Breeding, silage and beef performance with Future Beef farmer John Dunne

Future Beef programme farmer, John Dunne from Co. Offaly is on the Beef Edge podcast this week to give an update into his suckler beef and dairy beef finishing systems, the breeding season, their grassland management and the upcoming National Beef Open Day taking place on June 5.

John farms alongside his son James just outside Portarlington, operating a highly profitable and progressive beef system, combining 79 suckler cows with a dairy calf-to-beef enterprise where 140 dairy calves are purchased annually and brought right through to finish or stores under 24 months of age.

John discusses the breeding season and the use of AI on the farm, and the difficulty of managing grass in the current weather conditions.

Silage will be harvested this week on the farm and John outlines the management of the dairy beef calves up to weaning and the importance of visually assessing calf health in addition to the management of health and nutrition on farm.

The farm borders the River Barrow catchment area and John explains the range of key measures being adopted on the farm to improve water quality.

Listen in below:

The Future Beef National Open Day takes place on Friday, June 5 at 6:30pm. For further information on this Future Beef farm walk, visit here.

For more episodes from the Beef Edge podcast, visit the show page.

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