Advantage Beef Programme
Dry farms of land, particularly in the south of the country, are feeling the pinch as regards grass growth and this is certainly also the case on the ABP Demo Farm.
Farmers are generally welcoming of warm, dry weather, but when it arrives for a prolonged period of time, it brings its own set of challenges.
Agriland caught up with ABP Food Group's agri-sustainability manager Stephen Connolly to hear what they have been doing differently to manage the over 800 head of cattle currently residing on the farm.
Connolly explained that due to the complete drop-off in grass growth rates, bale silage and concentrates have been introduced to some of the yearling heifers at grass.
He said: "We originally planned to start finishing our spring-2025-born heifers from August 1 this year, but earlier this week (Monday, July 20) we started to feed our heifers 3kg/head/day concentrates and silage.
"Concentrate feeding levels for the heifers will now be gradually increased to 5kg/head/day.
"The 2025-born steers remain at grass, but will be introduced to silage and concentrates if the dry weather persists."
A batch of 50 of the 2025-born heifers will be going to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation's (ICBF's) Tully Progeny Test Centre in Co. Kildare later this week for feed intake and performance monitoring.
According to Connolly, this will significantly reduce the demand for grass on the farm.
He added that as grass covers were burning up in many cases on the paddocks, the strategy is to continue using all available grass on the farm rather than saving it and potentially losing it to the dry conditions.
"We have decided to use the grass that is available as it was burning away and if we tried to slow down intake, it may not have been as well utilised."
The 2026-born calves have been moved up to 2kg of concentrate/head/day and remain at grass.
"Calves also have also been introduced hay as it was available to us on the farm," Connolly said.
The farm had planned to reseed 20ac but this has now been delayed due to the dry conditions and scarce availability of grass.
The farm's fodder reserves are in a good position, with 1,400 bales of silage made to date. The target is to go into the winter with approximately 1,500 bales of silage.
Fertiliser applications have stalled on the farm and will not continue until grass growth conditions allow for fertiliser uptake again.
The ABP agri-sustainability manager said: "We also have a back-up water pump on the farm to ensure water is available to cattle at all times.
"Cattle are still performing well on the farm and it is looking like there may be some rain next week.
"Farmers who have any questions on managing their cattle during the current dry weather conditions should contact a member of the Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison team."