Making the most of a part-time suckler system

James Skehan, a participant in the Teagasc Future Beef Programme, is taking a practical approach to managing his suckler herd while working off farm.

Catherine Egan, Teagasc Beef Specialist, tells us more about the farm and previews and upcoming National Future Beef Farm Walk.

Based near Bridgetown, Killaloe, Co. Clare, James – along with his wife Joanne, children Nelly and Macarton, and his father Batt – operates a 27-cow, spring-calving suckler herd alongside his full-time off-farm employment.

With labour being one of the biggest challenges facing many beef farmers, James has focused on developing a system that can be managed efficiently. Good organisation, grassland infrastructure and breeding management all play an important role in reducing the amount of time required for routine tasks.

As part of the Teagasc Future Beef Programme, James has been working closely with his Teagasc Advisor, Tom Gleeson and the wider Future Beef team to identify areas where improvements can be made on the farm. The focus is firmly on producing quality beef efficiently, while also improving the overall profitability and sustainability of the enterprise.

On Friday, September 4 at 6pm, farmers will have the opportunity to see his practical and progressive suckler-to-beef system in action through James Skehan’s National Future Beef Farm Walk.

This farm walk will provide farmers with an opportunity to see how these decisions work in practice and to discuss the challenges involved James has overcome balancing an off-farm job with a suckler enterprise.

In the below video, James Skehan provides an overview of his farming system and previews his upcoming farm walk:

At the event, James will explain how he has increased beef output and margins on the farm over the past three years.

Focused on breeding performance

Breeding performance is an important part of the system. James achieves key performance indicators with a calf/cow/year, over 80% of the cows calving in six weeks, 100% of heifers calving at 22-26 months and a calving interval of under 365 days. James has focused on using AI to improve the genetic merit of the herd while also tightening the calving pattern.

A compact calving season has significant benefits for a spring-calving herd. It allows groups of calves to be managed more efficiently and makes it easier to match the cows’ nutritional requirements with grass availability during the grazing season.

James has been using a synchronisation protocol for breeding for the last few years for both cows and heifers. This year’s calving season started the first week of February and finished the first week of April. To facilitate this tight calving spread, James opted to synchronise both cows and heifers for this year’s breeding season.

This year, 60% of the calves were born from AI sires, while the herd also achieved a good first-service conception rate. Eight out of the nine heifers held to the first round of AI and 15 out of 25 cows kept to the first round of AI. The Limousin stock bull picked up the repeats in the cows and the heifer that repeated was artificially inseminated a second time.

The cow synchronisation plan cost €30 per cow and the heifer plan cost €33 per heifer.

Farmers attending the event will have the opportunity to hear directly from James about his breeding strategy, how he manages AI while working off farm and the practical lessons learned from the breeding season.

From weanlings to finishing cattle

A major area of discussion will be James’s approach to finishing cattle.

The farm has traditionally operated a suckler-to-weanling system, but James is now examining the potential to finish more of the cattle produced on the farm. Finishing cattle requires additional investment in feed, housing and time, but it also provides an opportunity to capture more of the value generated within the enterprise.

The performance of the 2025-born steers will be closely examined during the farm walk. They weighed on average of 492kg on July 22. Cattle over 450kg were separated and had 3kg of meal added to their daily diet.

At the farm walk, James is assessing whether the cattle will deliver a better return by being finished on farm or sold live. This is a decision that will be made based on cattle performance, feed costs, expected kill-out and the prevailing beef price.

This practical approach to decision-making will be particularly relevant to farmers considering whether finishing cattle could work within their own system.

Grassland

Grassland management is another key focus on the farm.

Maximising the amount of high-quality grass utilised by the herd is central to keeping production costs under control. James has invested significantly in grazing infrastructure and roadways to make better utilisation of grass. The farm is broken into three-day paddocks.

Soil fertility, fertiliser use and the incorporation of crops such as red clover will form part of the wider discussion around improving nutrient efficiency and sustainability on the evening.

These are practical issues facing beef farmers across the country, particularly with fertiliser and feed costs continuing to have a major influence on margins.

Sustainability

Sustainability is looked at from an environmental, labour and financial perspective. The farm needs to work with, not against off farm employment. The farm needs to pay for itself and yield a return for effort.

The farm needs to be in a better condition for the next generation. There is a focus on water quality, biodiversity (ACRES and hedge planting), soil health, reducing GHG and ammonia emissions.

Future Beef farmer, James Skehan features on this episode of the Beef Edge podcast, where he discusses his spring-calving suckler-to-beef enterprise while also working off-farm:

Come and see the system for yourself

The Future Beef Programme demonstrates technologies and management practices that can be applied on commercial farms, and James’ farm provides an excellent example of this.

The farm walk will give visitors the opportunity to look at the complete system – from breeding and calving through to grazing, cattle performance and finishing decisions.

There will also be an opportunity for farmers to ask questions directly to James and the Teagasc team and to discuss how some of the approaches being used on the farm could be adapted to their own farms.

For farmers operating a suckler herd, particularly those balancing farming with off-farm employment, this is a great opportunity to see first-hand how a focused and efficient system can be developed.

Come along to James Skehan’s farm in Killaloe, Co. Clare V94 VW1H on Friday, September 4 at 6pm.

For full details on James Skehan’s Future Beef Farm Walk, visit here.