Farming just outside Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny, is Declan Hickey, a part-time suckler and calf-to-beef farmer who is producing dairy-steer beef that is in the lowest 4% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kg of carcass weight nationally.
Declan also works off-farm with agri-supply business Denn Agriculture. His beef enterprise comprises approximately 40 autumn-calving suckler cows and the purchase of 60-70 dairy calves.
All beef progeny from the herd are finished through ABP Food Group’s Advantage Beef Programme.
While Declan also runs an impressive suckler-beef system, this year, it was the steers from his dairy calf-to-beef system that won a sustainability award from ABP Food Group.
The ABP Beef Benchmark sustainability awards aim to acknowledge ABP suppliers that are performing at a high level of efficiency with a reduced carbon footprint.
ABP Food Group’s agri-sustainability manager Stephen Connolly said: “Declan’s dairy-beef steers are in the top 3% nationally for age at slaughter. His Friesian steers had an average slaughter age of 21 months.
“The beef from Declan’s system is in the top 4% of lowest GHG emissions/kg carcass weight,” he added.
2022 slaughter performance of the farm’s Friesian steers:
- Average carcass weight: 327kg (national average: 321kg);
- Average carcass confirmation: O= (national average: O-);
- Average carcass fat: 3+ (national average: 3=);
- Average age at slaughter: 635 days (national average: 840);
- Average Daily Gain on farm: 1.24kg/day (national average: 1.22kg/day);
- Lifetime ADG: 0.95kg/day (national average: 0.72).
“In 2022, his Friesian steers had an average grade of O= and the fat scores were perfect. He is maximising output and price bonuses in his system and is evidently buying-in calves from a good herd,” Stephen added.
“ABP is delighted to recognise efforts being made by our suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint and improve the sustainability of their beef enterprises.”
The suckler system
Every year, Declan calves approximately 40 sucklers. All cows are calved in the autumn from late July to September.
The cows are primarily first-cross Limousins bred off the dairy herd. These cows are primarily five-star cows with plenty of milk and are bred to a Limousin stockbull.
Cows are generally housed in mid-November after breeding has commenced and Declan aims to have as many cows back in calf before housing as possible.
Lighter weanlings go to grass first, generally in early February followed by the remaining cattle, generally in mid March.
The cows lie on slatted rubber mats over the winter and suckler calves have access to a lie-back area where they are supplemented with concentrate feed. Cows get a silage-only diet over the winter.
The male suckler progeny are finished as under-16-month bull beef and heifers are finished at 18-20 months of age.
Declan said: “The bulls generally all grade a U in conformation with the odd R-grade. The average carcass weight is generally 405-410kg.
“They all tend to score a three in flesh and thankfully, I never have any issues with low fat scores in the bulls,” he added.
“I always watch for the bulls going overweight. By weighing them, I have a good indication of how they’re performing.
“They all kill out from 56-60% so I would have a fair idea when they’re getting near the carcass weight limit.”
Declan currently has the autumn 2022-born bulls housed for finishing. They are currently being fed grass silage and 6kg/head/day of a a 13% protein nut. The bulls will gradually be built up to 11kg/head/day of concentrate until finish.
Dairy calf-to-beef
Approximately 60-70 calves are bought from a dairy farmer every year. These are both bulls and heifers and are primarily Friesian (males) and Limousin-cross (males and females).
“Generally, there’s 20-25 Friesian bulls born from late January to early February and the Limousins are born from late February and into March,” Declan said.
The 2023-born calves are split in two batches, one heavier batch and one batch of lighter calves. They were weighed last week and the heavier batch ranged from 220-270kg and the lighter batch ranged from 180-220kg in general.
The 2022-born dairy-beef batch was weighed in early August. The Friesians averaged 525kg and the Limousins averaged 540kg.
“There were very few of them under 500kg and the best of them weighed as high as 600kg,” Declan said.
The strongest of the 2022-born dairy-beef steers have been housed for finishing. They are being fed grass silage and 4kg/head/day of concentrates. This will be gradually built up to 6kg/head/day of concentrates until finishing.
The farm and the Advantage Beef Programme
The farm consists of two separate blocks of land with 45ha farmed in total. Some of the land was reclaimed and low-lying parts of the farm are used for riparian zones and wild bird cover.
The majority of silage is taken from surplus paddocks as they come fit.
Declan receives an additional 20c/kg Sustainability Bonus as he is a member of ABP’s Advantage Beef Programme.
Commenting on the sustainability initiative, he said: “My cattle were all suitable for the scheme. I was already weighing my cattle and didn’t have to do much different to qualify.”
Declan supplies his beef cattle to ABP Ferrybank, Waterford, Co. Kilkenny.
Commenting on his plans for the future, he aims to continue to develop and improve the efficiency and sustainability of both his suckler and dairy-beef operation on his farm.