Equine Magic in West Mayo - Teagasc...branding,andScottishbeefisthemarket leader in the UK. Nonetheless, suckler cow numbers have dropped over the last decade. In 1998 theyhad 530,000

Plan paddocks, pocket profit 9The faces of future dairying 13

Kiwis get work/life balance right 16Reasons to retire the stock bull 18

Milking Machine Maintenance 20BETTER sheep research 24Scottish beef production 26

Make the most from a cashflow 30Botanic gardens, forestry and more…..

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 1

Plan paddocks, pocket profit 9The faces of future dairying 13

Kiwis get work/life balance right 16Reasons to retire the stock bull 18

Milking Machine Maintenance 20BETTER sheep research 24Scottish beef production 26

Make the most from a cashflow 30Botanic gardens, forestry and more…..

Equine Magic in West MayoEquine Magic in West Mayo

10187 TEAG TODAYS FARM jan feb:Final Cover 18/12/2009 14:40 Page 1

POM(E)

Further information is available from:Pfizer Animal Health, 9 Riverwalk, National Digital Park, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24. Tel (01) 467 6650

IBR Respiratory Disease and IBR Infertility Disease...Control them with

Rispoval IBRVaccines - the only IBR

vaccines in Ireland toprotect against IBR

Infertility and Abortion as

well as RespiratoryDisease...

Rispoval IBRVaccines - the only IBR

vaccines in Ireland toprotect against IBR

Infertility and Abortion as

well as RespiratoryDisease...

spo a d e 09 3 eep O 5 a ad 0 009 09 30 age

22/12/0918:23

26 | Today’s farm | January/February 2010

beefTo

day

’sfarm BETTER farmers

visit ScotlandInmid-November, thefarmersintheBETTER

Farm Beef Programme and the management

teamspent several daysvisitingbeef farms in

Scotland. Teagasc adviserAidanMurray

reports

LIKE Ireland, Scotland has areasofrich fertile soilsandvastareasof marginal hill ground.The twocountries also enjoy a broadly

similar climate.The west coast gets theheavier rainfall but the northern half ofScotland has much colder winters thanhere and stock there can be housed fromearly October to mid-May.

Scotland also has a strong tradition ofbeef production, but they have differen-tiated their product through strongbranding,andScottishbeef is themarketleader in the UK.

Nonetheless, suckler cow numbershave dropped over the last decade. In1998 they had 530,000 beef cows; by July2009 that number had dropped to460,000. Average herd size of 67 cowscompares with an average of about 18 inIreland.

Scottish beef farmers are currentlyenjoying a very buoyant beef and storetrade.Thedevaluationofsterlingagainstthe euro has made UK beef more com-petitive to export and it also provided a15% boost to their 2009 Single FarmPayment if they opted to have it paid ineuro.

Beef priceTable1 illustrates how the beef price hasincreased in Scotland over the last twoyears. The table illustrates severalpoints, the most annoying of which isthat our price is about 46c/kg behind theScottish price, which equates to aroundE175 on a 380kg carcase.

The other main point is that theirprice is basically flat all year round withno seasonal peaks; this has instilledconfidence in producers. Certainly, forsuckler producers selling yearlings/stores, the good beef price has liftedstore prices.

The first farm we visited was Lattin-side Estates, which includes a total of

2,225habuttheunitwevisited consists of526 hawith approximately 161 ha of thatmade up of marsh land along the Solwayfirth near Dumfries.The unit runs 300Limousin cross cows and uses predomi-nantly Limousin sires, but they have re-cently introduced two Belgian Bluebulls. All weanlings were in strawbedded sheds and they received a two-shot respiratory vaccine to preventpneumonia before weaning.

Weaning weights for spring born hei-fers and steers range from 290 to 320kgs.The creep feeder is left in the shed withthe calves after they are weaned and,over several weeks, the meal is then in-corporated with the silage until even-tually all meal is fed with the silage andthe feeder removed.This reduced theweaning stress on the calves.

Because the weanlings are being fedfor sale next spring, typically they gain0.8kg/dayover the winter and steers willbe 410 to 440kg next March. At currentstore prices, these calves will averageE900 to E940 per head.

The farmwas extremely well run, andeveryone was impressed with the excel-lent quality of the stock. All the calveshad fantastic length and, with a compactcalvingperiod, theywereveryuniform, alesson most of us took home.

Our second visit took us back to theedge of Dumfries and the farm of SamCarlisle, who is originally from nearTemplepatrick in Co Antrim. He farms364 ha in total, 208ha of which is owned.Sam has 300 suckler cows all sourcedfrom theWest of Ireland as bulling hei-fers.HeusesCharolais on themajorityofthe cows and Simmental on a selectgroup of cows to breed replacements.

Allprogenyonthe farmarebroughttobeef before 20 months.The strongerweanlings are finished as bulls at 16months and steers at 18/19 months, witha target carcase weight of 420kg. He alsobuys in about 500 stores to finish on thefarmso theshedsarekept full of cattleallyear round. All stock are housed for sev-eralmonths in the lead up to finishing ashe believes there isn’t enough power inthe grass to finish stock.

