Greenhouse Gases
Figure 1: Olivia is pictured with her Mother Mary (far left), Future Beef farmer Kay O’Sullivan (second from left) and her niece Ellen (far right) after receiving her award
Olivia was announced as a finalist in the 2025 Signpost Awards which was held in Co. Laois recently, recognising her outstanding commitment to sustainable and efficient beef and sheep production. Farming 70 hectares of grassland near Four Roads, Co. Roscommon, Olivia manages a well-balanced and profitable mixed enterprise, combining innovation with a strong environmental focus.
Her system is centred around a 45-cow spring-calving suckler herd, producing high-quality weanlings, alongside a flock of 240 early- to mid-season ewes. Olivia’s attention to detail and openness to adopting new practices have set her apart. In 2024, she moved to a 100% AI breeding programme, a major shift following fertility issues with stock bulls. She now uses a mix of Belgian Blue, Charolais, Limousin, and Simmental sires, supported by two vasectomised bulls for heat detection. Her goal is to breed all replacements from within her own herd, improving herd health and reducing both disease risk and costs associated with purchasing animals.
Olivia’s results speak for themselves. Her calving interval of 376 days, mortality at 28 days of just 4.3%, and calves per cow per year of 0.93 reflect a well-managed and productive herd. All her homebred heifers calve between at 24 months of age, and a spring six-week calving rate of 52% demonstrates her herd’s fertility performance.
Operating at a stocking rate of 1.78 LU/ha, Olivia has also achieved an impressively low carbon footprint of 12.13 kg CO₂e per kg beef liveweight gain, highlighting her focus on climate efficiency. Last year, she generated a net profit of €507/ha from her beef enterprise—excluding direct payments—thanks to strong cost control and a sharp focus on technical performance. Fertiliser and contractor charges are her largest expenses, but she manages them carefully through strategic grassland management and precise nutrient use.
Looking ahead, Olivia plans to reduce labour demands by investing in a new slatted shed on her outfarm. She continues to prioritise soil fertility and grass quality, using paddocks and regular grass measuring to maximise weight gain from grass. Her commitment to sustainability is evident in her use of protected urea, LESS slurry spreading, and participation in the ACRES scheme, where she has planted new hedgerows and an ammonia capture area beside her yard.
Through her technical excellence, environmental stewardship, and forward-thinking approach, Olivia Hynes exemplifies the best of modern Irish farming—and is a thoroughly deserving finalist in the 2025 Signpost Awards.
Performance
Two cows were sold to the factory on 25th September. They were 59 months of age on average and had an average carcass weight of 429kg. They graded U-3= and averaged €3000 each.
A further 4 cows were sold through the mart. Olivia’s weanling sales kicked off on 23rd September with 2 bull weanlings that averaged 393kg. Five more were sold on 7th October, averaging 367kg, while 7 more bulls were sold on 21st October at 354kg. The 2 vasectomised bulls will also be sold to the factory in the coming month.
Figure 2: Vasectomised bulls are nearly fit for sale
Olivia also bought in 2 in calf cows with calves at foot. They are not genotyped but one cow has a predicted Eurostar value of €105 with 12.4kg PTA for carcass weight and 12.4kg for daughter milk. Genomic samples will be taken from them and sent for analysis. They are both in calf and due to calve next spring.
Figure 3: Newly purchased cows that will be joining the breeding herd