Tipperary dairy calftobeef demonstration farm update (Ballyvadin Beef Farm Ltd.)

Summary

The core objectives of the Tipperary dairy calf-to-beef demonstration farm are to demonstrate (i) best practice technologies and management for profitable, sustainable and labour efficient dairy calftobeef production and, (ii) the benefit of dairy-beef integration through contract calf supply.
The farm is operated as an independent standalone company which produces an annual set of audited accounts.
The farm has full labour and capital costs and no Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) payment or land costs included in the budget.
The capital required to set-up the dairy-beef enterprise was approximately €980k, of which €560k was for facilities and machinery, and the remainder for stock and working capital.
In 2025, the farm made a return on land of €1,620/hectare and a return on labour of €74/hour worked.

Introduction

Ballyvadin Beef Farm Ltd. was established in 2022 to function as an independent, standalone commercial entity providing Irish beef farmers with a realistic financial, operational and genetic baseline for integrated dairy-beef production. The enterprise acts as a blueprint for high-efficiency spring-born steer and heifer calf-to-beef finishing systems.

Farm footprint and expansion

Total land area: 134 hectares (ha) following a 25 ha lease expansion in October 2025.
Land use allocation: 113 ha pasture used for the dairybeef enterprise, 12 ha cereals (grain sold off farm, with straw retained) and 9 ha hedgerows, roadways and farmyard.
Labour/ management: 1.5 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) - managed by Jack Spillane with 0.5 FTE supporting labour from Stephen Baskin.

Capital expenditure and initial funding

Total setup capital required: Approximately €980,000.
Equity breakdown: Funded equally by shareholders Dawn Meats (€350,000) and Shinagh Estates (€350,000).
Debt capital facilities: €130,000 dedicated stocking loan supplemented by a rolling €150,000 overdraft facility.

Profitability

The farm achieved a significant increase in profit in 2025 driven by higher beef price, increased animal performance with increases carcass weight (Table 1).

Net farm profit before tax: €170,119.
Return on labour: €251,290 over 3,400 recorded hours worked.
Hourly return: €74 per hour worked.
Production cost: Net cost to produce a kilogram of carcass was €5.71.

Spring 2026 calves  

In spring 2026, the farm purchased 444 calves from nine source farms (Table 2). Calves arrived on farm over a 6-week period with the first intake on 1 March and the last on 8 April. All calves were weighed on arrival and received two litres (L)/head of electrolytes followed by 1 L/head of milk replacer. The average arrival weight of calves to the farm was 57 kg. Calves were fed 3 L/head twice a day for the first 30 days. They were then transitioned over 7 days to once-a-day feeding (4 L/head). All milk replacer is mixed at a rate of 125 grams of powder per 0.875 L of water to make 1 L of milk replacer. Calves were weaned at a minimum of 80 kg provided they were eating at least 1.5 kg/head of concentrate daily.  

Following a post-weaning indoor period, calves are transitioned to a grass-only diet. Concentrates are reintroduced to weanlings (1 kg/head daily) from mid-September until housing. Following housing, weanlings are offered high digestibility (72% DMD) baled and pit silage plus 1.5 kg of concentrates/head daily over a relatively short indoor winter (~90 days). From turnout to pasture in early spring until the start of the finishing period all cattle rotationally graze high-digestibility grass. Concentrates are then introduced strategically, taking into account animal sex, fat cover, live weight and carcass weight potential. ‘Advanced’ early-maturing steers and late-maturing heifers (over 480 kg) are the first to receive concentrate supplementation in late summer. In contrast, early-maturing heifers are not supplemented until later to allow for additional ‘frame development’ and to avoid excessive fat deposition at light weights. Late-maturing, beef-sired and dairy × dairy steers with high carcass weight potential are maintained on a grass-only diet until housing in early November. Therefore, the ‘finishing diet’ consists of either high-quality grazed grass or pit silage (>72% DMD) plus ~4 kg (heifers) or ~5 kg (steers) per head daily of concentrate. On average, the 2025/2026 heifers received 300 kg of finishing concentrate, while steers received 437 kg.

Calf supply contract

All calves are bought on contract from spring-calving dairy farms who use sires which are within a pre-determined specification for beef merit. Calves are priced on weight, sex and commercial beef value (CBV), and all calves must be healthy, genotyped and be from suitable sires with a February or March birth date. Calves are collected weekly and transferred directly to Ballyvadin Beef Farm.

Farm labour/management 

Ballyvadin Beef Farm is managed and operated by Jack Spillane with assistance from Stephen Baskin who works half-time on the farm. Their primary focus is the management of the health and performance of over 700 dairy-beef cattle and grassland management to ensure high animal performance and high grass utilisation. The key performance indicators for the farm include grass utilised, animal performance from pasture and silage, animal health and mortality, age at finish of the cattle and the proportion of cattle reaching market specification.  

2024-born cattle performance   

In 2025, the farm finished 191 steers and 153 heifers born in spring 2024 (Table 3). Steers were finished at an average carcass weight of 316 kg at 21 months of age; this is 10 kg heavier and one month younger, on average, than the previous year. Heifers were finished at an average carcass weight of 270 kg at 20 months of age; this is 16 kg heavier than the previous year at the same age.  

¹AA = Aberdeen Angus; AU = Aubrac; BB = Belgian Blue; HE = Hereford; HF = Holstein-Friesian; JE = Jersey; LM = Limousin; SA = Salers

Tipperary Beef Farm management team

Padraig French, Chloe Millar, Nicky Byrne, Don Crowley and Alan Dillon, Teagasc

Mathew Murphy, Dawn Meats

Donal Murphy and John McNamara, Shinagh Estates