Farming near Mullinavat in Co. Kilkenny is Jack Maguire - a young farmer with approximately 170 cattle on a 100% leased farm.

Jack is now seven years into a lease on the farm, and his system involves buying yearling cattle which are predominantly dairy-beef origin, and taking these to beef with a major focus on grassland management.

The young farmer with a positive 'can-do' attitude recently featured on the Agriland Beef Brief podcast. Click here to listen to the podcast.

Speaking on the podcast, Jack explained: "We're located in south Kilkenny running a dry-stock farm buying in a majority of Angus cattle and taking these from weanling to finish."

Cattle are predominantly bought in from January to March and are finished predominantly from late September to the following January.

Jack said: "The land I'm farming here is 100% leased. It's close to home and my father is farming at home so I have him to lean on in terms of help and expertise."

Commenting on his decision to lease his own farm, he said: "It's been one of the best things I've ever done. To go out on my own, make my own mistakes, and learn my own things about farming.

"It's nice to have your own plot to do what you want, make mistakes, and try the new things out."

Jack also works full-time off farm and said this was a factor in why he did not opt for a calf-to-beef system.

He said: "The calf-to-beef system was tempting because you need less capital from the start. Your calf is obviously cheaper than your weanling or store.

"I'm working full time off-farm so Monday to Friday 9-5, I have to be somewhere else.

"I tried to set it [the farm] up in such a way that it was simple as possible.

"I like buying the weanling because it's over a lot of the stages [where] it can go wrong or get sick, and that it's just get up and go, and get out to grass as soon as possible."

Jack has to place a big focus on time management on the farm and said this is something he is also passionate about. He aims to run the farm in 15-20 hours/week.

Grazing on the farm generally takes place from January to November and there is a major emphasis on grassland management on the farm.

Cattle are weighed every two months and the target is to achieve an average daily live-weight gain of 1kg/head/day across the grazing season.

As well as his busy schedule with off-farm employment and running his farm, Jack also sells boxed beef online and shares his farming experiences via his Facebook and Instagram page 'Maguire Farms'.

Agriland asked Jack if he believes a store-to-beef system on a leased farm can stand up for itself and leave a reasonable margin.

He said: "I think it can. I wouldn't be at it if it wasn't. I'm not doing it solely for the good of my health."

Offering advice to other young farmers considering a similar-type enterprise, he said: "The only thing I'll say is when I first started farming here, I wasn't making any money."

He advised young farmers to "focus on the right areas and get advice from people that are farming a long time and try build up the skills".

"I think the most important thing you can do to increase profit on a farm is grass measuring. It's the most important thing by far that I do here.

"When I started grass measuring, I saw an increase in profit all the way along and that corresponded in better grass, better silage, and better weight gain."