Steers being finished on the farmwere on a simple mix of barley and glu-

Table1 | Beef price

Grade/Time Price »/kg DW (E)

R4L Nov 2009 £ 2.96/kg (E3.32)

R4L Sept 2009 £2.96/kg (E3.32)

R4L Sept 2008 £2.95/kg (E3.31)

R4L July 2007 £2.20/kg (E2.47)

ABOVE:Lattinside EstatemanagerThomasThrekelds shows the group spring-bornweanlings.BELOW:Beef finisher ArchieMcBridewelcomes the group to his farm.

22/12/0918:23

January/February 2010 | Today’s farm | 27

Tod

ay’sfarm

ten,whichSamreckonedwascostinghimaround E112/t. He also bought in draft,which is a byproduct of the brewingindustry, costing E25.

Dry cows are outwintered on eitherkale or rape, and fencing is generallymoved twice a day, but conditions wereextremely difficult due to the very wetautumn. Autumn calvers were also out-winteredonstubblegroundwheremaizesilage had been harvested.They are fedon a mix of grass silage, maize silage,draft and about 1kg of straw in silagefeed trailers.The farm had excellentquality stock, achieving good weight forage. Samwas very focused on themarketfor his finishing cattle and he targetedlow wintering costs for his cows.

Our third visit brought us to the farmofArchieMcBridenearCarrutherstown,which is south of Dumfries. Archie is adedicated finisher, finishing about 1,500cattle. He buys in mainly Angus crosssteers and they are put on a 300-day fin-

ishing system.The cattle are all finishedfor the Angus Scheme and they havebeen commanding a price of aroundE3.44 across most of the year. The bulkof the cattle are finished in June/Julyand August.

The figures inTable 2 show theperformance of stock bought in theautumn of 2008 and slaughteredthroughout the summer of 2009.

Margins are expected to be muchtighter in 2010 for finishers becausealthough beef price and input costs arethe same, the store that cost E680 inautumn 2008 has risen to E758 inautumn 2009 and, potentially, the mar-gin could be as low E2 to E3/head unlessbeef price rises in the summer of 2010.Everything on the farm was costed,down to the fact that on the finishingdiet it was costing 1.8c/day for mineralsand 16.8c/day for bedding, with a totalfinishing cost of E1.59/day.

TAKE HOME | messages

* The beef price is almost constantacross the year, giving producers theadvantageofbeingabletoplanasystem.* The price being paid for stores,E758for a 390kg Angus cross, surely leavesa huge opportunity for Irish stores to goto Britain if we could only break thestranglehold some factories here andin the UK have on the industry.* TheScotsplacemoreemphasisonlowcost outwintering systems comparedwith Ireland.Thismay change in thenextfew years as the Nitrates Directive kicksin over there.* All farmers ran their farmsas a busi-nessandwerevery focusedoncostsandthe requirements of themarket.* All farmswerevery proactivewhen itcame to animal health, with routinevac-cination programmes in place anda realemphasis on health planning.* Quality and performance of the stock.Cowswere good functionalmilky cowswith tremendous length.Progenywerevery uniformas a result of tight calvingpattern.The cattle have good growthrates andachievevery goodweight forage, with no real store period.

Table 2 | Performance of stockbought by Archie McBride in autumnof 2008 and slaughtered throughoutthe summerof 2009

390 kg AA Steer E680

160 day store period

in yards/outwintered E153

65 Days @ Grass E34

75 Days finishing period E119

Other cost

(vet/labour/haulage, etc) E 95

Total Costs/hd E1081

Carcaseweight [email protected]/kg E1163

Margin per head E 82

22/12/0918:22


tillageTo

day

’sfarm Newsharefarming

agreementFinally there is a new template for

landowners and producers to work

together, writes Teagasc tillage

adviserMichaelHennessy

LATE in 2009 Teagasc launched anew format for farmers to co-operate in business called theShare Farming Agreement. It

will complement (and replace in manycases) conacre and lease systems.

ThenewShareFarmAgreement putsa legal basis to the existing practices ofco-operation, which are being used onmany farms today.The new concept in-corporates the best of similar systemsinternationally, andadapts these to Irishagriculture.

Share farming shouldnot be confusedwith a Partnership.These two conceptsare very different. A partnership is theoperation of a single business entitywhich trades to make a profit.

Decisions taken, both inside and out-side the partnership, can have conse-quences for all involved in thepartnership.The partnership processinvolves joint ownership of fixed assetsand has very specific tax laws designedfor partnerships.

A Share Farming Agreement is anaccord between two individuals (or twobusinesses) to jointly manage a farmingoperation.

