Newford Suckler Farm now operating in Roscommon

James Fitzgerald, Drystock Advisor, Teagasc Ballina

The Newford suckler demonstration farm was originally established by Teagasc & Dawn Meats in 2015 in Athenry, Co. Galway. From its 65ha land base close to the Teagasc Mellows Campus research centre, it demonstrated effectively a suckler farming system based on the principles of calving heifers at two years old, first cross cows from the dairy herd, a young age at slaughter, and maximising grass in the diet of all animals. Many National Open Days as well as updates via all forms of media have kept the suckler farming community informed on the progress of the farm over the past 9 years, resulting in the Newford farm becoming a well-known demonstration farm.

A detail about the farm that many might not have been aware of, was that a considerable proportion of the 65-hectare Athenry holding was rented long-term from the IDA. It was always likely that the IDA would develop the site and find a new tenant, which is what happened in May 2023 when the IDA secured Dexcom as their new tenant. This is no doubt a boost for the Galway area and will provide many employment opportunities, but for the Newford farm, it meant having to vacate and find a new location to continue their work in.

Fortunately, Newford has secured a long-term lease of a similar-sized holding in the west of Ireland to continue its operations, and the “new Newford” is now located approximately 5 miles from Roscommon town, made up of two farm blocks of 63.6ha. The focus of the suckler herd is to remain largely the same as what was started in Athenry. The overall focus will still be on early slaughter of all progeny, use of 100% AI, cows originating from the dairy herd and low levels of meal input.

One significant addition which Newford will now have on its new Roscommon farm is a designated finishing unit to record and demonstrate best practice during the indoor finishing stage of both suckler-beef and dairy-beef systems. An excess of winter housing on the new site relative to the requirements of the Newford suckler cow herd has allowed for this welcome addition to the demonstration farm, considering that a specialised finishing unit is something that Teagasc have not had prior to this.

The facilities available for this finishing unit include slatted accommodation for 180 cattle and a 26ha block of land, which will be managed entirely separately from the suckler cow enterprise. The aim is to finish two batches of 180 cattle per year using a diet of silage and meal fed by a diet feeder. The first batch of cattle will be fed from September to December and the second group from January to March. No grazing of livestock will take place on the 26-hectare block associated with this finishing unit, as it will be used solely for the purpose of growing both grass silage and red clover silage to feed the finishing cattle. All of the slurry produced in the finishing shed will be spread on this silage ground, ensuring that the finishing unit remains independent from the suckler cow farm.

In each batch of cattle put through the finishing unit, half will be dairy-beef stock and half will be suckler-bred stock. As well as this, half the cattle will be fed a diet of grass silage and meal, and half will be fed red clover silage and meal. This will allow the unit to draw comparisons between cattle fed on two different diets and cattle of different genetic make-up.

The feeding of the first batch of cattle in the Newford finishing unit started in September, and so feedback on this first batch should be available by year-end.