Today's Farm Nov - Dec 2010

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2010 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 6

Turning Dairy Data IntoBetter Decisions

Profit and dairy stocking rate 9Clare farmers monitor profit 12

Getting the most from expensive winter feed 18Why hens are back in fashion 21

The ingredients for high sheep returns 22Planning for optimum soil fertility 24

State of the art soil mapping 26 Planning farm transfers 30

Climate change considerations 36Christmas trees, botanic gardens and more….

Turning Dairy Data IntoBetter Decisions

Profit and dairy stocking rate 9Clare farmers monitor profit 12

Getting the most from expensive winter feed 18Why hens are back in fashion 21

The ingredients for high sheep returns 22Planning for optimum soil fertility 24

State of the art soil mapping 26 Planning farm transfers 30

Climate change considerations 36Christmas trees, botanic gardens and more….

10667 TEAG TODAYS FARM Nov/Dec_Final Cover 22/10/2010 11:10 Page 1

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4 | Today’s farm | November/December 2010

One Goal ChallengeTo

day

’sfarm Results of

OneGoalChallenge

THOUSANDS of farmers andfarm families visited theTeagasc stand at the PloughingMatch and 1,156 adult farmers

took part in theOneGoal Challenge.Thecompetition encouraged the adoption ofSMARTGoals to improve the farm busi-ness.The geographical spread of parti-cipants shows that the event attractedvisitors from each of the 26 counties andmore from abroad.

SMARTThe idea was to set Specific, Measur-able, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound goals (SMART) for each indivi-dual business. At the Ploughing, visitorswere able to choose from SMART goalslisted under the categories: Education,Cattle/Sheep, Dairy, Environment,Farmmanagement, Forestry,Tillage/Horticulture and Diversification.

Some chose to formulate their ownindividual SMART goals, based on thepriorities theyhave for their businesses.All took home a copy of their goal andtheir names were entered in a prizedraw.

The key point was to set just a fewgoals; too many and none would beachieved. If goals are too ambitious, orthe means to achieve them are not with-

in your control, theyare not SMARTandyou may fail.

By setting, and achieving, a sequenceof modest goals you can make really sig-nificant changes to your business/life.

Examples of popular SMART goalsare: ‘Iwill join a dairy discussion groupby the end of February 2011’; ‘Iwill meetwith relevant family members to discusssuccession planning by Christmas’or ‘Iwill complete aTeagasc profit monitorin January’.

ParticipantsParticipants | in theTeagasc OneGoal Challenge at the PloughingMatch by county

Cork 206

Tipperary 107

Wexford 83

Laois 85

Kilkenny 77

Limerick 54

Galway 51

Waterford 48

Kildare 48

Kerry 47

Offaly 46

Clare 38

Carlow 31

Roscommon 31

Westmeath 29

Cavan 27

Meath 26

Wicklow 25

Mayo 22

Longford 16

Leitrim 12

Monaghan 11

Sligo 10

Donegal 8

Louth 7

Dublin 6

Antrim 2

Tyrone 2

Fermanagh 1

USA 1

Isle of Man 1

Cash prize andbook winners1st Prize winners | (e150 each)

John Martin, Castleblayney, Co MonaghanSeamus O’Dwyer, Currane, Nenagh,Co TipperaryJohn Power, Barna, Co Kilkenny

2nd Prize winners | (e125 each)

Frank Snell, Ballysax, Curragh, Co KildareMichael Molloy, Doradee, Naas, Co KildareThomas Hannan, Gorey, Co Wexford

3rd Prize winners | (e100 each)

Alex Crofts, Buttevant, Co CorkPaddy Buggy, 3 New Road, Leighlinbridge,Co CarlowLiam Long, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

Winners | of copies of theTeagascbook ‘Growing Knowledge’

Denis Coleman, Dromin, Cloghroe, Co CorkDavid Gray, Ballitore, Co KildareWilliam Conway, Cullen, Co. TipperaryDavid Scott, Shandra, Portarlington,Co Laois

Thomas McConkey, Newbliss,Co MonaghanG Carew, Kilrickle, Loughrea, Co GalwayW Qualtrough, Union Mills, Isle of ManMary Healy, Hollywood, Co WicklowDavid Halpin, Ballyorban, Co CorkMichael J O’Sullivan, Ballineen, Co CorkRichie Scanlan, Ballyhane, CappoquinPhilip Kennedy, Physicianstown, Callan,KilkennyBridie Laughen, Borahara, Newbridge, CoKildareBrian Lenihan, Mount Collins, Co LimerickJohn Grehan, Toughmaconnell, CoRoscommon

* Congratulations to all cash winners, whowill be contacted by their county Teagascmanager.* Book winners will receive copies of‘Growing Knowledge’ in the post.* All of the 1,150 participants who followthrough on the SMART goals they identifiedat the Ploughing will find they are winnerstoo.* Queries to MarkMoore, at Teagasc,Oak Park, Co Carlow,Tel: 059-9183501.

