Advantage Beef Programme
The father and son farming duo rear both spring- and autumn-born cattle and so are finishing cattle during the grazing season also.
Cattle are slaughtered at ABP through the Advantage Beef Programme.
Farmers feeding concentrates to forward store cattle for the finishing period will know that this is a job easier managed when cattle are housed - for both logistical and farmer safety reasons.
Kieran said that the farm is a heavier-type soil and so grazing in the spring and autumn can also be more challenging and heavy machinery use would be unworkable.
Given the situation, the duo decided to buy what is essentially a 'mini' zero grazer with capacity to work well on soft ground.
The machine is relatively light and Kieran said it has the capacity for the equivalent of a little over a round bale of grass.
He said: "I suppose it was probably 12 months ago we looked at getting a zero grazer.
"We house cattle from June on and finish them in the shed.
"We were looking at an alternative rather than using our winter fodder.
"We got talking to to Hand Engineering in Dromone, Co. Meath and this is where this came out of."
Summer of 2026 has not been an ideal first year for the machine due to the prolonged dry spell this summer and subsequent poor grass growth.
"We were only getting into the swing of it when the drought came.
"We were doing a load a day. We then housed another 40 stock and ended up doing three load/day for about a week but we just couldn't.
"We had to feed third cut silage to try and stretch the grass that we have at the moment," he said.
Why not a bigger machine?
Kieran explained why they chose a smaller machine for the job of bringing fresh grass into their finishing cattle.
He said: "We kind of consider this a heavy farm, so we would we wouldn't be out grazing early."
He said that April 1 is the target turnout date on the farm.
"This machine is light. It's bringing roughly a bale of grass or the equivalent."
Kieran added that the machine can be used to help with the first grazing rotation and the final grazing rotation and its light weight allows for this.
"If we have to house early, we have this now in our ammo to go out, cut the grass that we can't get grazed, and we can stretch out our silage that way."
He said that if there is a dew on the grass, it is best to wait until midday to cut the grass for bringing in.
Kieran also said that the unloading process is simple.
"Basically, you back it into the shed the two the rams open it up.
"Then, it just falls out into the passage for them, and we just keep it pushed in to them," he said.