This legal agreement allows both thegrower and the landowner to farm as se-parate legal entities, but share in therisks and rewards of growing crops. As

both individuals remain separate busi-ness entities, they can continue to claimthe Single Farm Payment, REPS, etc, intheir own name as normal.This newagreement is not, and cannot be, a defacto conacre arrangement, as both par-ties must genuinely share risks and re-wards

A number of key points must be con-sidered before discussing or entering aShare Farm agreement:*Trust by both parties is an essentialcomponent.*The agreement is not a conacre or apartnership agreement.*The landowner must be willing tocommit to a proportion of expected pro-duction costs and a share in the produce.*The outputs generated from the landare to reward:� The landowner for the land, labourand inputs supplied.�The share farmer for labour, expertiseand inputs supplied.*The agreement does not offer any taxexemptions (as offered by a LongTermLeases, depending on circumstances).*Both parties are separate business en-titiesandmustnotopen,oroperate, jointaccounts to run the farming operation.*The Landowner and the Share farmerare expected to be involved in the man-agement of the farming enterprise.

Why should a landownerconsider a share farmingagreement over conacre?

*He/she maintains greater control overthe land.*He ensures his land is farmed to thehighest standards.* It encourages a fresh impetus forgrowing good crops.* It allows the landowner an agreedproportional share in sales (grainand/orstraw).*He may benefit from the increasedbuying and selling power of a largergrower.*He ensures higher returnswhen yieldsand/or prices increase.*Heretains an active involvement in thefarm (a say over harvest, rotation, etc).

Share farmingshould not

be confused with aPartnership.Thesetwoconcepts are verydifferent. Apartnershipis the operation of asingle business entitywhich trades tomake a profit

With share farming, theremay bemore landfarmed, increasing buyingand selling powerand reducing fixed costs/acre.

22/12/0918:22


Tod

ay’sfarm

*Hepreserveshis ongoing tax status as afarmer.*He retains his long term tax status as afarmer for Capital GainsTax and retire-ment reliefs.* It offers the opportunity to regulariseexisting farming arrangements wherebythe landowner claims EU/Governmentsupports.*He has a legal agreement to protectboth parties in the event of disagree-ment.*He has increases social contact andshared responsibility for growing crops.

Why should growersconsider share farming?

*Atailored agreement allows flexibilityto suit different land owners’ situations.* It’s not conacre, therefore no up frontpayments or other flat rate payments.*Growing costs are shared.*There may be more land farmed, in-creasing buying and selling power andreducing fixed costs/acre.*There is the potential for a stable landbase, thus allowingbetterplanning (longand short term).

Atemplate of a share farmagreementis available and sets out howan exampleagreement can operate.The ShareFarming agreement is flexible, so thatmany different types of sharing anddivision of receipts/costs can beaccommodated.

How do I set up an agreement?As trust is a key element in the arrange-ment, the identification of a suitablelandowner/share farmer is key.

An existing understanding between alandowner and a farmer can be devel-oped into a Share Farming agreement.The following steps should be taken:* Both parties should familiarise them-selves with the Share Farming Agree-ment document.* Prepare an agreed budget for theshared crop(s) for the next cropping yearusing theTeagasc Crop Share Calculatoror similar facility.* Both parties should consult their legaland financial advisers about the agree-ment.*The Share FarmAgreement should becompleted, signed and witnessed.*Each party should receive a copyof theagreement for future reference.*Review physical operation and pur-chases on an ongoing basis through theseason.*Keeprecordsofallpurchasesandsales.*When all sales and payments are com-plete, both parties sit down and finalisethe financial arrangement.

All tillage growers and landownerswho are currently involved in conacreshould familiarise themselves with thisagreement and assess whether it is a vi-able option for the future. Contact yourlocal Teagasc adviser for further details.

22/12/0918:21


businessTo

day

’sfarm Gowith the ’flow!

A cashflow, that is.

Once you’ve done one,

here’s how to get the

best out of it

IN the November/December issue ofToday’s farm, I set out the reasonswhy a cashflow budget is importantand described how to put one to-

gether. Have a read through the Novem-ber/December article, and get in touchwithyourTeagascadviser if youhaveanyquestions about how to get a budgetstarted.

In this article, Iwill explain how to:*Use the budget to create a cashmanagement plan for the year ahead.*Use the budget as a target plan againstwhich you can measure your progressas the year goes on.*Use cashflow records to complete aTeagasc eProfit Monitor.

Tweaking the budgetYour completed cash flow budget is aplan of how you predict money will flowin and out of the business (through yourbank account, merchant account orpocket) during the year.There will bemonthswhere Net Cash Flow (NCF) willbe positive (always a good thing) andmonths where NCF is negative (not sogood, but to be expected in certainmonths).

These ups-and downs in NCF willfeed through to the monthly current ac-countbalance,which isameasureofyouravailable funds to run the farm frommonth to month. Showing a red (nega-tive) current account balance in certain

months is not unusual for most busi-nesses, and this was especially so during2009.

However, if your budget shows upmonths where there is clearly a lot moregoing out in payments than is coming invia receipts, then you should take a clo-ser look to see if you can better managethe money flow to try and reduce themonthly cash shortage.

Some options to look at:*Re-arranging loan repayments so thatthey are made in months where there ismore cash coming in — the months ofOctober to December normally show alift in money-in due to the Single FarmPayment, so some of the major repay-ments could be left to that period.* For large merchant account balances,make a staged payment over a numberof months rather than a full payment.This is provided your supplier agreesand won’t charge any interest for latepayment.*Arranging that any saved fundssiphoned off during the year can be fedback in to boost cashflow in monthswhere cash flow is tight.