For further information please contact your supplierPfizer Animal Health, 9 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Park, Dublin 24. Tel (01) 4676500 AH544/08

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22/10/1018:40


Today

’sfarm

Launch of 2011JFC Innovation

The Complete Field Guide to Ireland’s BirdsThe Complete Field Guide to Ireland’sBirds,Eric Dempsey&MichaelO’Clery (Gill& Macmillan)

There may be time to patiently differentiatethe finches and tits around the peanutfeeder, and some birds helpfully announcethemselves in voice, but usually there isonly a brief visual to rely on.

You take in a sense of colour and size,a distinctive flight pattern or song, per-haps, and you have the habitat and time ofyear, but not much else.

This should be enough if you have acopy of ‘The Complete Field Guide to

Ireland’s Birds’. It covers almost 370species, plus 100 of the rarest visitors, anddetails key identification features along-side precise colour illustrations.

The book’s compact size and weightmakes it portable and it is durable enoughto last for years and withstand the weatherwhen out in the field.

Most bookshops should stock thisbook and, if not, one could easily order acopy.

The list price is €19.99, but an onlinepurchase fromThe Book Depository(www.bookdepository.co.uk) costs€16.37, including postage to Ireland.

Cash, mentoringand free publicityJust over 23 years ago, on the ‘Late LateShow’, a young John Concannon fromTuam launched his innovative buckets forfeeding calves. Today, his company sells avariety of products worldwide and employsover 200 people. Through an initiativecalled the ‘JFC Innovation Awards for RuralBusiness’, generously sponsored by JohnConcannon, he is offering others the starthe had. Whether you have just a businessidea or have already set up an enterprise inrural Ireland, then you can enter thesenational awards.

Now in its fifth year, the competition hasgiven hundreds of businesses not only achance to win prizes but, more importantly,to progress their business or businessidea. The winners will take away €40,000 inprizes but everyone who enters will getvaluable feedback on their business plan.

Achieving the award has really helpedmany previous winners and finalists, evenin areas such as securing finance, support,grant aid and opening new markets.

‘‘Winning the competition was a majorboost to our company and the effort to growour own energy at home. The publicity hashelped to highlight the benefits of willow asa cash crop for farmers and to givecredibility to our plans to plant an additional5,000 acres of willow next year. If you candream it, you can do it,’’ said PatrickFarrelly, Farrelly Willow Ltd, overall winnerof the 2010 JFC Innovation Awards.

A positive development for theseawards is that LEADER are now heavilyinvolved. They are already in contact withfarmers who have business ideas and arelooking for grant assistance. Many of thesebusinesses would be ideal candidates to

enter the Innovation Awards.The first step is to get an entry form and

begin work on a simple plan that showshow you will progress. Entry forms are

available from your local Teagasc office ordirectly from the Teagasc website.

The deadline for entries is 10 December2010. JFC is the commercial sponsor of

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November/December 2010 | Today’s farm | 7

Today’s

farm

upcoming events

n Awards

Detergent studyA recent study by Dr David Gleeson and DrBernadette O’Brien at Teagasc Mooreparkfound that the chemical composition ofsome detergent-sterilisers in Ireland is notoptimum for efficient cleaning of milkingequipment; i.e. the level of caustic tochlorine is too low.

The study should assist dairy farmers tomake informed decisions on which pro-ducts are most suitable for milking equip-ment cleaning.

The list, at www.agresearcg.teagasc.ie/moorepark/ can be used by advisers andfarmers. It will be amended and updated asnew products are introduced, as manufac-turers modify the chemical content of theirproducts and as the product registrationstatus is established.

the competition, which is run by Teagasc,the Department of Agriculture & RuralDevelopment NI, LEADER and the IrishFarmers Journal.

TEAGASCOPTIONSSEMINARS

Planning for the futureTo ensure all farmers are familiar withthe benefits of the programmeTeagascare putting on a series of seminars na-tionwide to inform farm families of thebenefits to planning for the futurethrough the Options Programme.

