The ABP Demo Farm located in Co. Carlow will host its open day on Wednesday, September 11, and the event is open to all farmers supplying ABP Food Group.
ABP Food Group’s Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison team leader Amie Coonan explained that the event will kick off at 11:00a.m. and will finish up with food for attendees at approximately 1:00p.m.
Speaking to Agriland ahead of the event, she outlined what ABP farmer suppliers can hope to benefit from attending the event.
She encouraged ABP suppliers who are attending the event to bring along silage sample results where representatives from Brett Brothers animal feed suppliers will be on hand to analyse the silage quality and offer advice on feeding cattle this winter.
Advice on fodder budgets will also be available and where farmers have a note of their pit measurements and/or number of bales, staff will be on hand to work out if farmers have enough silage and what level of concentrate feeding is advisable – given the fodder availability.
There will be a explainer of the quality payment system grid currently used to price cattle, where the beef price paid to farmers comes from and what it is made up of.
Price bonuses available for eligible cattle such as in-spec bonuses, breed bonuses and the Advantage Beef Programme bonus will also be explained with a focus on where these bonuses come from and why they are paid at their respective levels.
ABP procurement staff will give a live demonstration on drafting cattle and will give advice on selecting cattle at correct fat covers for the factory.
A selection of cuts of beef will be on demonstration also to show how these appear from the different types of cattle.
Teagasc genetic researcher David Kelly will demonstrate how a scanner can be used to get a cross-section view of a beef animal’s meat yield, with a focus on fat cover and marbling.
The Advantage Beef Programme Farm Liaison Team will also be in attendance on the day to give an overview of the calf to beef system in place on the ABP Demo Farm.
The management protocols from calf rearing right through to finishing will be discussed and slaughter performance of the cattle on the farm will be discussed also.
Representatives from JFC will be present on the day to offer advice and support to farmers around automatic calf feeders.
There will also be a number of other industry personnel on hand to offer farmers advice on herd management ahead of the winter housing season.
The event is open to all ABP suppliers. Farmers who are interested in attending can RSVP to Aideen on: (086) 165 3501.
About the ABP Demo Farm
In 2015, ABP Food Group joined a partnership with two beef farmers based in Co. Carlow to form what is known as the ABP Demonstration Farm.
The farm size is 280ac and it is laid out in two separate blocks. The farm operates a dairy calf-to-beef system where approximately 400 calves are purchased every year and are reared to finishing.
Through grass management, animal breeding, herd health and biodiversity, the farm aims to showcase the measures that can be taken on Irish farms to further reduce the carbon footprint of beef production in Ireland.
The key theme on the farm is economic and environmental sustainability and in this, a large focus is placed on animal genetics and grassland management.