Remember, it is better for you toidentify when is the best time to makemajor cash payments, and then come toan arrangement with your suppliers orlender. In some cases, it maybe better topay for goods on the day, provided youhave the cash, as this may allow you tonegotiate good cash discounts and mayhelp you to keep tighter control on over-all farm spending.

Identifying short-term credit needsEven after tweaking the budget and op-timising the best time tomake paymentstherewill stillbemonthswherecash flowis tight. Most businesses arrange shortterm credit in the form of a bank over-draft or stocking loan to cope with theseperiods.The secret to using these formsof credit is to only use as much as youneed at any given time.You should beable to easily identify what your over-draft or stocking loan requirements willbe from the budgeted monthly accountbalance. By making sure you have ar-rangements in place to cover the maxi-mum negative current account balance,you will avoid excessive bank chargeswhich chipawayatyour cash. If there areparticular months where you have veryhigh individual payments to deal with,then consider arranging a stocking loaninstead of an overdraft to cover this.Stocking loans have the advantage oflower interest charges, but are less flex-ible and usually must be repaid in fullafter a given length of time.

Records for you to useThe cashflow budget is a plan and, like

anyplan, for it to be effective youneed torefer to it on a regular basis.You alsoneed to measure your progress againstit; that’s where cashflow recordingcomes in.A lotof records thatarekeptbyfarmers are there for others to inspect.Your cashflow budget and cashflow re-cord is one set of records that youwill beinspecting yourself.

Recording your cashflow on a regularbasis:* Should be done by YOU,* For YOU and*YOU should use it to help set your farmon the right track for a successful year.

Keeping a cashflow record simply in-

Kevin Connolly,Teagasc FarmManagementSpecialist

GOLDEN RULES | of cash flow recording

* Keepall the farmpaperwork in theoneplace* Identify a recording system, eithercomputerbasedorpaperbased, andgetcomfortable using it* Set aside time everymonth for therecording job* Regularly compareyouractualoutcomeagainst the budget andmakesure youunderstand the reasonswhytheyare different

The key with cashflow records is a regularroutine for the recording.

22/12/0918:21


Tod

ay’sfarm

volves recording themovementofmoneyin and out of the businesss.

Cashflow recording made easyThe first thing to do is to put in place asimple but effective way of gathering allthe paper (i.e. delivery dockets, invoices’statements, bills) associated with thebusiness.The simplest way of doing thisis to have a dedicated drawer, tray orothercontainer in thehouseorofficeasacollection/storage point. All farm re-lated invoices, receipts, deliverydocketsand statements should be removed fromthe yard, trouser/boiler suit pockets orthe jeep/tractor, and put in the dedi-

cated container. Also, it’s a good idea tokeepthefarmchequebookinthisdrawerwhen you’re not using it. Deal with allletters on the day they arrive and keep astapler (and a bin) handy.

When you get a statement from asupplier, head to your farm records box,dig out all the invoices listed on thestatement and staple them to the state-ment.That way you’ll know you’ll be ea-sily able to link the figures on thestatement with what was purchased.

If you are regularly writing cheques,you should be getting a bank statementat least once a month in order to fit inwith your monthly cash recording. Ide-

ally, you should get this at the beginningof eachmonth.Youmaybe able to get thestatement via email, or you can use on-line banking to view it.Whateverwaythestatement and yourself cross paths, youshould study all the bankmoney-ins andouts carefully.

The second obvious requirement is away of pulling these records together sothat you can make sense of what the fig-ures are telling you. As I mentioned inthe last article, you can use theTeagasccost control planner for both preparingthe budget and regular recording.Thisplanner has easy-to-use reports, whichwill allow you to compare the budgetagainst the actual. Contact yourTeagascadviser for more information on the costcontrol planner.There are also otheroptions, including the farm softwarefromAgrinet/ IFC.Kingswoodand IFACaccountants also provide a cashflowanalysis service. If none of those are sui-table, thenthere isalwayspenandpaper.

Keeping on top to keep in tuneThe key with cashflow records is a regu-lar routine for the recording.

This little and often approach is im-portant for two reasons:* There will never be a build-up oftransactions to record.* You will be looking at your overallcashflow regularly which will allow youto react quickly where you see yourselfrunning into a cash shortage.

Ideally, you should update your cash-flowat least monthly. Set aside time on afixed day every month for the job.Theday after the monthly bank statementarrives is a good choice.

With the statement and the contentsof your records store at hand, you shouldhave all the information you need to beable to update the records for the lastmonth.

Think cash at all timesRemember, you are tracking the move-ment of cash, so only record a transac-tion whenever you receive, or part with,money either by cheque, cash or elec-tronically.

Forexample, ifyouordera loadof feedin February, and you pay for it in March,you record the payment in March. Don’tforget to check your bank statement forthe direct debits, standing orders andbank charges, as these also need to benoted.

