Tomorrow (Thursday, September 10), we will take our readers on a virtual tour of Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef Programme participant Martin Connolly’s farm.

The second phase of the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef Programme was launched in the spring of 2019.

Since then, Martin – along with 11 other participating farmers – have been working on implementing farm plans aimed at achieving a net margin of €500/ha before farm subsidies are taken into account.

Martin, who farms part-time just outside Castleplunket, in Co. Roscommon, runs a calf-to-bull beef system on 60ha of fragmented and slightly heavy land.

Each year, he purchases 120 spring-born, dairy-bred male calves and brings them through to slaughter at under 22 months-of-age.

Throughout the day, Martin will explain some of the main aspects of the farm system, how the first 18 months of the programme have gone for him; he will also discuss the targets he is aiming to hit as part of the adjusted farm plan.

Topics on the day will include grassland management, silage quality, animal performance and herd health.

Additionally, Green Acres programme advisor, Seán Cummins, will outline why silage quality is so important for calf-to-beef systems and what steps need to be taken to ensure that a high-quality winter feed is made on farm.

Also, programme manager Alan Dillon will outline different target weights – for specific animals – at different times of the year, while also touching on winter nutrition plans.

Tomorrow evening, AgriLand beef specialist Niall Claffey will be joined by Martin – and his dedicated programme advisor James Fitzgerald, along with his local Teagasc advisor Gerry Cregg – during an on-farm discussion.

Social media takeover

Throughout the day, Martin and the programme management team will be available on the Teagasc Beef social media platforms – Facebook and Twitter – to answer any questions or queries you may have.