The Irish Hereford Prime Farmer of the Year title for 2023 has been awarded to Maurice Hallahan from Grange, near Ardmore in Co. Waterford.
Maurice retired from dairy farming over 12 years ago and now runs a Hereford-cross heifer beef system.
He generally purchases between 65 and 75 Hereford-cross heifers as weanlings each year, however, in 2023 he increased this to 110 Hereford-cross heifers.
In 2024, he aims to stock the farm entirely with Hereford-cross cattle and, with all things going well, this will mean 150 Hereford heifers on the farm.
He keeps them for a period of approximately 12 months, taking them right through to finish at which point he supplies ABP Waterford. Maurice is also a participant in the ABP Advantage Beef Programme.
Good animal performance is a testament to his grassland management, as he believes in striking a balance between grass utilisation and grass quality.
When asked why he farms Herefords, he said: “They are easy managed with good weights for age, docile and easily finished.”
Maurice also pointed out that he finds it hard to buy other breeds of cattle that can perform as consistently well for him on his farm.
According to Irish Hereford Prime: “The improved animal performance seen on Maurice’s farm from his Hereford cattle, resulting in a reduction of age at slaughter while maintaining carcass weight, makes him a worthy winner of this year’s Irish Hereford Prime’s Farmer of the Year award.”
Doing simple things right
Maurice places huge emphasis on buying quality cattle and he makes the majority of his purchases locally in both Fermoy and Dungarvan marts.
Interestingly, over 80% of the Hereford cattle that Maurice slaughters have only one or two farm movements in their lifetime.
Reviewing the herd performance over a five-year timeframe shows he has managed to drop the age of slaughter by 41 days in that period, while at the same time not only maintaining carcass weight but actually increasing it by an average of 11kg.
By working in tandem with the ABP procurement team, Maurice has gone from having anywhere from 10-15% of his cattle grading too fat (5’s in flesh) pre-2021, to having 100% of his heifers in 2022 and 2023 grading between a 3= and a 4=.
His system of production means that he is relying on another farmer to breed the animal for him and buys in all Hereford stock as weanling heifers as he says he “hopes to be buying potential rather than feed”.
Sustainability
The first port of call for Maurice in making any decision for animal treatment or farm management is through testing.
He regularly soil tests, takes faecal samples and does silage analysis of both pit and baled silage.
He aims to make his first cut of silage most years in mid to late May which tends to provide him with a silage that comes in at 70-72% DMD.
A feed over the years that Maurice has huge faith in is locally-grown fodder beet, which he tends to feed to both his stores at 3-5kg/head and finishing stock at a rate of 14kg/head plus 3-4kg/head of meal.
Another key driver for performance for Maurice is grass.
By using the infrastructure that was in place from when he was milking dairy cows, he is able to give groups of 25-30 heifers two days in a paddock before moving them to fresh grass.
He reseeds a portion of the farm every year and looks to include higher levels of clover due to the nitrogen fixation properties that help him to reduce his artificial N requirements.
By grazing cattle outdoors for a long grazing season he feels this is giving his cattle the best chance to thrive.
Achieving an early turnout, depending on the weather in any particular year, Maurice strives to have stock out by St. Patricks day.
Housing usually takes place in November but again the weather plays a huge part in this and unfortunately 2023 did not play ball.
Similar to the benefits of a co-ordinated approach taken by the Irish Hereford Prime producer group in marketing Hereford beef under one brand, Maurice is a strong believer in the power of farmers coming together.
He is part of a local purchasing group in his area that strives to strike the best deal possible for lots of his farm inputs such as diesel, fertiliser, fencing, veterinary supplies and feed.
Concluding, he said: “Farming, as most of us know, is not always easy at times, but it is a great way of life. Farming Herefords does help and so they will be part of my farming system for the foreseeable future”.