Teagasc advisers and specialists willbe present at the seminars with otheragencies such as LEADER, County En-terprise Boards, FA¤ S, and VECs.

4 November at 8.00pm

Park Hotel,

Kiltimagh,

Co Mayo

11 November Teagasc,

Sligo

23 November Teagasc,

Cork (Cork

East; Cork West)

30 November Abbey Hotel,

OPENDAY

2 December Pallaskenry Agricultural College Open Day

ORGANICS

Introduction to organic production course

25-hour FETACLevel 5 accredited courses

On completion of the course, partici-pants will be proficient in:* Interpretation of organic standards* The principles of organic production* Assessing economic viability andmarket opportunities.

These courses qualify applicants tothe Organic Farming Scheme.

All courses run from 10am to 4pm,one day per week over five consecutiveweeks.The cost is €200.

Pre-booking is essential.

Roscommon Tue 9 Nov Dan Clavin

Tuam Thur 11 Nov Dan Clavin

RURALDEVELOPMENTCONFERENCE

2 December National Rural Development Conference Tullamore Court Hotel

NATIONALDAIRYCONFERENCES

17 November Charleville Park Hotel

18 November Mullingar Park Hotel

See article byTomO’Dwyeron pages14 and 15

22/10/1018:35


farm safetyTo

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Safety duringmaintenanceAccidents often occur during mainte-nance work. The European Health andSafety Agency emphasise the followingfive rules for safe maintenance work: 1,plan the maintenance task; 2, make thearea safe; 3, use appropriate equipment;4, stick to the work plan and avoidingshort cuts, and 5, check the maintenancework before recommencing normal work.

Bryan Daniels, 2007 Young Farmer ofthe Year, farms at Raheen, Kilmoganny,Co Kilkenny, in partnership with his father,John, and brother, Philip.

The Daniels family strongly believe infarm maintenance as a driver of efficientfarming.

‘‘We always put a lot of effort intomaintaining our farm buildings andmachinery. Routine maintenance on ourfarm cuts the risk of injury, saves worktime and gives us much better control oflivestock,’’ said Bryan.

Bryan Daniels: routinemaintenance cutsriskof injury.

Maintenance�keytosafety

Ayear-long European Cam-paign on Safe Maintenance2010-2011 started across allindustries duringOctober.The

campaign is ledbytheEuropeanAgencyof Safety and Health at Work, who esti-mate that 15% to 20%of all accidents areconnectedwithmaintenance.Farming isno different from anyother industryandmaintenance is a key management taskthat requires ongoing attention.

What causes accidents?Identifying injurycausing situationsandeliminating them inadvance is themajormanagement skill of health and safetymanagement. Physical controls are cru-cial as they provide protection in theevent of human error.Thus, if mainte-nance is properly carried out, it providesa physical ‘shield’ in the event of humanerror.

Take timeA study of 94 randomly selected farmswasconductedbyTeagasc toexaminetheimplementation of safety controls.Thestudy found that 27% (more than one infour) of the farms were not achieving sa-tisfactory standards. Maintenance taskswhich were not satisfactory includedsuch issues as having uncovered powerdrive shafts; poorly developed andmaintained livestock handling facilities;untidy farmyards and dated facilities,

along with outdated electrical wiring.A key finding was a link between long

working hours and unsatisfactory safetymanagement. It found that 60% of thosewith unsatisfactory standards workedexcessively long hours (12 hours per dayplus orpro rata forpart-time farms).Thiscompares with 25% of farmers workinglong hours on farms with satisfactorysafety standards.

Working excessively long hours wasparticularly associated with dairy farm-ing (54%), compared with drystock andtillage farms (22% each), and where thefarmer worked full-time on the farm(41%) compared with part-time (12%).Overall, the data suggests that devoting

time to both maintenance and farm de-velopment is crucial for farm safetymanagement.

UK studyAnevaluationof themechanical safetyofagricultural vehicles, involving 242 ve-hicles, was conducted by the UKHealthand Safety Executive.This indicatedthat safety mechanical problems occurintherangefrom11.6%for faultydoors to17.8% for wear of trailer hooks and locks.Adequate tractor braking was reportedfor 95.3% of tractors and handbrakefunction and cables were satisfactory in88% of cases. Faulty hydraulic hoseswere noted in 31% of cases.

