A hill farming enterprise, which is part of the demonstration farm owned by Foyle Food Group Director, Wayne Acheson, is being expanded in 2026, with around 380 extra acres taken on.
In recent years, 180 suckler cows have been grazed across 570 acres of hill at Lough Fea Mountain and Goles Mountain in Tyrone.
With another 380 acres, it takes the hill farming operation to around 950 acres, which will allow the suckler herd on the farm to expand from 180 to 240 cows.
Taking part in an AFBI webinar last Wednesday night, Foyle Agriculture manager Andrew Clarke said the farm will continue to utilise low mature weight suckler cows fitted with virtual fencing collars, to manage the ecosystem on the hill.
MSS
Foyle also operate a 200-acre lowland beef finishing unit outside Cookstown in Co Tyrone.
Having worked with multi-species swards (MSS) on this farm since 2019, the decision has now been taken to concentrate on growing grass clover mixes, confirmed Clarke.
The lowland farm grazes up to 500 cattle per year in different mobs each running across eight, three-day paddocks. But as well as poor persistency, weed control in the MSS has proved to be a challenge.
“At one stage we were using monoculture grasses. Then we went to multi-species. Now, we are changing to a variety of grass species and clover alongside that,” said Clarke.
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