At next week’s National Ploughing Championships, our livestock specialists will team up with Bord Bia and ICBF for a series of livestock demos, which will take place in the marquee adjoining the main Irish Farmers Journal stand. For anyone who hasn’t experienced our live demos before, they represent a chance to get up close and personal with real commercial animals, and join in the conversation with industry figures as they discuss the practical production issues that are relevant at farm level. This year’s demo will involve over a dozen different animals, each chosen to tell a certain story. The demo area will include a main ring, with a surrounding viewing area and a penning area for our animals. The main demo will run three times daily and three main topics are outlined here.

TWO-YEAR-OLD CALVING – IS IT VIABLE?

The team will look at two-year-old calving from start to finish, with a five-star 2017-born calf, a maiden heifer, a two-year-old first-calver and a mature, former two-year-old calver present on the day. Messages will include heifer selection, weight targets, nutrition, looking within the indexes, sire section and considering breeding decision payback.

MASTERING DAIRY BEEF

We will consider what makes a successful dairy beef system from start to finish, looking in fine detail at exactly what the best operators are doing on their farms. Growth and weight targets for various systems will be outlined and intelligent supplementation will be discussed. Everything from calf selection to mixing milk replacer to finishing concentrate selection will be on the agenda.

FINISHING SCHOOL – MAKE BEEF CATTLE PAY

How good are you at grading cattle? What markets are out there that will pay a premium for your stock? What breeding decisions should you be making now to get the most money for your animals in the coming years? Is there still potential for live exports in 2018? Can the breeding index help my beef cattle too? What’s in a good finishing concentrate ration? All of these queries are up for discussion at our demo.

SHEEP AND NUTRITION

There will also be manned sheep and winter feeding demonstrations beside the live demo ring over the three days.

Ever wondered what straight ingredients go into your weanling or fattening ration? See the individual ingredients in the flesh at the ploughing and talk to our specialists about what you should see on your feed label and what you shouldn’t. They will also advise you on diet formulation based on the quality of your silage and tell you what each class of animal on your farm should be eating this winter.

Our sheep team will be there to answer your questions and queries, with a focus on flock health, the Sheep Welfare Scheme and correct supplementation. There will be some of the Tullamore Farm flock on show on the day.

WHEN, WHERE AND WHO?

Every day at the Ploughing: 10am, 12pm 2pm, Irish Farmers Journal Stand Block 3, Row 12, Stand 282. Who: The IFJ Specialist team, Joe Burke (Bord Bia), Pat Donnellan (ICBF) and Chris Daly (ICBF)