Another big benefit of regular re-cording of money-in and money-out forthe year is that come the year end, youwill haveall the informationyouneed fora detailed financial analysis of the busi-ness using theTeagasc eProfit Monitor.Even those watching cashflow carefullyduring the year find that the eProfitMonitor analysis gives them a good in-dication ofwhat area they need to targetto improve in the year ahead. See panelon eProfit Monitor for details.

>> Page 32

22/12/0918:21


businessTo

day

’sfarm Comparing against the budget

The cashflow budget you put togetherwasyour plan ofwhat you thoughtwould,orwhatyouwantedto,happenduringtheyear ahead. As you complete your cashrecords each month, you will easily seewhether you are on track versus yourbudget or not. Unless you had a crystalballwhenyouwereputting togetheryourbudget (and an accurate one at that),there will be differences between thebudget and the actual. Make the com-parison each month after you completeyour monthly cash recording. Note thedifference between the budget and theactual and, most importantly, trace thereasons for the differences

Ask yourself the following:* Is the difference due to a ‘wide of themark’ budget?* Is the difference due to something be-yond my control � an unexpected pricechange or emergency spending need?* Is there some thing which was, or wasnot, done that caused the actual not tomatch with what was budgeted?*Do I need to recheck the overdraft orstocking loan requirements as a result ofthe difference to ensure they will coverany increased shortfall of cash?*CanImakeanychanges for thenext fewmonths which will bring the actual backin line with the budget?

By challenging yourself to come upwith answers to these questions, you willbe well on the road to managing yourfarm business for maximum profit.Thiswill ultimatelyensure that yourbusinesswill remain viable by generating enoughcash to meet your daily cash require-ments forboth the business and the farmfamily. It might also help you create acash reserve to help fund future businessdevelopment.

IN SHORT | Cashflow

* Cashflowisakeymeasureof success.Runninga farm involves daily jobs�somebig, somesmall, someeasilymeasured, somenot.Buteverythingyoudowill eventually filter down to onecommonmeasure� cash.* Byusing cash flowbudgets and cashflow recording in tandem, youwill beclearly focusedontheoveralldirectionofthe farmbusiness, and be in a betterposition to steer it on themost profitablecourse.

Profit Monitor timeagain

JANUARY is peak Profit Monitortime when many farmers are fo-cused on getting a detailed pic-ture of the farm financial

performance for the year gone by. Lastyear,over2,100 farmsusedprofitmonitorto look, in detail, at their figures. ABout630 of these farms (or 30%of the total forthe year) had their Profit Monitor donein January. An early look at the financialstoryfor the lastyear isgoodgroundworkto planning for the year ahead. It isespecially useful in helping you to puttogether a cashflow budget. Give your

Teagasc adviser a call today, and put in arequest to get a Profit Monitor com-pleted.

Alternatively,youcanuseyourmobilephone to register your interest in aneProfit Monitor.

Text the word PROFIT, followed byyour name, to (087) 0510201.

Or you can express your interest byemail by emailing your name and ad-dress to [email protected]’ll be contacted and put in touchwithanadviserwho’llworkwith you to gettheeProfit Monitor analysis completed.

Make thecomparison

between the budgetand the actual eachmonth after youcomplete your monthlycash recording

Asyou complete yourcash records eachmonthyouwill easily seewhether or not youare ontrack versusyour budget.

22/12/0918:20

horses


Tod

ay’sfarm

Kirstin McDonagh checksheroutwintered Connemaramareswith Clew Bay in the background.Outwintered animals need to be checked regularly forforage supply, feet and body condition.

Equinemagic inwest MayoThis horse group is

delivering a wide

range of benefits for

members and horse

buyers alike

Words & pictures Mark Moore

Agoodgroup is likeagood team:members focus as much onwhattheycanput inas onwhatthey can get out.TheWest

Mayo Equine group is a good example.There are hundreds of superb dairybeefand sheep groups in the country, butWest Mayo Equine, based inWestport, isone of only a handful of horse groups inthe country.

‘‘Weareaveryvariedgroup intermsofboth size of enterprise and experience,’’said Owen Hughes of Lankill who, withhis son Charlie, has been involved fromthe start.The Hughes family farm amixed enterprise of pedigree Suffolks, acommercial suckler herd and pedigreeCharolais cattle.The horses comprise ofboth Irish Draughts and Connemaras.

‘‘Every one of the 45 members hassomething to contribute, and the atmo-sphere in the group encourages every-one to participate,’’ Owen said. He wasone of a number of farmers who workedclosely with John Noonan of TeagascWestport to get the initiative moving.

‘‘My role is tohelpand facilitate, but itis very much the members’ group,’’ saidJohn. ‘‘The members will outline whattheir interests are and, together withWendy Conlon, theTeagasc equine spe-cialist, we supply speakers, etc.’’

Cost savings are a substantial benefitfor members. ‘‘As a group, we get a dis-count from Connacht Gold on theirbranded horse feed, and we are able tobuy fodder and bedding in bulk fromsuppliers,’’ said Charlie Hughes. ‘‘We re-cently bought a large quantity of woodshavings and subdivided it among mem-bers who needed bedding.’’

