Summer Beef Series: Farm walks for dairy-beef farmers agriland.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from agriland.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Teagasc Green Acres programme advisor James Fitzgerald
Farming just outside Claremorris, Co. Mayo, Jarlath and Austin Ruane operate a calf-to-beef system rearing spring-born calves, bringing them through to slaughter at 21-30 months-of-age. This system runs alongside a flock of 55 mid-season lambing ewes.
This is their second year of rearing 60 Angus, Holstein Friesian and Limousine spring born calves on an automatic feeder, a change from the more traditional milk feeding methods used in years previous.
Starting at source
The way in which the Ruane’s source their calves has changed since their enrolment in the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef Programme. In past years, Jersey cross calves were sourced directly from dairy farms as well as Angus and Hereford calves sourced from the south of the country, through marts and dealers.
May 13, 2021 10:00 am
As part of the virtual farm walk being hosted on the farm of Jarlath and Austin Ruane, who are participants of the Teagasc Green Acres Calf to Beef programme, local Teagasc advisor Amy Collins based in Claremorris, Co. Mayo speaks about the Ruanes’ mixed beef and sheep grazing system.
She also reviews some of the main advantages which farmers stand to benefit from by operating this system of grazing.
Aiding cashflow
One of the first advantages which Amy discusses is that by farming both sheep and cattle, it means the Ruanes are
selling animals at different times during the year, which can aid cashflow.