Devoting time to bothmaintenance and farmdevelopment is crucial for farmsafetymanagement.

JohnMcNamaraTeagasc Health &Safety Officer

Teagasc has produceda booklet on ‘Safety inthe FarmWorkshop’ to assist farmerswithmachinerymaintenance.This, alongwith otherTeagasc health and safety publications, can befoundat www.Teagasc.ie/ health_safety/

22/10/1018:35

dairying


Today’s

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MILKWhy lessismoreMore cows per hectare

at slightly lower yields

can give the highest

profit

MILK receipts are the life-blood of any dairy farm andreceipts of 30 cent per litreshould see most dairy farms

generate surplus cash in 2010.Surplus, or ‘free’cash, iswhat remains

after tax,pension,principalpaymentsonloans and living expenses are met fromprofits.The amount of surplus generatedwill vary from farm to farm and there areveryfewdairyfarmsthatdon’thave loansto pay as a result of investment throughthe FarmWaste Management Scheme.

So,whatshouldyoudotoenhance freecash? Do you maximise stocking rate onthemilkingblockordoyouoptimisemilkproduction per cow?

Let’s say you sell 5,000 litres of milkfrom each cow in the herd. At 30 cent perlitre net milk price, each cow will gener-ate €1,500 in milk receipts. Of course,there will also be cull cow sales and calfsales, but the profit from these will beoffset by the cost of the replacementscoming back into the herd. If you make aprofit from these, then that’s a bonus.

Our mythical cow has generated€1,500 in milk receipts. Is that the end ofthestory?Certainlynot!Howmuchof thefarm is devoted to feeding the cow? Inother words, what’s the stocking rate?Are the cows stocked at two livestockunits per ha (1.25ac/cow), 2.47 livestockunits perha (one acre per cow) or 3.0 LU/ha (0.8ac/cow)?

On the one side we have milk receiptsper cow, while on the other side we havestocking rate. Obviously, milk receiptsare the most important but, in my view,stocking rate is a close second.

>> Next page

John Donworth,Teagasc dairyspecialist,Limerick

Stockingrate onthemilkingblock, isamajordriveroffarmprofit

Milk receipts arethe lifeblood ofany dairy farmand receipts of30 cent per litreshould seemostdairy farms gen-erate surpluscash in 2010.

22/10/1018:34


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Theobjective of anydairy farmer shouldbe tomaximise the profit from each acreof land that he/she owns or rents. Stock-ing rate becomes very important in en-suring that profit is optimised on thedairy farm, particularly stocking rate onthe milking block.

For instance, if dairy cows are stockedat two LU/ha and generating €1,500 percow in receipts, the total milk receiptsgenerated per ha is €3,000. Do the samesum at 2.47 LU/ha; the total amount ofreceipts now increases to €3,705/ha. At3.0 LU/ha, total receipts amount to€4,500/ha.

So, when one talks about profitabilityondairy farms, the effect of stocking rateon the top line cannot be overestimated.

Several questions will eventuallyarise about stocking rate. All the em-phasis at the moment is on increasingstocking rate on themilkingblock; this isas thingsshouldbe.Research is tellingusthat increasing grass utilisation per haleads to increased profits.

Profit Monitor data analysed byTea-gasc dairy specialist George Ramsbot-

tom is also telling us that increasinggrass utilisation per ha improves profitper ha by €200.

Buthow far canone take stocking ratebefore the wheels come off the prover-bial lorry?

Inotherwords,whendoes theupwardgraph of farm profit per ha level off and

the profit begins to go in the oppositedirection? George Ramsbottom gave aninteresting presentation on farm profitandstockingrateattheTeagascNationalDairy Conference in 2007 (see graph).Overall farm profit per acre/hectarewas maximised at a stocking rate of 2.8LU/ha. The graph also shows that profit

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3.53.33.12.92.72.52.32.11.91.71.5

Profit and stocking rate

€600

€800

€1000

€1200

€1400

€16002.2 LU/ha

2.8 LU/ha

Profit per litre

Profit per hectare

€/ha

c/l

Livestock units/ha

22/10/1018:34


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per litre of milk was maximised at astocking rate of 2.2 LU/ha. At thisstocking rate, cow performance must beoptimised and the bulk tank must bewatched. Profit is optimised throughgood gross output per cow and tight costcontrol. But, with quota no longer quiteas much of an issue as it once was, the

opportunity is now there for every dairyfarmer to increase cow numbers andmaximise milk receipts on the milkingblock. But will milk production not dropoff as stocking rates increase? Yes, is theanswer. Brendan Horan, Teagasc, hasmeasured a drop-off in milk perfor-mance per cow of the order of 6% to 8%going from 2.5 LU/ha to 3.3 LU/ha. Oncestocking rate is at or above 2.8 LU/ha,then profit per ha is the driver.

