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Grasstec Agricultural Services - Experts for your farming needs

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Grasstec offer a wide range of services & products to the agricultural & commercial sector in Ireland, the UK & mainland Europe

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PastureBase Ireland. PastureBaseIreland is a grassland management decision support tool and a mechanism to capture background data on farms.

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Invest in infrastructure for 'optimum system':
Paddock sizes, roadways, water troughs, access points etc.
Continue to measure and budget grass
Record performance throughout the year
Alternative forages- clover, wholecrop, winter forages
Continue to reclaim and reseed

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2 years data collected

Use data to review system:
Stocking rate
Possibility to increase animal numbers
Number of animals finished of grass
Grazed herbage grown
Silage herb grown
Utilisation

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Continue measuring grass

Continue using PBI

Soil test- monitor progress

Use information to manage fertilizer and reseeding program

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Learn and begin weekly grass measuring

Setup Pasturebase Ireland

Reclaim certain percentage of land

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Mapping and infrastructure plan

Soil test whole farm

Nutrient management program

Join discussion group

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The objective on this beef farm over the next 5 years is to start measuring grass, budgeting using a support tool and match stocking rate to growth potential

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Extreme weather events

Price of inputs very variable- fertilizer, concentrates, machinery

Large investment being put in

Beef price- have to take current beef price when cattle are ready for slaughter

Policy- GHG regulations

Brexit

Dairy industry's influence

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Begin grass measuring and join Pasturebase Ireland

Grasstec to map farm

Join grassland management discussion group

Measuring tools available

Attend farm walks and open days

Teagasc Athenry research farm nearby

Expand cattle numbers

Reclaim and improve less productive land

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Future of beef production uncertainty

Works full time

Not a member of a discussion group

Cash flow only comes at certain times of the year when cattle are slaughtered

Time a major influence

A lot of extra work will be required to implement new management system

Partnership could lead to different views on how to manage the new system

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Weanling through to finishing

Cattle 0-1     0
Cattle 1-2    30
Caattle 2+   30

Two blocks
37 acre home farm
44 acre out-farm 500 metre's from home farm

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Grazed grass is reported as the cheapest feed available (O’Kiely, 1994)

Grass is a highly nutritious feed, grass costs approximately 7cents/kg of dry matter (DM), compared to grass silage at 13c/kg DM and concentrates at 22c/kg DM (Kennedy et al. 2005)

Currently large under utilization of grass on Irish beef farms 4.8t DM/ha (O'Donovan et al. 2011, French 2011)

Potential to grow 12-16 tonne DM/ha per year (O'Donovan et al. 2011)

Of the 139,000 farms that exist in Ireland, over 100,000 of them have some form of a cattle enterprise (Hennessey et al., 2016).

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Willing to invest financially

Willingness to learn and improve current infrastructure

Son coming home to farm next year in partnership

Soil testing carried out in recent years

Some re-claiming has been carried out in last three years

Great potential to improve grassland management and utilization

Dry farm

Two relatively equal size blocks

Has recently begun using a farm advisory service