This week’s finalists have been nominated by the six processors taking part in the competition, ABP, Ashbourne Meats, Dawn Meats, Foyle Foods, Kepak and Liffey Meats. Over the next number of weeks, we will be profiling finalists across four different finishing systems, store purchase to finish, suckler farm finisher, dairy beef finisher and dairy farmer finisher.
These farms have been selected based on the average Commercial Beef Value (CBV) index of the cattle that were slaughtered out of their herd in 2024, including other parameters like percentage of animals killed within spec, etc.
The CBV index is basically the terminal index with calving data excluded so gives cattle buyers a good guide as to how animals will perform at slaughter.
This week’s finalists all purchase suckler bred cattle and bring them straight through to finish. The competition is supported by ICBF and the FBD trust.
A number of open days will take place on the winning farms in 2026. Next week we will be profiling the suckler farm finisher finalists.
Tim Meagher
Tim Meagher farms 112ha with his wife Shauna and their four children just outside Roscrea in Co Tipperary. The farm has 87ha of grass and 25ha of tillage crops. Land type is a mix of dry and heavier land. Tim’s finishing system is a very simple one. He buys bullocks and heifers in the west of Ireland in September/October every year and finishes them off grass inside 12 months, with the majority being finished off grass in July and August. He concentrates on buying the best he can, aiming for Charolais and Limousin bullocks and heifers.
His system is working for the farm, delivering a gross margin of €1,650/ha in 2024, alongside a farm stocking rate of 2.27 LU/ha.
Average carcase weight for bullocks in 2024 was 481kg grading a U=3+, with heifers coming in at 434kg grading a U=3=. Average age of finish is just under 30 months. The average CBV value of €480 for all cattle slaughtered in 2024 is one of the highest in the competition. The farm is putting out 1,300kg/ha of carcase weight, with Tim putting a lot of this down to the genetics that he is buying in marts.
Weight gains are consistently high, with this year’s bullocks gaining 1.34kg/day since turnout in March. The farm places a huge emphasis on weight gain from grass, with high clover swards driving grass growth rates – with relatively low amounts of chemical fertiliser being spread. All of Tim’s cattle are processed through Dawn Meats in Waterford.
Tim Meagher, Cloneen, Roscrea, Co Tipperary. \ Donal O'Leary
Trevor Ashmore
Trevor Ashmore is farming alongside his mother Joyce, wife Caroline and three children, Katie, Mark and Anna. They farm on the banks of the river Slaney, with soil type being classified as light. The farm is a mixed tillage and beef finishing. On the tillage side, crops of malting barley, wheat and oats are grown each year. Grass is used for grazing, along with 35-40 acres of maize silage – which is used in finishing diets. Ninety percent of the feed used in finishing diets is grown on the farm. Wheat and barley receive an alkaline treatment, which helps improve intakes on the farm. Oats in the diet play a big role in achieving the correct fat cover on bulls. Trevor is buying weanlings around 350kg in local marts and some in the west, concentrating on continental genetics.
“We’re buying good R and U- grades, capable of feeding into U= and U+ young bulls,” Trevor said.
Spring-born bull weanlings are purchased in September/October and finished out of the shed the following spring. A big emphasis is placed health, with animals rested for 48 hours once brought home from marts. Bulls are housed on a straw lie-back and fed on slats, with a liveweight gain target of between 1.3/kg and 1.4/kg for the period they are on the farm.
Bulls move on to an induction diet for two weeks, then a growing diet and finally a finishing diet for the last 90-100 days. A target carcase gain of 1.2-1.3kg/day is being hit during this period. Last year’s average carcase weight was 438kg. Trevor sends his cattle to ABP in Waterford.
Ivor Armstrong
Ivor Armstrong farms part-time alongside his son Gregory, just outside Castleblayney in Co Monaghan. Ivor is finishing young bulls, bullocks and heifers on his farm, finishing animals off grass and out of the shed.
He buys cattle in local marts, including Dowra, Kingscourt in Co Cavan and Ballybay in Co Monaghan. Ivor is currently buying heifers in the 420-480kg weight range. He chooses Charolais and Limousin heifers, concentrating on continental genetics. Heifers are purchased in around 24 months and finished around 30 months. Young bulls were purchased around 12 months, with a target finishing age of 18-19 months.
“It’s getting harder and harder to compete with exporters for those top bull weanlings, so we moved over to a heavier type heifer in the last 12 months. We target cattle with continental genetics; the real suckler types, and you see it in the performance of these cattle through and killouts of the cattle, with high carcase and grading.”
Bulls are housed on slats with rubber mats and are fed 5kg twice a day (10kg in total) during the finishing phase. A high maize ration is fed during the final finishing phase.
“I like the 18-month bull, as you have some frame to work with before you start the heavy finishing phase.”
Ivor processes all his cattle through Foyle Meats in Donegal.
