{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Beef Edge","title":"Tim Meagher previews the Irish Grassland Beef Event on his farm","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1163,"description":"Tim Meagher from Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, who will host this year’s Irish grassland Association Beef Event, is on this week’s Beef Edge podcast to discuss his farm system, while Paddy Casey from the Irish Grassland Association highlights what to expect at the event.\n \nIt will take place on Tuesday June 10th, with the event kicking off at 6:30 pm sharp and will conclude at 8:30 pm. \n \nTim operates a store-to-beef system on 88 ha of grassland and 24 ha of tillage. When he took over the reins, he pushed suckler cow numbers to 90 – they were predominately Limousin which were crossed with a quality Charolais stock bull; heifers at the time were ran with an Angus bull. Separately, weanlings were also purchased from the west of Ireland. At the time, the farm was also home to roughly 200 ewes. \n \nHowever, over a decade ago, Tim moved to simplify the operation and focused on moving to a traditional store-to-beef enterprise, prioritising on incorporating as much grass into the diet as possible. \n \nLooking at the stock present on the farm, it’s evident that Tim - who does all the purchasing from marts in the west of Ireland - has a keen eye for quality. Heifers and bullocks are bought in September and October each year weighing in the 500 – 520 kg bracket. These are then finished the following year from July to October as they come fit for slaughter; all cattle are slaughtered under 30 months-of-age. \n \nCurrently, there is 252 head of cattle on the farm - 160 bullocks and 92 heifers. During the grazing season, the cattle are run in large batches of roughly 40-50 head in a paddock system; there are roughly 43 paddocks on the farm. Strip wires are also used to achieve desired clean outs and to manage paddocks correctly. \n \nIn the springtime, all cattle are grouped according to age (January, February, March and April-born calves) to ensure easy management during the summer period. \n \nTim places a huge focus on preserving top-quality silage as a winter feed. If he can hit 75%...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/sOijP5GJfyC4Db55cdiuLC4kRsO9WtUllrT_cRU3JSQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzEwOTA0LzE1OTAw/NzI0MzAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}