One accepts the reduction in cowperformance since one is optimisingmilk solids production/ha, but itmust bedone with very tight cost control.

George Ramsbottom’s graph showsthat profit/ha is optimised at 2.8 LU/ha.This is the stocking rateacross thewholefarm and not just the milking block.Where does this figure liewhen trying toestablish the correct stocking rateon themilkblockonly? Isprofit optimisedat 3.0LU/ha on the milking block or is it 3.5LU/ha. Both figures could be right, solongas theoverall farmstockingdoesnotexceed 2.8 LU/ha.

And, what of the profit per ha? At 2.0LU/ha, milk receipts of €3,000/ha weregenerated. Howmuch of the €3,000 willyou call farm profit? At total costs of

production of 20 cent per litre, one isholding only 10 cent per litre or 33% oftheprofit.Sotheprofitherha is€1,000,or€500 per cow.

At 2.47 LU/ha, total receipts are€3,705.Again, assumingone is holding onto only 33% of the output, profit per hanow increases to €1,259.That is a 20%increase.

At 3.0LU/ha, canone still saythat oneis holding on to 33% of the output? If it’sthe stocking rate on the milking block,yes is the answer. But, if it’s the overallstocking rate across the farm, then it’scertainly no. One won’t be able to makeenough winter feed at this stocking rate.

Whenonetalks about

profitability on dairyfarms, the effect ofstocking rate on thetop line cannot beoverestimated

MILK PRODUCTION | key messages

* Stocking rate, and particularlystocking rate on themilking block,is amajor driver of farmprofit.* Wehave established that 2.8 LU/ha isprobablyabout right for overall stockingrate.* Beingable tomake enough feedbecomes the challenge after that.

22/10/1018:36


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’sfarm ProfitMonitor

An eye-openerTimClunehas90dairycowson70hectaresofdry

limestone land atDanganbrack,Quin, CoClare.

After completing a Teagasc Profit Monitor, he

pulled the plug on a beef enterprise which was

dragging down profits from the dairy herd. The

Profit Monitor is now at the core of his dairy

expansion plans

TIM’S first experience with aprofit monitor was in 2008, andhe describes the outcome as an‘eye-opener’. Results for his

beef enterprise, which included somesuckler cows and beef heifers, wereshocking.

When examining the figures pre-sented in the All Enterprises report,which allows a comparison of output,costs and net margin between the enter-prises on the farm,he recallsphoninghisadviser to know how he had managed toenter the wrong figures!

On closer examination it becameclear that this part of his farming systemwas haemorrhaging money; the only ad-vantage of the beef system was that sell-ing cattle ‘gave him a big bundle of cashat one time’.

Working withTim as hisTeagascadviser, I quickly pinpointed where thebeef systemwas goingwrong. Extra landwas being leased to conserve enoughwinter fodder, partly for the drystock,and this was putting a huge demand onfarm profitability.The extra leasing andcontractor costs were a big drain on

margins. A quick decision to cease thebeef enterprise in 2009 resulted in con-tractor and leasing costs dropping from5.51c/litre in 2008 to 2.60c/litre in 2009.

With this and some other cost adjust-ments,Timmanaged to reduce totalcosts on the farmby5.17c/litre from2008to 2009.The 2009 profit monitor showedthat veterinary costs had increased sig-nificantly, whichTim attributed to a badspring that year.

He identified badquality silage as thecause of poor cow condition at calving.Tim remedied this last winter and feelshis vet costs are under control again.

Herd fertilityWhile the profit monitor is not designedas a tool to measure herd fertility,Timbelieves it alertedhimto the seriousnessof infertility in his herd.

This hit home with what appeared tobe very poor cow yields in 2008.Whilemost cows were milking well,Tim said‘passengers’ or empty cows, which con-tributed nothing to production, werebadly affecting average cow perfor-mance.

He realised that all these empty cowswere ‘costing money to keep, deliveringlittle and not helping to dilute overheadcosts’.Hedecidedtomilkemptycowsandlate calvers through the winter last year,as he said ‘having cows completely idlewas not helping output’.

