Phase two of NISBP now underway

Andrew Gardiner Kilrea, Co Derry

Andrew farms 46ha of adjusted grassland with his father Kenneth. They started farming in 2011 after previously leasing the land out to a family member. Andrew works full-time off the farm as an engineer, so the aim is to keep the system simple.

In 2014, 52 cows calved over March and April. Cows are a mix of Shorthorn, Limousin and Simmental cross animals that are being served with Charolais, Shorthorn and Salers sires.

The herd is building in numbers annually with plans to increase to 60 breeding cows. All heifers calve at 24 months of age. The preferred cow type is Shorthorn and Salers cross animals.

As the herd was only established in 2011, most calves have been sold through local marts as strong stores, weighing 500kg to 550kg liveweight. The first cattle to be finished on-farm will be in spring 2014.

Shorthorn steers will be killed under the Glenarm Shorthorn Scheme, availing of the price premium on offer.

The farm is stocked at 1.65LU/ha and the farm mainly consists of heavy clay soils that lack a natural fall for drainage.

Grassland is quite good on the farm with a reseeding programme under way and a target fertilizer plan to increase soil fertility from index 2 to index 3. Grazing is usually carried out on outfarms with silage harvested on the land surrounding the yard.

Through the programme, Andrew plans to simplify herd management into a low-labour, low-cost grassland finishing enterprise.

James Taylor Portrush, Co Derry

James Taylor farms a mixed beef and arable farm in partnership with his father William. James is responsible for the running of the 70-cow suckler herd with all male and surplus heifers taken through to beef.

Males are currently finished as bulls under 14 months of age at 350kg.

Cows are mainly Stabiliser or Hereford cross and are served with Stabiliser stock bulls. A number of the cows are pedigree Stabiliser.

Heifers calve at 24 months of age and herd fertility is excellent, with a calving interval of 360 days and a calving spread of eight weeks.

James is planning to increase cow numbers over the next three years to provide more home-produced finishing cattle and buying in less stores.

A large beef enterprise is also present on-farm and 120 to 150 acres of cereals are grown annually, which is used for winter finishing and providing bedding.

Grassland is reseeded as short-term leys through a crop rotation and soil fertility is relatively good on-farm with high quantities of farmyard manure and lime applied regularly.

Grassland management is the one area James feels the farm can benefit from.

Improved grass growth and grazing management through rotational grazing should increase liveweight gain from grass and consequently reduce the intensive finishing period.

He plans to improve the grazing platform on the home farm to make better use of the farm’s drier soils.

Terry Gilbert Aghalee, Co Antrim

Terry Gilbert has joined the programme in phase two. His farming system is different to the other farmers in that he does not keep suckler cows.

Instead, Terry operates a dairy calf-to-beef system with calves taken through to finish as steers at 30 months of age. Typical carcase weights are around 340kg.

Terry farms 113ha of land near Aghalee with 64ha in grassland and the remainder in cereals. Cereals are sold off-farm with some kept for finishing cattle along with bought-in concentrates.

The farm was previously a dairy farm and also had beef cattle and poultry at an early stage in Terry’s farming career.

The calf-to-beef system has been in place for six years and calves are brought directly from neighbouring farms as Terry knows the quality of cattle, the health status and management that the calves received in the first few weeks of life.

Approximately 150 calves are purchased annually and they are mainly Friesian-Holstein, although Angus and Hereford cross calves are purchased if they are value for money. Dairy-bred calves are preferred to continental calves because of the lower purchase price and numbers available locally.

The system is simple and fits in well with the arable enterprise on the farm. Getting more liveweight gain from grass and staying on top of calf health in the first year are the main priorities for Terry in getting the most profit from his system.