The farm is one of eight ABP Monitor Farms that are finishing cattle in a variety of systems and are based across the country on a range of different land types.

ABP Food Group's Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison officer Sean Cassidy recently visited the farm to see how things have been going.

All suckler-bred young bulls on the farm have now been slaughtered with "very impressive weights and grades achieved," Sean said.

"Their grades averaged 'U+ 3=' with one 'E' grade bull. This year's suckler weanlings are still at grass and are being fed 2.5kg concentrates/head/day."

This year, Pat decided to castrate some of the later-born bull weanlings, as the shed space will be needed for older bullocks and heifers next autumn.

The spring 2025-born dairy-beef weanlings were housed recently and averaged 282kg.

They were dung sampled and clipped at housing and the bull calves were also castrated.

They are being fed silage and 2.5kg concentrates/head/day for the winter.

2024-born bullocks

The 2024-born bullocks are thriving well and Pat has increased the meal again to 6.5kgs/head/day.

He is aiming for these cattle to be factory-fit before Christmas. They weighed 588kg at housing in early October.

The silage was tested by the ABP farm liaison team and came back at 72% dry matter digestibility (DMD).

2024-born heifers

Heifers were drafted for slaughter this week, having been fed concentrates at grass for the past six weeks.

These cattle were fed using a solar-powered automatic feeder, which Pat said has been a great labour and time-saving investment for him, as he also works full-time off farm.

The first batch of store lambs were drafted this week and are doing a good job of grazing off any heavy covers of grass remaining on the farm.

Pat said he has been very impressed by the weight gain and performance of his dairy-beef calves and the finishing stock.

The heifers being slaughtered this week will be approximately 19/20 months-of-age and the bullocks will be approximately 21/22 months-of-age.

All calves were sourced via the ABP calf-sourcing service and originated from a dairy herd in Co. Meath.

The calves were selected based on cow type and sire details, with a focus on buying calves with high Commercial Beef Values (CBVs).

Pat hopes to work with this farmer again to source his calves in 2026.