NORTHERN IRELAND SUCKLER BEEF PROGRAMME International Beef Cattle workers Group Wednesday 30 October Kieran Mailey Irish Farmers Journal & Francis Breen Programme adviser, CAFRE

BACKGROUND Programme launched in March 2011 to run for 3 years 8 suckler farms selected from across Northern Ireland plus CAFRE farms 3 year plans drawn up for the farms Programme will focus on Breeding / fertility Grassland management Increasing output Following on from Teagasc/IFJ BETTER Farm Programme

BETTER Farm Programme Programme established in 2009 16 farms through-out the country and 2 agricultural colleges 3 year farm plans developed Output, grassland management and breeding and fertility -3 key areas for improvement Breeding/fertility has huge effect on management of other areas in plan

BETTER Farm Programme

BETTER Farm Programme Phase 1 GM/ha moved from €367/ha to €879/ha. 66% of the increase in gross margin achieved in Phase 1 derived from improvements in technical efficiency aim to carry this through to Phase 2 Phase 2 launched in July 2012. 35 farms in total.

PROGRAMME FARMS

Programme Targets NISBP GM / ha £750 Calving Index (days) 365 Calving Spread (weeks) 12 Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2 Calves/cow/yr weaned 0.95

Progress to date 2012 2011 2010 Av farm size 98 99 95 Av Cow herd 110 (Ha adj Grassland / cow herd) 98 99 95 Av Cow herd 110 91 Av Stocking rate (LU/ha) 1.97 1.82 1.65 Av GM/ha £674 £534 £402 Av Kg LWT/ha 629 632 567

Variable costs

Importance of Fertility Improved grassland = more cattle needed More calves born = increased output Reduce cost of carrying empty cows Easier to batch manage groups of stock Reduce labour demand More Kg beef from grass Which is better: A cow calving every year or calving every 365days?

Breeding Calendar for Beef Cow 2-3 cycles to get cow back in calf Cow sucking calf – non cycling Approx. gestation

Grassland Biggest resource Cheapest feed available Most abundant feed on farm Has to be properly managed – lime, P & K Reseed annually Cost of grazing - £0.25 to £0.40/day £300/t @ 5 bags @ 200 days = £0.37 €50/tonne DM grass (Teagasc)

Simple paddock system

Grassland Paddocks system will grow more grass “In at your shin, go at your toe” Walk swards weekly Well managed grass Energy = 11.5-12.5 Mj ME Protein = 18% - 24%

2011 – 24.7ha set stocked Av grass growth - 49kg DM/ha/day Seasonal yield - 6.2t DM/ha 2012 – 24.7ha rotationally grazed Av grass growth - 59kg DM/ha/day Seasonal yield - 7.2t DM/ha