Philip Stewart or ‘Farmer Phil’ as he is better known across social media platforms, is a beef and tillage farmer based in Ballinamore, Co. Longford.
He is involved in a family-run agri contracting business and also runs a successful YouTube channel and – more recently – a farm shop.
The beef system on the Stewart family farm involves the purchase of calves from neighbouring dairy farms and bringing them all the way through to beef.
The Stewart family farm consists of 240ac of tillage and 300ac of grass – some of which is owned and some rented. Philip noted the land is “very fragmented” in nature.
While some surplus grain will be sold to a merchant this year, Philip’s mantra is “every bit of grain we grow walks out of the yard on an animal’s back in beef”.
This year, the farm bought over 350 dairy-bred calves compromising mainly Friesian and Jersey-cross bulls. However, a smaller amount of Speckle Park, Angus, Belgian Blue, Aubrac, Limousine and Hereford calves were also purchased.
Philip explained that all calves are purchased from farmers who the Stewarts do agri-contracting work for.
Generally, there is between 500-600/head of cattle in the herd at any time with stock numbers lowest in the spring before the arrival of new calves.
Speaking to Agriland, Philip explained: “What we do is we go to a farm and we will take all the Friesian and Jersey bull calves but, along with them, we will take a few good ones also.
“We are bargain buyers. We don’t go in and pick the good ones and leave the small ones. We go in, drop the ramp and we take all. We always work off the policy ‘the cheaper we can get them, the better’.
Commenting on the suitability of the Jersey and Friesian breeds for a beef system, Philip said: “The Jersey crosses are fine, the only obstacle is getting the factory to take them. Other than that you cannot beat them, they’re better than a Friesian or an Angus, in my opinion.”
When asked why he prefers the Jersey cross bulls, Philip said: “While they do kill out lighter than Friesians, you can finish them sooner and get better fat scores.”
All Friesians and Jerseys are finished as bulls under 24-months of age. Angus and Hereford males are castrated and finished as steers to qualify for the factory’s breed bonus.
Bulls on their second year at grass will start to be housed in the last week of August. They will gradually be introduced to the finisher ration and the aim is to start selling factory-fit bulls after 90 days on the finisher ration.
This year, Philip hopes to start selling his 2020-born bull calves in late December.
Winter feeding at the ‘Farmer Phil’ farm
The farm produces 80% of its own total feed requirements. During the winter, all cattle are fed on Total Mixed Ration (TMR) .
The TMR fed to beef cattle is wholecrop-based with barley, beet, beans, oats, minerals and biscuit meal, which Philip outlined is “absolute rocket fuel” for putting flesh on the bulls.
A ‘balancing ration’ is also added to the TMR to prevent any cases of acidosis. The barley fed to cattle is all treated to prevent acidosis.
This year’s calves are currently getting a ration compromising winter barley, beet pulp, flaked maize and soya bean.
Lighter calves are fed meal during the first winter to boost weights.
Strong calves are fed mainly good-quality silage and wholecrop if necessary.
“There is no meal involved in the first winter on good calves,” Philip noted.
Commenting on silage quality, Philip said: “I’d like to be doing four cuts every year but my father prefers a bit of sustenance when he is cutting silage.
“Heifers or steers that will not reach 500kg by the time we want to be finishing them are put to one side and are finished of grass on the third summer.”
Finishing weights
Philip aims to have all animals leaving the farm at over 500kg within a finishing period of 90 days. He noted that the bulls finished this year averaged 105 days on the finisher ration.
When deciding if an animal is factory fit, Philip noted: “I look for globs of fat around the tail, good flesh on the flanks and the real nice, soft sponginess to them.
“We will not sell anything under 500kg because there’s always the chance they could slip under the factory carcass weight requirement. Last year, our fat score on bulls averaged a 3-.”
Record-keeping
The farm has an impressive database of records on calf mortality, sickness cases, growth rates and kill-out records.
Interestingly, Philip has noted year-on-year, the lowest sickness rate is observed in the Jersey-cross bull calves, while pedigree animals are more prone to picking up diseases.
He also noted that January and February-born calves perform better and pick up less disease in the spring.
Commenting on the best performing breed on the farm, Philip said Friesian bulls left €150 more on average than the Angus. However, he outlined that the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) would have suggested the Angus should be returning €180 more.
Philip believes this is because ease of calving “holds too much weight” in the DBI.
“The DBI puts too much emphasis on how hard or easy calving the bull is and that affects the figures which is supposed to influence the beef farmer as to what animal will leave the most money.”
Commenting on his preferred breed of cattle to rear for beef on the farm, Philip said: “If I was to pick a favorite, I’d pick a Jersey-cross any day of the week.
“I’d only buy a Jersey cross. But the factory is where everything goes and they don’t particularly like them.
“In a sticky year it can be hard to shift the Friesian and Jersey bulls. That’s why we have the mix. We always have our Friesian and Jersey bulls ready first and we have our 60-odd Angus and Hereford heifers and bullocks coming afterwards.