Staff at the Teagasc beef research centre at Grange, Co. Meath will examine the effect on income of running its Derrypatrick suckler herd at a reduced stocking rate but with improved profitability per head.
Speaking to Agriland, Peter Doyle, a grassland science research officer at Grange, said that, previously, the stocking rate of the herd was 2.9 livestock units (LU) per hectare.
In order to meet demand for forage at this stocking rate, the application rate of inorganic fertiliser nitrogen (N) was around 230kg/ha.
According to Doyle, the next study on the Derrypatrick herd will be based at a stocking rate of 2.2 LU/ha, to reflect the need to reduce costs on beef farms – particularly in light of high levels of volatility in fertiliser prices – and the fact that less than 1% of beef farms in the country are stocked at 2.9 LU/ha.
Doyle explained that the key aim of the next study on the herd will be to assess the potential of clover to meet most of the inorganic N demand for beef farms, through fixing nitrogen in pasture.
White clover will be used for grazing, while red clover will be used for silage.
The next study will also examine the effect of clover-based systems on animal performance, and the potential to eliminate the second winter finishing period, the Teagasc researcher said, ADDING:
“From an economic perspective, reducing both fertiliser and concentrate inputs will reduce costs considerably and increase profitability per head.”
Doyle said that a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the farm system would be “an anticipated co-benefit” of these changes.
“Obviously an outcome of lower stocking rates is that the number of animals finished will be reduced, and so, after a few years of running this lower-stocked system we will determine the overall effect on farm economics of increasing profitability per head, while at the same time reducing the total number of animals sold,” he added.
The new clover study started earlier this year, with initial results expected in the coming years.
He also spoke about these changes in last week’s episode of the Teagasc Beef Edge Podcast, in which he said the new stocking rate of 2.2 LU/ha means the herd is no longer in nitrates derogation.
Doyle said this makes the farm “more applicable” to commercial practice.
He added that the staff working on the farm were satisfied with how calving went this year.
Calving season stated there on February 4, with all 84 cows calved down in nine and a half weeks, and 90% of them calved down in the first six weeks.
The breeding season in the Derrypatrick herd, meanwhile, started in the first week of May, and lasted nine weeks, using 100% artificial insemination (AI). Both Angus and Charolais sires were used.
One of the key traits that the farm selected sires for was age of slaughter, with the aim to slaughter steers and heifers off grass in the second grazing season, at 20 months of age.