Martin Corrigan farms alongside his father, Kevin, just outside the village of Belcoo, Co Fermanagh. The duo run a herd of 27 suckler cows across 73ac of owned land, as well as an additional 20ac of rented ground located about 20km away from home.
The home farm is quite steep in places, with about 30ac described as rougher, more permanent pasture-type grazing by Martin. However, this higher ground provides some stunning views for both farmer and grazing cattle alike, as it overlooks Lough MacNean to the southwest.
Martin and Kevin Corrigan.
The production system sees the strongest weanling calves sold in October, with later-born or lighter calves wintered and sold in spring. Typically, about half are sold in autumn at weights from 300kg to 325kg.
Cow type
The genetic makeup of the cows is Simmental-based, with a Simmental-Limousin cross being used in recent years to form the breeding herd. The family has two stock bulls – a Charolais whose grandsire is Blelack digger, as well as a Lodge hamlet-sired Limousin bull used to breed replacements from the most maternal-type cows.
The result of this breeding strategy is a good number of quality golden and ginger-coloured calves, which never fail to get fingers wagging ferociously around the sales ring.
Calving time is the busiest period on the farm
“We have the Charolais bull three years now and we are very happy with the calves he is throwing – they are the right colour, have good shape and he’s putting great length into them. Thankfully, he has been fairly easy-calved as well, which is a huge bonus.”
Both men have full-time off-farm employment, with Martin working for Tracey Concrete based in Enniskillen, while Kevin is a building contractor.
“Calving time is the busiest period on the farm, but between the two of us we can manage quite well. I am lucky I’m working quite close to home, so I can check cows early in the morning and after work. My father is self-employed, so he can be here at times during the day if needed when a cow is calving,” Martin explains.
The farm produces Charolais and Limousin calves for sale as weanlings.
Calving runs from 1 March through to late May, although this is still a work in progress as there were four cows that calved in early June this year. Martin is confident they can pull these cows back a couple of weeks over the next few years.
“We are trying to sell as many weanlings as we can in autumn. I think we have the calving date about right for that system, given where we are farming. It is a bit of a catch-22 situation – you want to calve as early as possible so you have a strong weanling for the sales, but if you calve down too early then your costs are higher with feeding calved cows indoors.”
The biggest change has been the increase in cow numbers from 17 in 2017 to 27 today
Turnout on the farm varies greatly depending on the weather. This year, although March was wet, once the weather picked up Martin was able to start getting stock out from mid-April onwards and they never had to come back in.
The farm has undergone a lot of changes over the past three or four years. The biggest change has been the increase in cow numbers from 17 in 2017 to 27 today.
Business development group
Martin explains: “We would have been floating around the 17 to 18 cow mark for many years and working away just fine. What sparked the interest in pushing numbers on, I suppose, was a number of things, but joining our local business development group run by CAFRE definitely helped.
“The group has about 25 suckler farmers in it, all from the local area. I joined in 2016 and each year we would visit maybe six or eight of each other’s farms. It is great to see what people working with a similar land type and climate are doing. You would always pick up something from the meetings – sometimes you wouldn’t even realise it until you are faced with the same situation at home.
“Another thing I have found really helpful when it comes to making business decisions is the benchmarking we have been undertaking for the last number of years through DAERA. It gives you a breakdown of the physical performance of the herd alongside the financial performance. We could see from that that our performance was quite good and adding more cows to the farm would boost things along.”
I prefer buying cows with calves at foot, even if you have to give that bit more for them
The expansion in cow numbers has been done gradually, with around three extra cows bought each year. This is either cows with calves at foot or in-calf heifers.
“I prefer buying cows with calves at foot, even if you have to give that bit more for them – you get to see the quality of the calf on the ground and the breeding and feeding ability of the cow. Now that we have numbers close to what we want, we are trying to breed as many of our own replacements as possible.
“I have an interest in that side of it and it is nice to see how your breeding decisions can influence the next generation – you don’t have that when you are buying in replacements.”
Interest in farming
“When I was younger, I spent a lot of time going to marts with my late grandfather, Frank Burns. Once I got my driver’s licence, I was the nominated driver for him. I suppose that’s where my interest in farming really stems from.”
I love getting out in the evenings when I get home from work
“It will always be a part-time occupation for me – we don’t have the numbers for it to be anything more – but I love getting out in the evenings when I get home from work and my wife Francine has an interest in it as well.
“It’s a pity there aren’t more young people interested in farming. I play football and there are plenty of lads in the dressing room with family farms at home, but there are only three or four of us who chat about farming and are actively involved at home.”
The future
Martin says that they might push cow numbers to 30, but that would be as far as it goes. Winter accommodation would become the limiting factor at that stage. However, he feels there is enough scope in the business to improve things further in the coming years, to increase the output from the farm.
Work will continue on improving the quality and quantity of grass we are growing
“Liveweight gain of the calves can still be better. Introducing a rotational grazing system has definitely helped this area, but there is more to be done. Work will continue on improving the quality and quantity of grass we are growing. A lot of time and effort has gone into soil fertility and reseeding over the last few years. You can see the benefits of that already, but there is always room for improvement.”
Belcoo, Co Fermanagh.2017: 17 suckler cows.2020: 27
suckler cows.93ac farmed.Selling
weanlings and store cattle.