Members offer other group membersfirst refusal when selling scarce com-modities, fodder forexample.Veterinaryservicesare thenexttarget for thegroup.

‘‘We plan to identify a location withgood facilities where members couldbring horses for veterinary services,such as pregnancy scanning, foot care orshoeing,’’ said Maureen McGing.

‘‘The vet would be able to work effi-ciently, and members would be able toget these expensive services at a lowercost than if the vet has to visit each farmindividually,’’ she said.

Education is an area where theWestMayo Equine group have already seenthe benefits of working together. ‘‘Work-ing withWendy, we were able to set up aSkillnets course for the members at atimewhich suited the group,’’said PaddyJoyce.

‘‘Because we could bring 20 partici-pants, we were also able to have thetiming and the contents of the coursetailored to our needs, which was exactlywhat members wanted.’’

Perhaps the largest potential benefitfor members is in the area of marketing.The group have their own highly ad-vanced website, which attracts visitorsfrom as far afield as Mexico and China.

‘‘We have plenty of younger memberswho are great with computers, and keepthat side of things going,’’ said OwenHughes. ‘‘We can exhibit horses on thewebsite but,most importantly, it builds aprofile for the group and attracts buyersto come to the area.’’

>> Next page

22/12/0918:20


horsesTo

day

’sfarm Members are convinced that the

group as a whole will be a magnet forbuyers from Ireland and abroad.

The Hallinans from Killawalla, nearWestport, are synonymous with the nowdeceased Ginger Dick, who sired inter-national show jumpers. ‘‘The ideal placeto buy a horse is in the yard, where youcan get a really good look at the animaland his behaviour,’’ said Owen HallinanSnr.‘‘Buyingat a fair oramartmeansyouare taking too much of a risk.

‘‘Foreign buyerswill bemore inclinedtocometoourarea if theyknowtherearea number of different places they canvisit, and the group is ideal for that.Thefact that there is aTeagasc link is alsobeneficial,’’ he said.

He mix-grazes the horses with cattleand sheep, and sees huge advantages interms of grass usage and reduced wormburdens in the stock.

OwenHallinanJr saidmembers shareinformation about the market and po-tential buyers. ‘‘Because members knoweach other so well, they will pass on po-tential buyers to other members whohave what the buyer is looking for.’’

Increasingly, foreign buyers are com-ing back to Ireland for animals with agood temperament. ‘‘Continental buyerslike100%Irish-bredhorsesbecausetheyare easier to handle and generally lessnervous than foreign animals,’’ saidOwen. ‘‘There is a far larger market forleisure horses than there is for showjumpers, and hobby riders need calmanimals.The Connemara and the IrishDraught is a lovelyhorse in that regard.’’

MarketingThe group plan to enhance their mar-keting of horses byestablishing a quality‘brand’. ‘‘We plan to create our own logo,which we could place on caps and jack-ets, etc,’’ said Martin Keating. ‘‘We alsoplan to have competitions for groupmembers,whichwill encourageus toaim

for ever higher quality animals.’’Now, deep in winter, meetings are

held every two months.The emphasis ison breeding: some members producehorses for showing, some forhuntingandeven show jumping.

Mostmeetings are held at theTeagascoffice inWestport, with guest speakerssuch as vets and equine experts fromTeagasc and the industry, but meetingsare also held on members’ farms.

Kirstin McDonagh and Lucy Fabbyare in the process of establishing anequine AIunit at Inisturkbeg Stud nearWestport town.They hosted a groupmeeting in late May 2009, when theyoutlinedhowhorseproducers, like cattlebreeders, can now easily choose from awide range of stallions and improve thequality of their foals.

Mares will be brought to the state-of-the-art facilities and return homescanned in foal.They also stand twoConnemara stallions.

Pedigree, conformation and tem-peramentarekeytoahorse’svalue ,butawell turned-outmare, foal or stallionwillalways be easier to sell, according toMaureen McGing, the group’s acknowl-edged expert on how to prepare a horsefor sale.With Lucy, she gave a demon-stration on grooming at a recent farmwalk.‘‘Ahorse is still adiscretionarybuy,’’said Maureen. ‘‘Farmers invest a lot ofmoney producing the animal, and it’s vi-tal to sell the horse looking its best.’’

‘‘The strength of any group is in themembers,’’ concluded John Noonan.‘‘West Mayo Equine is going fromstrength to strength because membersare committed to the group, to eachother, and to producing high quality an-imals.’’

MAINPICTURE:The group studies a pony’sconfirmation andmovement.BELOW:The group viewingnewly-built stableswhile Owenand Kathy Hugheshold ponies.

