Kilkenny farmer James Madigan explains his grassland management

The Beef Edge

Suckler farmer James Madigan from Co Kilkenny and Niall Claffey IGA Beef chairperson are on this week’s Beef Edge podcast with James discussing how he is managing grass on his farm and he is also hosting this year’s Irish Grassland Association beef walk on the 14th June.

James harvested his first crop of silage on 12th May with the remaining bales harvested on 26th May. With over 400 bales made to date and 300 left over from last year, James intends to close 37 acres for second cut to meeting his fodder requirement.

While grazed grass is his number one priority during the growing season, excellent quality silage is harvested to ensure high growth rates during the winter and finishing period. Last year’s silage crop came back at 76% DMD when tested.

Regular weighing complements the beef system and once bulls hit the target weight of 480kg, they are then moved into the finishing regime.

James outlines how both the spring and autumn calving herd is being managed at the moment. Some reseeding took place on the farm this spring and he described the method and how red clover and white clover are being managed on the farm.

The Irish Grassland Association beef walk next week on the 14th June is being hosted by James and on the day he will discuss his system in detail and how he manages grass.

The IGA’s Niall Claffey outlined how Phelim O’Neill from the Irish Farmers Journal will be discussing the market outlook and James Humphreys from Teagasc will be discussing clover management on the day.

The event is free and all are welcome to attend on Tuesday 14th June from 6:30pm-8:30pm

More details are here:

https://www.irishgrassland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IGA-Beef-2022-DL.pdf

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge
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