananas to demonstrate how it’s important to have animals hitting grass at its peak quality for optimum performance.

“Cattle hitting heavy covers is like you being forced to eat brown bananas.”

At the moment, the group of bull calves and cows are grazing a reseeded field and are being moved every day.

Grassland management

When we took on Tullamore Farm, there were just 13 divisions and very few water points. There are now 40 permanent paddocks, all of which will be split again with polywire for grazing. We purchased 26 new water troughs and installed 1.4km of roadways.

Of all the investment on Tullamore Farm, the money spent on grass is the most crucial – we need to grow 14t DM/ha/year to carry our desired stocking rate and this investment will enable us to do this.

The current farm cover is 791kg DM/ha, with a daily demand of 49kg DM/ha.

Read more

Tullamore Farm open day: practical information

In pictures: what to see on the walk at Tullamore Farm today

What to see at Tullamore Farm today: the demo area and farm yard

Full coverage: Tullamore Farm