22/12/0918:20


Tod

ay’sfarm

KEY MESSAGES | from John Noonan

* Demand for Irishhorses is increasing,andweneed to improve ourmarketingskills.* Qualitystockaregoing tobeingreaterdemandin theyearsahead�theplaineroneswill be hard tomove on.* Manyof the stallions at studare over-priced. A stallion’s fee should be a re-flectionofwhathehasproduced,andtheaverage price achieved for his foals thepreviousyear.Thereisa cost inastalliongainingjumpingpoints�ahigherfeeforhis service is justified. A covering fee of€200 should be an average for sporthorse stallions, thoroughbredsused onsport mares and draft stallions.Conne-mara stallion ownerswill also need torevise their fees downwards reflectingreducedstud fees, althoughponypricesareholding upwell.* Breeders need to get organised ingroups to get better deals on feed sup-plies, stud fees, etc.* Breeding a foal is totally different toproducing aweanling� get all the ba-sicsrightbybreedingfromagoodqualitymare, bringing her to the best stallionthat suits herandmanaging herand thefoalwell.After that, weneed luck that thefoal is straight and has no accidents.* Breeders should embrace the soon tobe launched linear scoring system.

BELOWLEFT: John Noonanand the Hallinanslook at full ORID gelding by Grovner Lad out of aprize-winningmarewith CarrabawnViewandGinger Dick in her breeding.BELOWRIGHT:Kirstin McDonagh saysworm-ingof all stock is crucial inwinter, andmaresheavy in foalwill need supplementation to com-pensate for winter grass low in energy, proteinandminerals.

22/12/0918:19


forestryTo

day

’sfarm

Themanybenefits offorest producergroups

John Casey,Teagasc ForestryDevelopment Officer,Cork/Waterford

Acritical mass of private andfarm forestry is now develop-ing in Ireland, with over219,000 hectares planted since

1980. Currently, 105,000 hectares of pri-vate forests are over 10 years of age and40,000 hectares are over 16 years of age.Themajorityofprivate forestownersarefarmers (84%).

Teagasc research indicates that ifonly 50% of private owners decided tothin their plantations, the annual outputfrom farm forest first thinning couldpotentially rise to in excess of 200,000m3

(Farrelly, 2007).As a forest matures, trees compete

with one another for light, nutrients andwater. A percentage of the crop must beremoved to allow the remaining trees togrow into quality straight stems for tim-ber production.These ‘first thinnings’are typicallyused toproduce fibreboard,woodchip for heat and bedding for out-wintering pads. COFORD (NationalCouncil for Forestry Research and De-velopment) estimates that the privatesector’s market share could rise to 23%by 2015.

However, many farm forest planta-tions in Ireland remain unthinned formany reasons, including the high cost ofharvesting, lack of knowledge aboutwhen to thin, and the price attained forfarm forest produce.

Also, while forest owners are encour-aged to thin their plantations, there isonly a relatively small window of oppor-tunity, as the stability of the crop can becompromised if thinning is not carriedout on time.

Where to thin?There is very little good information onexactly where the forest resource islocated and which plantations will needthinning in the next five to 10 years. Acluster-based approach is being devel-oped byTeagasc, with the support ofCOFORD, which will address critical is-sues facing farm forestry, suchas the lackof local information about forests andmarket requirements which would helpfarm forest owners to market their pro-duce.

Forest clusters were identified at anational level based on two parameters:

*Private forestry in excess of 5% of thetotal land use* Cluster area greater than 10,000hectares.

How to thin?

Individual forest owners are finding itdifficult to thin their plantations as thecost of harvesting and transportationcan outweigh the financial returns.

There is little tradition or experienceof private harvesting in the countrywhich can be daunting for forest ownersand in some cases the timeframe forthinning can pass.

To support forest owners in makingvital decisions on thinning and to gen-erate unity amongst forest owners, ajoint approach was piloted in Cork &Galway with the development of the

Cork/Galway Forest Producer GroupProject (2008- 2009).

The formation of producer groups isthe key to overcoming some of the ob-stacles forest owners are currently ex-periencing.The objectives of the projectwere:* To establish local producer groups tohelp encourage and ensure optimummarkets are achieved for first thinning*Develop marketing solutions reflectinglocal forest owner’s decisions and opi-nions while meeting the market needs*Develop links between the producergroup and local & national markets.

The Galway group was established inBallinasloe, a prime area for privateplanting in Galway.

The level of private forests in bothcounties is very high but currently very

22/12/0918:19


Tod

ay’sfarm

little private timber is reaching theroadside.

Benefit to the group?Aproducer group can help achieveeconomies of scale as the cost of harvest,transport and road construction can beshared. It is easier to negotiate a reduc-tion in thinning costs if larger quantitiesof material are sold.

The Producer Group structure ismore attractive to buyers as a consistentsupplyof timbercanbeobtainedwithoutthe need to deal with individual owners.A group approach will also give ownersthe confidence to make more informeddecisions about their plantations, ‘‘usingeach other’s knowledge to advance thegroup,’’ says memberWilliam Melville.

Benefits to the forest owner?As a forest owner it is important to beawareof the forestowners inyourareaasyoumay need to join together to harvestand extract timber in the future.This isespecially true if your forest area is re-latively small (<10 ha), and where accessis an issue.

ExampleThe Galway Forest Producer Group isaware thataccess is thekeytoharvestinga crop.The distance between the forestsand the public road is amajor challenge.Even if the Forest Service Road grantwas available to everybody in the group,only28%of themembers couldconstructa road and successfully extract timber.Large personal investment would be re-quired for road construction in othercases.

