May 25, 2021 7:00 pm
Calf rearing is all but complete on the farms enrolled in the Teagasc Green Acres Programme. Now is an opportune time to identify and isolate any problems that may have occurred in terms of calf illnesses or mortality.
Too often complicated solutions are entrusted to solve problems; often ignoring the cause and leaving it unresolved going forward.
A lot changes in the world we live in and the past 14 months have been a perfect example of that; but when problems occur, if the required change is not implemented, the problem – more often than not – is likely to reoccur.
By Alan Dillon, Teagasc Drystock Specialist/Green Acres Programme Manager
The Teagasc Green Acres Dairy Calf to Beef programme finished its second year on December 31, 2020.
Profitability has improved across most of the programme farms for 2020 with an average net profit of €455/ha recorded. No subsidies of any description are included in the figures quoted.
There is big variation in the level of profit between these 12 farms with the highest level of profit being €1,140/ha and the lowest being €18/ha.
The average grassland stocking rate across all the farms was 2.31 LU/ha while a gross output of 1,284 kg of live weight per hectare was achieved.