Martin Corrigan farms alongside his father, Kevin, just outside the village of Belcoo, Co Fermanagh. The duo run a herd of 27 suckler cows across 73ac of owned land, as well as an additional 20ac of rented ground located about 20km away from home.
The home farm is quite steep in places, with about 30ac described as rougher, more permanent pasture-type grazing by Martin. However, this higher ground provides some stunning views for both farmer and grazing cattle alike, as it overlooks Lough MacNean to the southwest.
Martin and Kevin Corrigan.
The production system sees the strongest weanling calves sold in October, with later-born or lighter calves wintered and sold in spring. Typically, about half are sold in autumn at weights from 300kg to 325kg.
Cow type
The genetic makeup of the cows is Simmental-based, with a Simmental-Limousin cross being used in recent years to form the breeding herd. The family has two stock bulls – a Charolais whose grandsire is Blelack digger, as well as a Lodge hamlet-sired Limousin bull used to breed replacements from the most maternal-type cows.
The result of this breeding strategy is a good number of quality golden and ginger-coloured calves, which never fail to get fingers wagging ferociously around the sales ring.
Calving time is the busiest period on the farm
“We have the Charolais bull three years now and we are very happy with the calves he is throwing – they are the right colour, have good shape and he’s putting great length into them. Thankfully, he has been fairly easy-calved as well, which is a huge bonus.”
Both men have full-time off-farm employment, with Martin working for Tracey Concrete based in Enniskillen, while Kevin is a building contractor.
“Calving time is the busiest period on the farm, but between the two of us we can manage quite well. I am lucky I’m working quite close to home, so I can check cows early in the morning and after work. My father is self-employed, so he can be here at times during the day if needed when a cow is calving,” Martin explains.
The farm produces Charolais and Limousin calves for sale as weanlings.
Calving runs from 1 March through to late May, although this is still a work in progress as there were four cows that calved in early June this year. Martin is confident they can pull these cows back a couple of weeks over the next few years.
“We are trying to sell as many weanlings as we can in autumn. I think we have the calving date about right for that system, given where we are farming. It is a bit of a catch-22 situation – you want to calve as early as possible so you have a strong weanling for the sales, but if you calve down too early then your costs are higher with feeding calved cows indoors.”
The biggest change has been the increase in cow numbers from 17 in 2017 to 27 today
Turnout on the farm varies greatly depending on the weather. This year, although March was wet, once the weather picked up Martin was able to start getting stock out from mid-April onwards and they never had to come back in.
The farm has undergone a lot of changes over the past three or four years. The biggest change has been the increase in cow numbers from 17 in 2017 to 27 today.
Business development group
Martin explains: “We would have been floating around the 17 to 18 cow mark for many years and working away just fine. What sparked the interest in pushing numbers on, I suppose, was a number of things, but joining our local business development group run by CAFRE definitely helped.
“The group has about 25 suckler farmers in it, all from the local area. I joined in 2016 and each year we would visit maybe six or eight of each other’s farms. It is great to see what people working with a similar land type and climate are doing. You would always pick up something from the meetings – sometimes you wouldn’t even realise it until you are faced with the same situation at home.
“Another thing I have found really helpful when it comes to making business decisions is the benchmarking we have been undertaking for the last number of years through DAERA. It gives you a breakdown of the physical performance of the herd alongside the financial performance. We could see from that that our performance was quite good and adding more cows to the farm would boost things along.”
I prefer buying cows with calves at foot, even if you have to give that bit more for them
The expansion in cow numbers has been done gradually, with around three extra cows bought each year. This is either cows with calves at foot or in-calf heifers.
“I prefer buying cows with calves at foot, even if you have to give that bit more for them – you get to see the quality of the calf on the ground and the breeding and feeding ability of the cow. Now that we have numbers close to what we want, we are trying to breed as many of our own replacements as possible.
“I have an interest in that side of it and it is nice to see how your breeding decisions can influence the next generation – you don’t have that when you are buying in replacements.”
Interest in farming
“When I was younger, I spent a lot of time going to marts with my late grandfather, Frank Burns. Once I got my driver’s licence, I was the nominated driver for him. I suppose that’s where my interest in farming really stems from.”
I love getting out in the evenings when I get home from work
“It will always be a part-time occupation for me – we don’t have the numbers for it to be anything more – but I love getting out in the evenings when I get home from work and my wife Francine has an interest in it as well.
“It’s a pity there aren’t more young people interested in farming. I play football and there are plenty of lads in the dressing room with family farms at home, but there are only three or four of us who chat about farming and are actively involved at home.”
The future
Martin says that they might push cow numbers to 30, but that would be as far as it goes. Winter accommodation would become the limiting factor at that stage. However, he feels there is enough scope in the business to improve things further in the coming years, to increase the output from the farm.
Work will continue on improving the quality and quantity of grass we are growing
“Liveweight gain of the calves can still be better. Introducing a rotational grazing system has definitely helped this area, but there is more to be done. Work will continue on improving the quality and quantity of grass we are growing. A lot of time and effort has gone into soil fertility and reseeding over the last few years. You can see the benefits of that already, but there is always room for improvement.”
Belcoo, Co Fermanagh.2017: 17 suckler cows.2020: 27
suckler cows.93ac farmed.Selling
weanlings and store cattle. 
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