Hedoesnot intend tocarryonmilkingin the winter long term, however, as it ismuchmore costly, and he is now focusingstrongly on breeding good fertility intothe herd, which he hopes will bring himback to a fully spring-calving systemwithin a few years.

ExpansionTim is using the profit monitor analysisas a key tool in planning expansion.Thisexpansion will see numbers grow to

around 120 cows, with about 40 replace-ment heifers reared on the farm.Reseedingthe farmwillhaveabigrole toplay in thisand it iswell on thewayatthisstage, with over 30 acres (12ha) reseededin the last two years. A 16-unit parlourand additional slurry storage will be re-quired which he sees as the ‘next bigchallenge’, especially now that access tocredit is tight.

Tim said he is committed to dairyingandfeelsnowis thetimetopushahead.‘‘Idon’t want to be looking back in 10 or 15years time and realising I am still at astandstill,’’ he said.

Tim is married to Una and they havetwo children, Keelin, aged two and half,and six-months-old Bobby.

He sees himself as a profit monitor‘novice’. However, he feels that continu-ing to complete a profit monitor is es-sential as ‘something new seems to bethrown up each year’.

Tim is a member of the local Tulladairy discussion group and feels that the

Aprofitmonitorallows you to

take stockof where youare and to develop aroadmapfor where youwant to go

Aidan BuglerTeagasc,Co Clare

22/10/1018:36


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group is the ‘genesis of many the deci-sions taken on the farm’. He said that theindividual analysis of his own figures isgood, but when combined with a discus-sion group session where all the figuresfrom the farmers in the group are ana-lysed together, it becomes really benefi-cial.

‘‘You can benchmark yourself againstlocal farms that you know well and areoperating in similar conditions.Withoutprofit monitor analysis you are inclinedto look at things the wrong way around,focusing onmilk price that you are not incontrol of. But when you complete aprofitmonitor, the focus switches tocoststhat are in your control and price be-comes a lesser consideration,’’ he added.

A similar view is held by Sean Car-rigg, who farms a 66-head herd in part-nership with his father, PJ, atTiermaclane, Ennis Co Clare.

Sean said their position is that ‘costsare the only thing you can control; youcannot control price’. Farmproduction is

strong, with over 1,100kg milks solidsproduced per ha in 2009.This is a reflec-tionof ahigh stocking rateandrelativelygood cow yields. Because the farm istightly stocked, especially relative to thelevel of reseeded pasture on the milkingblock, keeping a handle on costs is vitalto the viability of the holding.

‘‘We did our first profit monitor in2008 andwe found it verybeneficial as itallowed the overall cost structure of thefarm to be broken down in a per unit ba-sis (i.e. per litre, per cowand per ha),’’ hesaid.

After seeing the figures, Sean and PJfocused closely on saving costs in 2009and 1.56c/l was saved in what was a verydifficult year.The review of the 2009 fig-ures ‘put us in a good mood’, said Sean.‘‘Until you see costs analysed on a perlitre basis, it’s hard to see the benefits ofsavings you have made,’’ he added.‘‘However, at year end, you cannotchange what happened in the year goneby.This is why using the figures to go

forward is so important and the reasonthat we implement monthly cashflowbudgets.The cashflow budget is gener-ated on the farm by looking at what wasspent the previous year, how savings canbe implemented on individual costs, andthen putting in projected income, basedon predicted milk sales.

‘‘This is theonlywaytokeepcontrol ofcosts and expenditure, and may meannot spending on non-essentials if thecashflow does not allow it. In short, aprofit monitor allows you to take stock ofwhere you are and to develop a roadmapfor where you want to go,’’ he concluded.

PROFIT MONITOR | contact

* If youwould like to completeaTeagascprofit monitor simply contact your localTeagasc adviser.This is a completelyfree service forTeagasc clients.

Niall,Sean and PJCarraigexamining reseeded pasture.

22/10/1018:34


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EnteringadecadeofopportunityTomO’Dwyer outlines some of the highlights at

the upcoming national dairy conferences

IT’S said that in today’s world, ‘youearn what you learn’. Over time,skills can fadeorbereplacedbynewtechnologies. None of us can claim

to know enough.Wemust all take everyopportunity to ‘top up’our knowledgereservoir to flourish and prosper.

By attending theTeagasc NationalDairy Conference 2010, you will be ableto update yourself on a number of im-portant current issues; network withother dairy farmers; hear about thestrategic market outlook, and get up todate on the latest research findings.Theconferences should be both useful andenjoyable.