A‘road pooling’ group approachwould give members an adequate ex-traction track to get timber to the road-side and a well constructed loading bayfor a haulage lorry to safely load timber.

Group meetings and excursions canhelp familiarise forest owners with thin-ning andmarketing. ‘‘We’ve learned a lotthrough meetings,’’ concludesWilliamMelville.

‘‘Theyalso giveyou theopportunitytoestablish business relationships whichcan be the basis for joint future timberharvesting.’’

Farm Forestry Investment Services www.coilltefarmforestryinvest.ie

Freephone: 1 800 200 728

Email: [email protected]

Forest Premium opportunities for farmers exiting REPS Annual Premium of up to 527 per ha ( 213 per acre) for 20 yearsRetain your full Single Farm Payment Free consultation with Coillte forester

Coillte Farm Partnership Scheme Advance payment of 1,000 per ha Retain full ownership of your farm

Forest Life Income Scheme Are your forest premiums coming to an end ? Is your crop ready for thinning ? This scheme will provide you with 400 per ha each year from year 21 onwards.

10 Year Management Plans Coillte now provide this service - remember your annual premium will not be paid until the plan is completed. Don’t wait - contact Coillte now.

A producergroupcanhelp

achieve economies ofscale, as the cost ofharvest, transport androad construction canbe shared. It is easier tonegotiateareductioninthinning costs if largerquantities are sold

22/12/0918:19


botanic gardensTo

day

’sfarm The kindest cuts ofall . . . . . .

Paul Fitters,Teagasc

WHEN I started mybare gar-den several years ago, Icould not wait for plants togrowand fill the space al-

lotted to them. Six years on and mostplants have done exactly that or more,and for some, serious pruning is alreadyneeded.

Health and appearance are the firstreasons to prune.The3Ds inpruningareto take out dead, diseased and damagedwood. If you don’t remove affectedbranches, diseases will prosper.

Pruning to create a pleasing shape issomething that is often done in gardens.Thinkof hedges, topiaryballs and reallyany other shape you fancy. Apart fromkeeping its size under control, regularpruning of hedges keeps themyounganddense. Keeping the plant at a juvenilestage is important for instance for beech(Fagus sylvatica) hedges.

By pruning a beech hedge regularly,you effectively prevent it from becominga mature beech tree, and it keeps its ju-venile behaviour.This results in thelovelyeffect of this hedge inwinterwhenit retains its golden brown leaves. It alsomeans full cover all year round.

When you are pruning to keep apleasing shape, you can do this of courseat anytimeof theyear andasoftenasyouwish, depending on growth rate. As forthe winter cut, I always like to have myhedgesprunedasearlyaspossibleas thiswill provide a pleasing shape for manymonths, as there is no growth to speakofto undo the sharp linesyouhave created.

Avery important reason for manypeople to prune is to get more flowers,which,potentially, would be followed bymore fruit. If youwantmore flowers nextyear, you need to know what plant you

are dealing with. If the subject is flower-ing in spring, it is very likely that theflowers were already made the previousyear andare justwaiting topopoutwhenthe weather improves in spring.

Pruningsuchsubjects inwinterwouldbe a bad idea as you would invariablyprune out these flowers. Examples ofthese are Lilacs (Syringa), Magnolia,Forsythia and the Judas tree (Cercis).The time to prune these subjects isdirectly after flowering, so that no flow-ers are lost and the plant has a wholeyear to recover, growand make newflowers for next spring. Plants that flow-erlater in thegrowingseason (mid to latesummer), like roses, fuchsia, abelia and

many more, can be pruned hard in thewinter.These plants develop their flow-ers on current season’s growth and,hence, no flowers will be pruned out inwinter. Fuchsia is very tolerant of hardpruning but can also be left to becomebig shrubs. As for roses, many peopletend to be very careful when pruningthese, with the result that often the bushdevelops a very woody, unsightly, base.My advice for pruning roses is to beruthless.Take out as much old wood asyou can to stimulate the rose to shootagain from the base.This again wouldkeep the plant young and, as a result, itwould potentially last much longer thana neglected rose bush.

Ruthless pruning is best if youwant a good rose ‘harvest’.

An occasional series by expertsat theTeagasc college at

the National Botanic gardensaimed at adding to the

appearance and value ofyour farm

Understanding you means understanding your needs. And for the last 40 years, no other insurer has worked harder at building valued

relationships with the Irish farming community than we have.

Legal category: POMFurther information is available from Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, Boghall Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Tel: (00353)-(0)1-2050900

Scour problems?Protect your calves against:

• Rotavirus • Coronavirus • E.coli K99

VACCINATE

COWS ONCE

12-3 WEEKS

BEFORE

CALVING

Only Rotavec Corona protects against all 3 in one shot.

Documents

Equine Magic in West Mayo - Teagasc...branding,andScottishbeefisthemarket leader in the UK. Nonetheless, suckler cow numbers have dropped over the last decade. In 1998 theyhad 530,000