Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, is the destination for the first farmer profile of those in the 2023 Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year competition. Meet 26-year-old farmer Evan Hunt, making huge strides in farm development and grassland management.

Farming in partnership with his parents, Evan is farming full-time and has increased cow numbers to 130 this year with plans to go to 160 next year.

Tubbercurry is a long way from the Golden Vale, with additional challenges such as high rainfall, heavy soil types, small fields and fragmented holdings. However, looking at the farm statistics, Evan is overcoming these challenges and delivering good grass growth and clover integration.

Grass growth was back about 1.5t DM/ha in 2023 to 11.5t DM from over 40 measures and 140kg N/ha applied on the milking platform. Land type is mixed, but Evan says about 70% of the farm is good quality, with the remaining land wetter and needing more care.

The milking platform has expanded from 25ha in 2019 to 38ha last year through land purchase and land leasing.

As additional land has been taken on, Evan has prioritised getting this land up to production by investing in soil fertility (lime, phosphorus and potash), additional roadways to enable cows to access the land, water, fencing and of course reseeding.

At this stage, about 50% of the milking platform has good clover content and this is enabling Evan to reduce chemical N on this land. Along with sowing perennial ryegrass varieties that feature on the top of the pasture profit index, Evan is also sowing red clover along with white clover when reseeding. Evan says he finds that the red clover fixes nitrogen quicker and grows well.

In terms of bloat, Evan says he hasn’t experienced any issues with bloat, but is conscious of it and will split a paddock or feed some silage if it’s a concern.

When the judges visited the farm in early November, the cows were still out grazing by day with no damage being done.

A major investment took place in 2020 when a new 20-unit milking parlour was built

Cows are due to start calving on 10 February and Evan has a small portable water trough, which he will move around the paddock to give cows water when allocating area in the spring.

A major investment took place in 2020 when a new 20-unit milking parlour was built, replacing an old four-unit parlour. Additional slurry storage and cubicle sheds are being built this winter.

A carpenter by trade, Patrick O’Neill spent a few years working in New Zealand before returning home to farm in partnership with his father in 2013. Back then, the farm carried 50 cows and cattle.

With 60ha in the block, Patrick knew there was untapped potential in the farm and set about developing a paddock grazing system, improving soil fertility and grass varieties and also improving the genetics of the herd.

Ten years on, that plan has come to fruition with 118 cows milked in 2023.

A further 8ha of an outside block is leased in and all heifers are reared on the farm.

Patrick reckons the farm is fully stocked and has no real plans to increase numbers further. In 2023, the farm grew over 11t DM/ha of grass, which is back on previous years as a result of all the rain.

Soil types across the farm are reasonably good, with most of the farm relatively free-draining, particularly near the yard.

Patrick started his clover journey in 2020 through both oversowing and in full reseeding. He says both have worked fairly well and his plan is to get clover established across all of the main grazing areas. There is currently between 45% and 50% of the grazing area with medium to high clover content.

His strategy for oversowing clover is to graze tight in April, sow 2kg/acre of clover seed, followed by watery slurry and then roll the field.

He says he then grazes the field at light covers of 900kg in the first grazing, followed by at least three more grazings of no more than 1,000kg DM/ha of pre-grazing cover in order to get clover established.

Not all oversowing has been successful, with weather post sowing a big factor, Patrick says.

In terms of fertiliser, Patrick says he has plenty of slurry storage so isn’t in a major panic to go out with slurry in early spring but will go as soon as weather conditions allow.

Fields that get slurry first don’t get nitrogen. He targets everywhere to get 70 units of nitrogen between slurry and bag fertiliser in the spring and only then starts to reduce chemical nitrogen on the high clover paddocks.

These will get nine units/acre of nitrogen or watery slurry after grazing. Patrick is planning to sow red clover on some silage ground this year.

Continuing our tour of the northwest, the Brennan family farm at Kilcogy near the Cavan/Longford border was the next stop for the judges.

Killian is milking 120 cows on a 34.2ha milking block of mixed land, ranging from very dry land on a slope to some very heavy land down at the bottom.

With just 14ha of land at the milking platform owned, over half of the milking platform is leased with a 15ha block taken on in 2019, facilitating the herd to expand.

The farm routinely grows over 14.5t DM/ha but was back a bit in 2023 due to the wet weather with some fields that were reseeded and drained in July unable to be grazed again.

Decisions around what paddocks to reseed are based on the tonnage of grass grown, which Killian can look up from the PastureBase data and he has already earmarked the paddocks to be reseeded in 2024.

Killian has 20 acres of red clover growing on an outfarm, which is cut three times per year providing excellent quality bale silage and helps to reduce the amount of chemical nitrogen to be purchased.

The last cut from the red clover was taken off in late October.

Chemical nitrogen

In 2023, a total of 157kg N/ha of chemical nitrogen was applied, down from 170kg N/ha the year previously. This demonstrates the contribution of clover to the farm in terms of fixing nitrogen.

All slurry is applied by a contractor using a trailing shoe.

Almost all of the farm will get slurry in spring, including the silage ground. Killian’s nitrogen fertiliser of choice is protected urea and sulphur.

Grazing infrastructure is excellent with multiple access points off farm roadways and water troughs located in the centre of most paddocks, giving plenty options when ground conditions are challenging.

With a young family and a busy house, Killian takes two evening milkings off per week during the summer and one weekend off per month.

Cows are dried off fully in mid-December and Killian has a grass budget complete for the spring and autumn.

Typically, the farm feeds around 800kg of meal per cow with the herd typically doing around 490kg MS/cow.

The Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year competition rewards farmers who have shown excellence in grassland management. As part of the Grass10 project, the competion is looking at all aspects of grassland management and nutrient use. There are contestants from dairy and drystock. Remaining contestants will be profiled over the coming weeks.