This year’s event take place at two ve-nuesonsuccessivedates.Thefirst ison17November at Charleville Park Hotel,Charleville, Co Cork. It is followed by asecond conference on 18 November atMullingar Park Hotel, Mullingar, CoWestmeath. Both will follow the sameprogramme so you can attend the con-ferencemost suitable foryouandstillnotmiss anything.

Marina Rabello is part of the Rabo-bank global team of dairy analysts,based in Holland. She will outline therecent developments in supply, tradeand demand for dairy products and,

most importantly, give Rabobank’s viewon the potential impact of these devel-opments on Irish milk prices.

Rabobank will launch their GlobalDairyReport in earlyNovember and shewill beable to drawon the latest analysisin this report at theTeagasc conferences.

The Food Harvest 2020 report con-cludes that ‘the most compelling picturethat emerges of the decade ahead is oneof opportunity’. Increased global de-mand for milk and milk products,coupled with the abolition of EU milkquotas in 2015, presents a real opportu-nity for the Irish dairy sector.

Analysis suggests that a 50% increaseinmilk production is achievable by 2020.But changes are required by all in thedairy industry if this ambitious target isto be met. Change is never easy. Copingwith expansion will be difficult � forfarmers, the processing sector and forothers involved. Planning and prioriti-sation is required.

By working together and focusing onthe benefits of increasedmilkoutput, wecan make this vision a reality.

Poor animal health is costing dairyfarmers and the Irish dairy industrydearly. A new initiative will be launchedbyAnimal Health Ireland (AHI), withsupport from a number of dairy indus-try stakeholders, including Teagasc, bythe end of 2010 to tackle milk qualityissues, especially Somatic Cell Count(SCC).

We can learn from the experiences ofother countries in this area. Australiahas developed a national, industry-ledprogramme to tackle mastitis and milk

Tom O’Dwyer,ProgrammeManager,Dairying

Youearnwhatyou learn

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farm

CONFERENCE | booking

You can book your place for eitherconference by contacting:* CatrionaTwohig,[email protected] 029-60220 if youwish to attendon17 Novemberat CharlevillePark Hotel,Charleville,Co Cork* Celine Delaney,[email protected] 057-9169400 if youwish to attendn 18 Novemberat Mullingar Park Hotel,Mullingar,CoWestmeath.* Further details, and booking forms,are available at www.teagasc.ie* Early booking is recommendedasnumberswill be limited.

quality called ‘Countdown Downunder’.Pauline Brightling and John Penry haveplayed leading roles in the CountdownDownunder programme and they willoutline how the programme was devel-oped and the achievements of theinitiative to date. Pauline Brightlingsaid that the programme has been builtaround the concept of capacity-building;i.e. increasing the abilities and re-sources of individuals, organisationsand communities to manage change.

The initiative has focused on increas-ing the capacity of farmers to addressmastitis and milk quality issues.This isachieved by ensuring that all farmershave a good understanding of the prin-ciplesunderpinningmastitis control, theskills and confidence to achieve bestpractice on farm, and resources and ser-vices to support change on farms.

An interesting aspect of this part ofthe conference is that time is beingallowed for a panel discussion involvingPauline Brightling, Finola McCoy,Teagasc, and four others who have aninterest in milk quality issues: a dairyfarmer, AHI representative, milk pro-cessor representative and a veterinarysurgeon.

The launch of the Dairy EfficiencyProgramme (DEP) in 2010 has led to adoubling of the number of dairy farmersparticipating in discussion groups.ThiaHennessy, Teagasc, will outline herlatest research, showing how member-ship of such groups leads to increasedrates of technology adoption and im-proved profit levels. Teagasc dairyadvisers Stuart Childs and Patrick Gow-ing, supported by a number of dairyfarmer discussion group members, willhighlight the strategies that will allowyou to get themost from your discussiongroup in 2011.

The final conference session willhighlight the latest technologies in theareas of soil fertility, grassland, replace-ment heifer rearing and animal health.Proven technologies must be morewidelyadopted if farmersaretogeta fairreturn on your investment and manage-ment inputs.

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dairyingTo

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Turningdatainto betterdecisionsCareful use of farm data, combined with

particularly effective use of AI, are the key to

progress on this still-expandingTippdairy farm

ATa time when banks requirebillions as if we were in theMonopoly Money zone ratherthan the eurozone, a chat with

Declan Ryan, one of threeTipperary Co-opTeagasc monitor farmers, providesre-assurance that dairy farmers, atleast, understand basic business princi-ples.

