A good rule of thumb for those going down the organic route is, in terms of space allowance for cattle, to have 1.0m² for very 100kg liveweight.
In fact, this is a requirement. Furthermore, all cattle must have access to a dry-bedded lying area. Up to 50% of this area can be slatted, but the remaining 50% must be a solid floor bedded with straw, rushes or woodchip.
This is what Teagasc organic specialist Joe Kelleher told farmers during a webinar on converting beef housing to organic standards.
Speaking on the housing requirement for cattle in organics, Joe said: “First thing a farmer needs to do when going down, or thinking about going down the organic route, is to measure your sheds by getting out the measuring tape.
“For example, the two things to measure if applicable to your farm is how much slatted area you have in your sheds and how much solid lying area you have.
“If you can get those two figures written down on a piece of paper, it will give you a good idea of how many cattle you can hold in your shed roughly and if the shed is too small, what you need to accommodate the number of cattle you want.
“So to show an example, take a standard slatted shed with lieback area. Let’s say, the solid lieback is 5m wide and and 4m deep, which gives us 20m² of a lying area,” he said.
“And then a further 4m of slatted area in front of that lieback we have another 20m² of area which gives us a total of 40m² of floor area.
“That’s our starting point. Then to know what space we need and the type of animals we might have on the farm, we need to look at this table [below].”
Weight (kg) Space required (m²) 100kg 1.5 m² 200kg 2.5m² Up to 350kg 4.0m² <350kg 5.0m² (minimum 1m² per 100kg liveweight)
Joe added: “Dairy and suckler cows require 6m² of space.”
Example: Floor and lying space for 80 cattle
During the webinar, Joe was joined by Tadhg and Claire Halpin from Co. Clare who are making the conversion to organics and this year, are planning to convert existing accommodation on the farm to facilitate the move.
In the case of the Halpins, they intend to outwinter their 20 suckler cows and house the rest of their cattle, which is 80 head in total across three different sheds.
The table below gives an idea of age and weight groups of cattle in terms of overall and lying space required for the Halpin’s cattle.
Type of cattle Weight (kg) Space required (m²) Lying area required (m²) 0-1 years old 300 4 2 1-2 years old 500 5 2.25 Suckler cows (if required to be housed) 650 6 3
As the cows are outwintered, they aren’t included in the calculations. So how much housing space do the Halpin’s need for 80 head of cattle they plan to house?
In total, they will require 360m² and, as is the case with organic regulations, half of this space must be of a solid lying area which in the Halpin’s case will be 180m².
The table below shows the space available on the Halpin’s farm.
Slatted area (m²) Proposed solid floor area (m²) Total area (m²) Slatted shed no.1 75 142 217 Slatted shed no.2 (right hand side) 77 25 102 Slatted shed no.2 (left hand side) 56 64 120 Total space 208 231 439
From the table above we can see that the Halpins will have a total area of 439m² going off their existing shed space and the building work they plan to carry out this year to satisfy the requirements for organics.
Having known earlier that they would require 360m² of space to house their 80 cattle, the Halpins have more than sufficient room based off their combined existing slatted area and proposed solid floor area of 439m².