James Reilly
James Reilly is a part-time farmer, farming 120 acres just outside Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan. The farm is split across two owned blocks, an 80-acre block and a 40-acre block. The farm is typical Cavan land, with some free draining soils and some areas of the farm more difficult to manage during periods of wet weather. James’s finishing system consists of buying in store heifers or weanlings around 12-18 months of age, weighing between 380-450kg. He buys all his heifers in local marts, including Ballyjamesduff mart in Co Cavan.
“I generally try to buy in heifers all year round to try and keep numbers up. You can also pick up some value during different months of the year if you’re not tied to a certain time to buy.”
James finishes all year round, with a high proportion of heifers finished off grass during the summer months. He’s aiming to buy a good Charolais/Limousin continental-cross heifer capable of feeding into a U-grading heifer. Target carcase weight at finish is around 380kg, with a target grade of U-/U=.
James aims to make top-quality silage to reduce the amount of meal that is required to finish animals on the farm. During the finishing phase 5-6kg of a beef finishing nut is fed to heifers. James processes all his animals through Liffey Meats in Co Cavan.
Patrick J Finnerty
Patrick classes himself as “not a beef farmer”, with 500 ewes lambing down on the Roscommon farms, but he still sees 100 top-end heifers pass through his hand each year. Heifers are purchased as heavier-type weanlings or lighter stores in the 400-450kg weight bracket – with weight for age being critical in Patrick’s eyes.
‘’You see it all the way through to slaughter; each time they step up on the scales they continue to perform if they have good weight for age when they land on-farm.’’
Cattle are sourced from local marts, mainly Roscommon, with a mixture of Charolais, Blue and Limousin-cross heifer purchased.
Seventy heifers are purchased in the autumn with a further 30 purchased each spring. High DMD silage and 2kg of concentrates are fed throughout the winter, with concentrates cut six weeks pre-turnout. Cattle are turned out in early April and mix-grazed with the ewe flock for optimum performance and reduced worm burden on both stock types, with exceptional performance hit.
Heifers are hitting an average carcase weight of 379kg at a fat score of 3= and a carcase grade of U= at 26.2 months which is phenomenal specs to be hitting, but also a testament to the class of cattle that he is buying. Concentrates are fed at grass from July onwards at low levels, with a high percentage of cattle slaughtered off grass. Patrick’s cattle are processed through Kepak.
Patrick J. Finnerty , Brideswell, Co Roscommon.
This week’s finalists have been nominated by the six processors taking part in the competition, ABP, Ashbourne Meats, Dawn Meats, Foyle Foods, Kepak and Liffey Meats. Over the next number of weeks, we will be profiling finalists across four different finishing systems, store purchase to finish, suckler farm finisher, dairy beef finisher and dairy farmer finisher.
These farms have been selected based on the average Commercial Beef Value (CBV) index of the cattle that were slaughtered out of their herd in 2024, including other parameters like percentage of animals killed within spec, etc.
The CBV index is basically the terminal index with calving data excluded so gives cattle buyers a good guide as to how animals will perform at slaughter.
This week’s finalists all purchase suckler bred cattle and bring them straight through to finish. The competition is supported by ICBF and the FBD trust.
A number of open days will take place on the winning farms in 2026. Next week we will be profiling the suckler farm finisher finalists.
Tim Meagher
Tim Meagher farms 112ha with his wife Shauna and their four children just outside Roscrea in Co Tipperary. The farm has 87ha of grass and 25ha of tillage crops. Land type is a mix of dry and heavier land. Tim’s finishing system is a very simple one. He buys bullocks and heifers in the west of Ireland in September/October every year and finishes them off grass inside 12 months, with the majority being finished off grass in July and August. He concentrates on buying the best he can, aiming for Charolais and Limousin bullocks and heifers.
His system is working for the farm, delivering a gross margin of €1,650/ha in 2024, alongside a farm stocking rate of 2.27 LU/ha.
Average carcase weight for bullocks in 2024 was 481kg grading a U=3+, with heifers coming in at 434kg grading a U=3=. Average age of finish is just under 30 months. The average CBV value of €480 for all cattle slaughtered in 2024 is one of the highest in the competition. The farm is putting out 1,300kg/ha of carcase weight, with Tim putting a lot of this down to the genetics that he is buying in marts.
Weight gains are consistently high, with this year’s bullocks gaining 1.34kg/day since turnout in March. The farm places a huge emphasis on weight gain from grass, with high clover swards driving grass growth rates – with relatively low amounts of chemical fertiliser being spread. All of Tim’s cattle are processed through Dawn Meats in Waterford.
