Roscommon DairyBeef 500 farmer Martin Connolly is on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast to discuss how he incorporated red clover last year into his beef system, the pros, cons, tips and advice he has for anyone considering red clover this year.
Martin farms part-time just outside the village of Castleplunket in Co. Roscommon, where he operates a calf-to-bull beef system.
The farm consists of 60 ha of grassland in total, which is divided into four main blocks within a 3-mile radius of the farm yard. The land itself can be described as a ‘heavy-type’ soil, which would be typical of the area.
With input costs, especially feed and fertiliser, increasing drastically this year, Martin explored various cost-saving options that would not only cut costs but also maintain high levels of animal performance.
From researching red clover swards, Martin was impressed with its enhanced ability over grass-only swards to maintain high levels of herbage production and animal performance from significantly lower inputs of chemical nitrogen fertiliser.
In early June 2022 the decision was made to reseed 10 acres of grass to a ‘red clover sward’ to see if these benefits could be obtained in his farming system.
DairyBeef500 Conference
The Teagasc DairyBeef500 campaign will be running two important conferences on January 19th and January 26th in Clonmel and Charleville.
These conferences will be of interest to both dairy farmers who want to produce more saleable calves and beef farmers who have dairy calf to beef enterprises.
Presentations on the performance of the DairyBeef500 campaign monitor farmers and the Dairy Beef Demonstration farm in Teagasc Grange will outline the key management decisions to ensure calves perform throughout their life to achieve a high level of profitability on farm.
There will be presentations and discussion from both dairy farmers outlining how they have improved the beef merit of their calves and encouraged repeat business from beef farmers and also presentations from calf to beef farmers and on what they look for when purchasing calves from dairy farms.
Further details available at:
www.teagasc.ie/dairybeefcon23
For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge
Produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com
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Management tips for the coming weeks
All you need to know about the SCEP course
Dispelling some of the myths around TB (Bovine Tuberculosis)
The actions to implement on farm in the coming weeks
Tips & advice for closing silage ground
Future Beef farmer Trevor Boland gives an update on his farm
DairyBeef 500 financial & slaughter performance update
10 years of experience in an organic beef system
What is the right Teagasc course for me?
The importance of genetics in the dairy-beef system to maximise performance & profitability
Grassland management tips for this spring
Newford farm update – the move to Roscommon, calving preparation and performance review
Advice and tips for caring for the new born calf
Managing the cow before calving and calving the suckler cow
Managing my farm financial performance in 2024
How to make your farm more sustainable in 2024
Developing a nutrient management plan for your farm
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