We currently graze for 7 months of the year, our land runs alongside the river Suck, so it’s well suited to the lighter calf to beef system. We weigh our cattle regularly with Irish Hereford Prime, to ensure that they are in good health, and we have a target weight of at least 190kg by 6 months of age.
We operate a paddock system to ensure the grass is top quality and we turn the cattle out as early as possible in the spring to take advantage of the new growth. We cut our own silage with a single chop harvester – it might be old school, but it works for us. We’re very careful about the quality of our silage and we test it annually through Irish Hereford Prime.
With the river Suck on our doorstep, we have a great deal of aquatic birds and wildlife. We keep a close eye on the geese and swan habitats right beside the river, we never use spray or fertiliser here and we keep the cattle away from that land from October to April. We also have badgers, foxes, and buzzards around the farm.