Tim Meagher, Cloneen, Roscrea, Co Tipperary. \ Donal O'Leary
Trevor Ashmore
Trevor Ashmore is farming alongside his mother Joyce, wife Caroline and three children, Katie, Mark and Anna. They farm on the banks of the river Slaney, with soil type being classified as light. The farm is a mixed tillage and beef finishing. On the tillage side, crops of malting barley, wheat and oats are grown each year. Grass is used for grazing, along with 35-40 acres of maize silage – which is used in finishing diets. Ninety percent of the feed used in finishing diets is grown on the farm. Wheat and barley receive an alkaline treatment, which helps improve intakes on the farm. Oats in the diet play a big role in achieving the correct fat cover on bulls. Trevor is buying weanlings around 350kg in local marts and some in the west, concentrating on continental genetics.
“We’re buying good R and U- grades, capable of feeding into U= and U+ young bulls,” Trevor said.
Spring-born bull weanlings are purchased in September/October and finished out of the shed the following spring. A big emphasis is placed health, with animals rested for 48 hours once brought home from marts. Bulls are housed on a straw lie-back and fed on slats, with a liveweight gain target of between 1.3/kg and 1.4/kg for the period they are on the farm.
Bulls move on to an induction diet for two weeks, then a growing diet and finally a finishing diet for the last 90-100 days. A target carcase gain of 1.2-1.3kg/day is being hit during this period. Last year’s average carcase weight was 438kg. Trevor sends his cattle to ABP in Waterford.
Ivor Armstrong
Ivor Armstrong farms part-time alongside his son Gregory, just outside Castleblayney in Co Monaghan. Ivor is finishing young bulls, bullocks and heifers on his farm, finishing animals off grass and out of the shed.
He buys cattle in local marts, including Dowra, Kingscourt in Co Cavan and Ballybay in Co Monaghan. Ivor is currently buying heifers in the 420-480kg weight range. He chooses Charolais and Limousin heifers, concentrating on continental genetics. Heifers are purchased in around 24 months and finished around 30 months. Young bulls were purchased around 12 months, with a target finishing age of 18-19 months.
“It’s getting harder and harder to compete with exporters for those top bull weanlings, so we moved over to a heavier type heifer in the last 12 months. We target cattle with continental genetics; the real suckler types, and you see it in the performance of these cattle through and killouts of the cattle, with high carcase and grading.”
Bulls are housed on slats with rubber mats and are fed 5kg twice a day (10kg in total) during the finishing phase. A high maize ration is fed during the final finishing phase.
“I like the 18-month bull, as you have some frame to work with before you start the heavy finishing phase.”
Ivor processes all his cattle through Foyle Meats in Donegal.
James Reilly
James Reilly is a part-time farmer, farming 120 acres just outside Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan. The farm is split across two owned blocks, an 80-acre block and a 40-acre block. The farm is typical Cavan land, with some free draining soils and some areas of the farm more difficult to manage during periods of wet weather. James’s finishing system consists of buying in store heifers or weanlings around 12-18 months of age, weighing between 380-450kg. He buys all his heifers in local marts, including Ballyjamesduff mart in Co Cavan.
“I generally try to buy in heifers all year round to try and keep numbers up. You can also pick up some value during different months of the year if you’re not tied to a certain time to buy.”
James finishes all year round, with a high proportion of heifers finished off grass during the summer months. He’s aiming to buy a good Charolais/Limousin continental-cross heifer capable of feeding into a U-grading heifer. Target carcase weight at finish is around 380kg, with a target grade of U-/U=.
James aims to make top-quality silage to reduce the amount of meal that is required to finish animals on the farm. During the finishing phase 5-6kg of a beef finishing nut is fed to heifers. James processes all his animals through Liffey Meats in Co Cavan.
Patrick J Finnerty
Patrick classes himself as “not a beef farmer”, with 500 ewes lambing down on the Roscommon farms, but he still sees 100 top-end heifers pass through his hand each year. Heifers are purchased as heavier-type weanlings or lighter stores in the 400-450kg weight bracket – with weight for age being critical in Patrick’s eyes.
‘’You see it all the way through to slaughter; each time they step up on the scales they continue to perform if they have good weight for age when they land on-farm.’’
Cattle are sourced from local marts, mainly Roscommon, with a mixture of Charolais, Blue and Limousin-cross heifer purchased.
Seventy heifers are purchased in the autumn with a further 30 purchased each spring. High DMD silage and 2kg of concentrates are fed throughout the winter, with concentrates cut six weeks pre-turnout. Cattle are turned out in early April and mix-grazed with the ewe flock for optimum performance and reduced worm burden on both stock types, with exceptional performance hit.
Heifers are hitting an average carcase weight of 379kg at a fat score of 3= and a carcase grade of U= at 26.2 months which is phenomenal specs to be hitting, but also a testament to the class of cattle that he is buying. Concentrates are fed at grass from July onwards at low levels, with a high percentage of cattle slaughtered off grass. Patrick’s cattle are processed through Kepak.
Patrick J. Finnerty , Brideswell, Co Roscommon.
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