Farm Background
This BETTER farm event will demonstrate the strides and improvements Donie and his family have made since joining the BETTER Farm Beef Programme in 2012. Donie’s gross margin has increased steadily from an initial d470/ha in 2011 prior to joining the programme to his current high of d1,220/ha achieved in 2014. He runs an 80 cow suckler to finishing system with heifers finished at 22 months and bulls at 16-18 months of age. Extra bulls and heifers are purchased annually as weanlings for finishing also.

Programme of Events
The BETTER Farm Team along with local Teagasc staff and specialists will demonstrate what steps Donie has taken to increase his profitability. Donie himself will outline what challenges he faced when taking these steps and how he overcame them. Other farmers who are participants in the BETTER Beef Farm programme will be present on the day and will speak about their experiences and problem solving in relation to improving their grassland management, breeding and financial performance.

BETTER Beef Farm Highlights
• Demonstrations of grassland management practices, grass measuring and reseeding
• Outline of how to increase farm profitability
• Outline and discussion of new Beef Genomics and Data Programme by Teagasc and ICBF
• Nutritional information and demonstration of finishing cattle systems
• Information on TAMS 2, Beef Genomics and Data Programme, Selecting Cattle for Finishing and Health and Safety

For more, see http://www.teagasc.ie/advisory/better_farms/beef/Donie-ahern-fam-walk.pdf