John Kingham is the farm manager of Ireland’s largest suckler enterprise – the Tateetra and Rathmore Farms – spanning across counties Louth and Meath.

John and his team of staff took the reins of the operation in September 2017 and have grown the herd size to over 500 cows – consisting of Simmental, Limousin and Belgian Blue genetics.

The Irish Grassland Association (IGA) held part of its 2021 virtual beef event – in association with Mullinahone Co-op – on the farm this week, which spans 1,000ac, and is home to over 1,000 head of cattle.

All cattle are housed on the farm over the winter period and progeny on the farm are produced to supply several different markets.

While some heifers are kept and used as replacements on the farm, the backbone of the enterprise is the sale of replacement heifers for breeding.

Most of the bull weanlings are sold direct off-farm for the export market, with a proportion of these destined for southern Europe.

Breeding

During the breeding season, a large team of sires are introduced by way of AI and using stock bulls.

The main breeds used are as follows:
  • Charolais;
  • Limousin;
  • Simmental;
  • Red Angus;
  • Shorthorn.

In addition to this – to produce as many heifers as possible – synchronisation is introduced on cows and heifers each spring and sexed semen is used on these females.

Suckler farm calving

The autumn-calving herd (200) normally commences calving during the last week of September or the first week of October, while the spring-calving herd (300) starts calving in January on the suckler farm.

Splitting the calving across spring and autumn eases the workload, but also provides buyers with more choice when choosing stock, according to the Tateetra farm manager.

John plans to move towards a primarily autumn-calving herd and is aiming for 80% of cows calving in the autumn and 20% calving in the spring.

Suckler farm grazing

Prior to John taking over the farm and growing the herd, existing stock could graze in large fields for long periods.

This system has since changed and a paddock system was introduced. In the height of the grazing season, large groups graze paddocks for three days before being moved onto the next paddock, with a rotation length of 18-20 days.

Weighing

Regular weighing complements the system of production and a state-of-the-art cattle handling facility was recently constructed on the farm, along with improved wintering facilities for the large numbers present on the holding.

Strict animal health protocols are in place on the farm which maintain a high herd health status.

The farm is set to host a sale of weanlings in October this year.