Beef farmer sees 69% rise in profit with rotational grazing

Rotational grazing has helped one Irish beef farmer increase income from heavier stock sales, reduce age at first calving and raise profits by 69%.

Kieron Noonan is bucking the trend among both Irish and British beef farmers when it comes to his approach to grassland management on a heavy farm with high rainfall.

Such conditions may not appear conducive to adopting a grass-based approach, but Mr Noonan has proved that a change in mindset can yield big benefits to overall business performance.

By splitting paddocks and adopting a rotational grazing system, he has witnessed an increase in grass quality, which has allowed the farm to raise stocking rates by 24%.

See also: Rotational grazing to play a part in blackgrass control

In turn, daily liveweight gains have improved by 0.25kg, resulting in heavier, higher-value stock at sale.

Costs have also remained consistent, leading to a 69% rise in profits between 2014 and 2015. This is thanks to improved management, combined with better weather and improved cattle prices.

“We have always been a grass system, but it wasn’t quality grass. Cows were on seven-acre fields for about 10 days so you wouldn’t get thrive or quality milk.

“By dividing paddocks and moving stock every three days, calf growth rates have definitely improved,” Mr Noonan explains.

Innovation

Changes to system management came about as a result of signing up to Teagasc’s Beef Technology Adoption Programme.

The programme is funded by the Department of Agriculture and encourages Irish beef farms to embrace innovations such as grass monitoring, AI or electronic identification (EID).

Teagasc dry stock adviser Michael Bourke says better grass utilisation forms a crucial role in boosting beef farm efficiencies.

“The biggest problem on dry stock farms is a lack of output. The main way to drive output is to increase grass growth and carry more stock,” he says.

And with every 1kg daily live weight gain in the shed costing €2.50/kg (£1.96/kg) versus €0.50/kg (0.39p/kg) at grass, grazed grass is by far the most cost-effective way to drive output.

See also: Nine-step guide to setting up a beef grazing rotation

With this in mind, in 2012, Mr Noonan began to implement changes to grassland management on the 44ha farm at Tullylease, Charleville in County Cork, which receives an average rainfall of about 2,000mm per year.

Kieron Noonan on his beef farm © Aly Balsom

Unlike most Irish systems that calve in the spring, the herd calves in an autumn block from 1 August to mid-December. This fits in with Mr Noonan’s job as an AI technician and also suits the farm’s heavy soils, as calves are lighter when conditions are wet.

This calving pattern also makes the most of the export market, with about half of stock reared commercially and sold at 10 months old for export to Italy. The remaining top-quality stock is sold for breeding.

He explains: “In Ireland, about 4-5% of top-quality E grade stock [is] sold for export. I’m producing with that in mind. I sell in June/August when exporters are active and there is less cattle around. It means I’m achieving a premium of an extra 50-60 cents/kg (0.39-0.47p/kg).”

Rotational grazing

Most cows calve outside on dedicated paddocks. First-cut silage is staggered, with about 20% of land cut around 20 June.

Freshly calved cows and calves are then grazed on the aftermaths. Another 20% is cut on 20 July, which is then ready for grazing after the cows have finished grazing the first block.

Since 2012, fields not cut for silage have been divided into four paddocks of roughly two acres in size. These have been designed to provide enough grass for about two days of grazing. Based on suckler cow dry matter intakes of 15kg/dm/day this equates to a requirement of 1,650kg/DM/day of grass for the 55 cows.

Water troughs are located in the middle of each field to provide access from each of the paddocks. These paddocks are rotationally grazed.

Mr Noonan walks the farm weekly and moves stock by eye. Generally cattle will enter paddocks when grass is about 10cm high and graze down to 6cm, or 4cm if ground conditions are dry. No supplementation is fed to cows and calves at grass.

“We also have some plastic troughs on the silage ground which means we can recreate the same system and split it up with moveable fences. They can then be rolled back when we take silage. The important thing is to be flexible,” says Mr Noonan.

Winter calf grazing

Stock is housed in November, but calves are allowed access to grazing ground around the shed throughout the winter via a creep gate.

Mr Noonan says: “Calves will be loosely stocked and they’ll be gradually introduced to concentrate up to 1kg a head a day. They’ll be allowed to suck their dams in the morning and evening to break the bond and get cows cycling quicker.”

Cows receive 1.5kg concentrate and grass silage while they are receiving AI from 1 November. In the spring, cows and calves will be turned out as soon as possible with the number of stock grazed varying, depending on grass growth.

Cows with the lightest calves will be put out first to limit poaching and calves will be creep grazed ahead of cows so they get the best-quality grass.

Mr Noonan says his attitude to spring grazing has changed dramatically in recent years and he is now more open to turning cows and calves out earlier to save silage costs and then housing again if necessary.

Grassland improvements

To maximise grassland productivity, the whole farm was soil tested prior to any reseeding.

This identified soil pHs of 5-5.8pH, which are below an ideal target of pH6.3. Potash levels were identified as needing to be maintained, while phosphorous levels needed building.

To raise pH, lime has been applied at 2t/acre on silage fields and on ground destined for a reseed.

Slurry and compound fertiliser has also been targeted towards fields that need it.

About 15 acres of the farm has been reseeded so far using a mix of late heading diploid and tetraploid perennial ryegrasses plus white clover.

Mr Noonan has witnessed marked yield increases on these fields, resulting in the need to boost stocking rates on this ground.

Stock growth rates

The overall improvement in grass quality has resulted in improved weight gains, leading to heavier stock at sale. DLWG average 1.25kg a day, compared to 1kg a day prior to the changes. This equates to an extra 50kg DLWG by weaning or and extra €150/animal (£117) at €3/kg (£2.35/kg).

Mr Noonan comments: “Now the calf is heavier and the cow is working the same. We were achieving 350kg before and now we’re hitting 400-430kg in the same period.”

Better weight gains have also helped drive down age at first calving, leading to management benefits thanks to reduced stock numbers, and better signs of bulling. This means heifers are reaching the target of 60% of mature body weight for service at 15 months old, to calve in at 24 months.