As part of the virtual farm walk being hosted on the farm of Jarlath and Austin Ruane, who are participants of the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef programme, local Teagasc advisor Amy Connolly based in Claremorris, Co. Mayo speaks about the Ruanes’ mixed beef and sheep grazing system.
She also reviews some of the main advantages which farmers stand to benefit from by operating this system of grazing.
Aiding cashflow
One of the first advantages which Amy discusses is that by farming both sheep and cattle, it means the Ruanes are selling animals at different times during the year, which can aid cashflow.
The lambs are targeted to be sold between the months of May through to August. Bullocks are planned to be killed in June and July, with more opted to be finished in November and December.
Extending the grazing season
Another benefit of this mixed grazing system is that it aids the extension of the grazing season. After lambing, the ewes will graze the silage ground in the spring time prior to being closed up for the first cut.
In the back-end months of the year, the ewes help clean out paddocks and this helps to have fresh grass grown in the spring for the cattle at turn-out.
Amy highlighted that this also aids the environmental sustainability of the farm by adopting this method of grazing.
Grass is fresh for the next rotation
As the Ruanes are implementing a leader follower system with the cattle and sheep, it means that any grass the calves leave behind during the grazing rotation, the ewes will help to graze down the remaining covers to 4cm in height.
This gives a better chance for paddocks to retain grass quality and reduce any levels of dead or stemmy grass within the swards.
Reducing parasite issues
Amy mentions that another advantage includes a reduced worm burden seen in both the cattle and sheep on the farm due to intermittent grazing.
This also reduces the levels of anthelminthic products being used on the farm and therefore lowers the threat of anthelminthic resistance.
This in turn will also aid the animals performance and weight gains as they will receive no setback in thrive, if unaffected by parasites.
Reduced infrastructure needs
On the Ruanes’ farm, there is very little additional infrastructure needed to accommodate both the cattle and sheep enterprises.
They make good use of temporary fencing to create paddocks, which majorly aids the grazing rotation. They also have dual purpose sheds, which are used to lamb ewes in early spring and are then converted into calf housing in March.
Lower weed infestations
Another advantage is a lower presence of weed infestations seen in the grass swards. This is due to the grass swards being thicker from the sheep grazing tightly.
This will reduce the threat of weeds coming up through the grassland swards.
Concluding her points, Amy mentions how more grass utilistation is achieved through this mixed grazing system. This will increase the farm output and increase the farm profitability.