In 2015, the well-known Irish beef processing firm ABP joined a partnership with two beef farmers based in Co. Carlow to form what is known as the ABP Demonstration Farm.
Agriland recently travelled to the ABP Demo Farm in Co. Carlow to find out more about the farm’s system and what research is currently taking place there.
Stephen Connolly is the ABP agri-sustainability manager and is also a team member of the processor’s recently-launched Advantage Beef Programme.
The beef processors’ Advantage Beef Programme offers farmers a 20c/kg Sustainability Bonus and the ABP Demo Farm has been established to offer farmers guidance on further improving the economic and environmental sustainability of their beef production systems.
The video below gives an overview of the ABP Demo Farm’s main objectives.
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.
Previously, a large part of the farm was in tillage. In recent years, the farm was converted entirely to grassland and grazing infrastructure, i.e. fences and drinkers, was installed.
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.
Although the farming system is dairy calf-to-beef, much of the research on the ABP Demo Farm is very translatable to suckler-beef production also.
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.
On the farm, heifers are finished at 19 months of age and steers are finished at 21 months of age.
The calf breeds purchased on the farm in 2021 included:
- Angus;
- Hereford;
- Limousin;
- Belgian Blue;
- Stabiliser.
The farm currently buys beef-sired dairy calves of varying genetic merit and aims to compare the impact of sire difference on calf performance.
The ABP Demo farm is currently working in collaboration with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Teagasc to examine ways of improving the genetic merit of beef-sired calves from the dairy herd.
Every year, 15 calves from different bulls are selected for performance testing right through to finishing.
The aim of the research is to identify which bulls are producing the most profitable calves.
A sample population of the cattle on the farm then go to ICBF’s Tully Progeny Test Centre in Co. Kildare for feed intake, feed efficiency and methane emissions measuring.
One of the biggest problems facing farmers in calf-to-beef systems is the difficulty in identifying calves with better genetic merit at three-weeks of age.
The ABP Demo Farm aims to examine and identify sires which are delivering better-type beef calves from the dairy herd and how much feed these animals eat to put on that kg of live-weight gain.
Over the past five years, the ABP Demo Farm’s research has gathered data on over 4,000 cattle.
The results have shown that buying calves bred off better-type bulls can deliver up to €200/head in extra carcass value alone, while also delivering a reduction in emissions.
The ABP Demo Farm system
Calves arrive on the farm at two to three weeks of age and come from approximately 25 dairy farms with different cow types. The farm aims to buy calves that are born in February and March.
Calves are fed milk replacer for six weeks and remain housed post-weaning for up to three weeks, after which they are then let out to grass.
Cattle are on a rotational grazing system and receive 1kg of concentrates/day for the first summer until housing in around mid-November.
During the first winter, calves are put on grass silage, 3kg of fodder beet and 2kg of meal and before their second summer at grass, concentrates are gradually removed from the diet and the yearlings are let back to grass.
The housing on the farm is primarily straw bedding with a slatted area where cattle feed.
Each shed serves three purposes on the farm; calves are reared, cattle are finished and yearlings are wintered all in the one shed area.
The farm aims to let yearlings to grass in late-February before sheds are cleaned and prepared for the arrival of the calves.
The farm’s system will spearhead the processors new Advantage Beef Programme and will offer guidance to farmers who hope to join the programme and avail of the processors 20c/kg Sustainability Bonus.
The demo farm and the Advantage Beef Programme’s team of advisors are available to give support to farmers on all aspects of the programme.