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Current year has been very challenging on all systems, the challenge now is to develop a grass system that can deal better with uncertain weather !

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Replace some temporary divisions with permanent ones to allow for expansion of stocking rate

Repair current infrastructure or upgrade  i.e. roads and paddock entrances in particular

Experiment with chosen alternate crop before reseeding field year 6- this will improve soil structure and provide nutrients to soil especially if brassica crop

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Soil Test

Devise a nutrient plan based on test results

Map Farm with farm maps and google maps

Identify new infrastructure and paddocks required. Prioritise these in order of importance to be completed over the next few years

Start attending grass based discussion industries

Experiment with grass measuring tools to see which suits the farm best

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Map farm with Grasstec Adjust and finalise paddock size to farm stocking rate and system from experimentation year 1

Start grass measuring weekly and record on pasture base Ireland

Sub divide paddocks with strip fences in the main grazing season to insure ideal utilisation

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Continue data collection and entry into Pasture base Ireland

Review Stocking rate, fertiliser application rate and grazing season to the new utillisation efficiency of the improved grassland management and adjust to make more profitable or labour efficient

Look at extended grazing or out wintering due to availability of land or grass from better utiilisiation

Evaluate finishing crop for lambs to deal with drop in performance post weaning.

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Keep measuring grass to look at the supply and demand

Retest soil and adjust fertiliser plan accordingly

Track animal performance in paddocks along with grass produced to help wth informed decisions

Implement reseeding plan now that some cash flow has returned because of the field divisions and infrastructure spending over the past two years.

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Objective of the grassland management plan

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Objective of the grassland management plan

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The objective on this dry-stock farm is to firstly map the farm with a view to commence grass measurement on a weekly basis. This will allow the farmer to make more informed decisions about fertiliser plans, winter housing times, maximising his stocking rate to the land available so his farm is more profitable overall.

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Suckler to wean
Sheep

4 in-calf heifers calving December
26 suckler cows calving January-April excluding March
30 Pedigree Texel ewes lambing Feburary 10th
305 mature ewes lambing during March
115 Ewe lambs lambing end of March
10 Stock rams
10 Shearling rams for sale every autumn
1 Stock bull

Currently the grazing block is 92.66 ha of which 66.94ha is in one block surrounding the farm yard. (13.5ha is rented) The remaining 25.72ha is split into 3 divides approx 2-5 km from the farm yard

Farm is currently at 1.53 LU/Ha

The farm split is sheep 69% and cattle 31%

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Extreme weather events

Labor shortage- currently son  available to help when not in college. Short-term students during lambing season if available.

Increasing  input price and Non-fixed output price

Future of suckler and sheep farms in the west of Ireland

Compliance increase in the sector

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Start a reseeding programme

Map farm and measure grass

Make structured grazing plan

Fertilization plan

Join grass focus group

Grow and utilise more grass

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Disease outbreaks when intensity increases

Price of output product always changing. Difficult to plan

Currently very drawn out calving period broken up by hectic lambing period hard to graze out paddocks as result

Slower to learn  new technology skills because of age

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Willingness to progress

Mostly dry ground.

Good shelter around field boundaries(Hedges and stone walls)

Current fencing recently repaired and is now stock proof

Smaller divides have been made in some fields so very open to  idea of better utilization.

Developing a system that suits his preferred lifestyle - already in place as regards stocking rate and enterprise size.

Relatively low fertilizer inputs currently

Kids in college and school -needs to push on to make farm as profitable as possible

Attends farm walks and active member of KT and lamb producer groups

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In the current agricultural climate, without subsidies, dry stock farming is struggling to keep margins above break even. Suckler to wean is -€36/ha before subsidies on average and sheep is at €9/ha  (Teagasc Dry-stock e-profit booklet)

With increasing pressure to lower greenhouse gas emissions, suckler farming needs to become more sustainable and efficient.

Better utilisation of grass reduces input costs making the enterprise slightly more profitable.

Working with small margins, the sheep are managed on a low input and low output basis. On average €95-100 per lamb and €66 maintenance per ewe

To improve profit per hectare, good utilisation of available land and maximising the growth of cheap nutritious grass is key.

Dry-stock farms grow 11.8T DM/Ha/year over the past 3 years however this is got from the grass recording farms and is much higher than the national level

Currently  average stocking rate on sheep farms is 7.8 ewes/Ha or 1.71 LU/Ha