Animal Nutrition
- Fodder budget started for winter 2026
- 505 bales of silage required
- 420 bales of silage to be made
- Limousin bulls sold
- Went to multi breed sale in Carrick on Shannon
- Excellent prices
- TAMS approved for sheep fencing
- Will be installed along watercourses
- Will also help manage grass better
Performance
Water Quality
Animal Nutrition
Oliver has completed a fodder budget on Pasturebase for winter 2026. He expects to have 32 cows, 27 weanlings, 6 yearlings and 5 cattle over 2 years of age. They will be housed for 180-210 days. On the sheep side there will be 120 ewes and 10 rams that will be housed for 120 days. The younger cattle will be fed 2-5 kg of ration per head per day while the ewes will be fed 0.5 kg of ration per head per day over the winter period.
Based on this estimation, Oliver will require 25t of ration and 505 bales of silage for a 200 day winter. He has 30 bales left over from last winter and 55 made so far on the outfarm in Sligo. The main crop of first cut silage will be harvested in June when weather conditions allow and the fodder budget will be updated then.
Figure 1: Fodder budget for winter 2026/2027
Performance
The 2 pedigree Limousin bulls were sold at the Carrick on Shannon multi-breed sale. One bull was sired by Plumtree Fantastic and made €6400, while the second bull was sired by Oliver’s Limousin stock bull and he made €7300 which they were delighted with.
Figure 2: The Limousin bull sired by the stock bull that made €7300 recently
Water Quality
Oliver’s wife Christine submitted a TAMS application for fencing on the farm. She applied for 990m of sheep fencing, which is along various watercourses on the farm, and 6 access gateways.
The watercourses are currently not fenced and livestock can access them. The Shanvaus River makes up part of the fenced area and while the current water quality status is good, there is a risk of phosphate leaching from the land in the area.
Figure 3: Map showing the approximate location of the fencing and the Shanvaus River which has good water quality status (Source: EPA)
The sheep fencing will also allow Christine and Oliver to make better use of grass by having 3 main divisions in the field which can be further subdivided if required. The sections are currently farmed as one big field at present, meaning the ewes can graze re-growths which makes it difficult to build grass covers. The access gateways will also make it easier for moving stock.
Figure 4: Part of the land that will be fenced
Christine also applied for a portable sheep handling race with wheels and a sheep rollover crate to reduce labour with the sheep on the farm.
As Christine is a female farmer in her own right she is eligible for the 60% TAMS grant, excluding VAT. The sheep handling items come under the ‘Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme’ section of TAMS so they automatically qualify for a 60% grant for all farmers.