The Beef Edge

Kildalton College is the largest agricultural college in the country. Situated in the village of Piltown, Co Kilkenny in the picturesque Suir valley, 26 kilometres from Waterford city, it is a leading provider of training in Equine Studies, Machinery, Agriculture and Horticulture. John O'Connor, Kildalton College Beef farm manager, joins Catherine Egan on this week’s Beef Edge to give an update on the breeding season to date.

Show Notes

Kildalton Beef Unit operates a mixed grazing system for the cattle and heifers with the sheep flock and all grazing groups rotate around paddocks.  Two paddocks are reseeded each year and the grass seed includes clover. 
 
The herd operates a 50% AI and 50% stock bull breeding programme for 12 weeks. Billy Fraher does the AI across the herd and between good conception and culling they don’t carry barren cows. Billy splits the herd into high replacement star cows plus their calves run with the replacement heifers and get material AI straws while the main herd is a mix of stock bull and selective AI. A Fr x steer with a chin ball is used for heat detection along with tail painting. 
 
The herd is there for skills training of the students in Kildalton and WIT. The staff demonstrate various systems, breeds, skills and management to students through the suckler herd. The aim is to have a 4-5 star herd of cows that can leave a gross margin of over €1000 annually  from a high input high output system with good grassland management allowing the farm to  carry +2.6 LU / ha annually on a sustainably run farm.
 
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For more episodes and information covered on the Beef Edge, visit:
 teagasc.ie/thebeefedge

The Beef Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.

What is The Beef Edge?

The Beef Edge is Teagasc’s podcast for all the latest news, information and advice for Irish beef farmers, presented by Catherine Egan.

Visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/beef/the-beef-edge-podcast/