‘‘It’s all about what we’re keeping outof every litre of milk,’’ said Declan, whofarms at Rathcannon, Holycross, withsubstantial input from his wife Claire.

Declan’s system is based on keepingcosts low while profitably building bothherd size and individual cow yield. Hehas steadily increased his herd from 58to 80 cows and, while he is aiming for 90to 100, he wants to remain a one-manoperation. He readily admits he hasscope to increase individual cow yieldfrom its current level of about 5,100 li-tres/cow and around 380kg to 400kgmilk solids per cow predicted this year.

‘‘Declan is a great example of a dairyfarmer who not only gathers a lot of dataabout his business, but understands anduses that information in his manage-ment decisions,’’ said Tipperary-basedTeagasc adviser Kevin Barron.

Declan’s breeding policy is based onEBI figures and he has steadily raisedthe EBI of the herd from €47 in 2006 to€93 today, and he aims to maintain thatimprovement. Progress has been ham-pered due to disease and IBR over thelast eight years.

Declan took over the family farm in2002 from his parents, John and Mary. ‘‘Istarted milking in 2002 with 57 cows, allof which were relatively well bred to apretty good stock bull,’’ said Declan.

Having qualified as an AI technician,Declan buys straws from a range of se-men providers, choosing the bulls bestsuited to each cow, and stores them onthe farm until needed. At the start ofeach season he takes a refresher course,practising on live cows.The number ofstraws used is a healthy 178, with an

average EBI of 194, proving that Declanis doing a good job. He bred heifers toAIas well.

Calving begins in February but is stilltoo drawn out. A relatively high rate ofAIuse means that Declan is planning tohave plenty of good heifers in the pipe-line. ‘‘There will be plenty of replace-ments which gives Declan scope to cullcows with poor reproductive perfor-mance and increase numbers,’’ said Ke-vin Barron.

Always on the look-out for ways to usehard facts to improve his management,Declan is considering whether heshould acquire a cattle scales, possiblywith other farmers. ‘‘We recently discov-ered as part of the monitor farm checksthat some of our heifers were lighterthan the ideal weight. As livestockfarmers we need to get accurate weightsfor animals at key stages,’’ said Declan.

Little concentrateIn 2009, Declan’s cows received 600kg/cow of meal. Last year was to prove aparticularly challenging grazing season.This year they’ll get little more than400kg./cow. ‘‘It’s all about grass,’’ saidDeclan, whose milking platform of 43hectares is divided into 36 paddocks andis managed by using theTeagasc wedgesystem. ‘‘Grass management is probablythe biggest benefit I’ve had out of beingpart of theTeagasc/Tipperary Co-opJoint Programme,’’ he said.Declan is a monitor farmer within theprogramme. ‘‘Iwalk the farm andmea-sure covers at least once a week, andthere’s another check when Kevin Bar-ron and Denis Carr visit the farm regu-larly.’’

Cows enter fresh paddocks first, andwhen they move on,18-month-old bul-locks are brought into the paddock thatthe cows have just left.This reduces theneed for topping. ‘‘By keeping on top ofthe system, and taking out paddocks ifthey got forward, Iwas able to make anextra 230 bales of really high quality si-

lage this year,’’ said Declan.Asked if he finds the wedge compli-

cated, Declan remarked: ‘‘Not at all. Itallows you to immediately see if a pad-dock is getting out of line because it’s vi-sual and you get an immediate overallimpression of how paddocks are pro-gressing.’’

A tributary of the Suir floods at least40 acres once a year. ‘‘We put in extraroadways over the last couple of yearsand that proved to be a key investmentto protect the swards from poaching,’’said Declan.The paddock system is built

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ABOVE:Kevin Barronand Declan inspect a group of heifers.LEFT:Future dairy farmerTadghwith his dad.

Teagasc/Tipperary Co-op DairyAdvisory Programme 2010Declan Ryan is currently joint chairman ofthe 14-member Mid-West Tipperary dairydiscussion group. ‘‘I’ve benefited unbe-lievably from being in the group,’’ saidDeclan.

‘‘Being a member brings you onbecause you benefit from group mem-bers’ views and having access to ad-visers like Kevin (Barron) and specialists.I also like the access to Teagasc specia-lists which we get at special workshop/seminars that are part of the Teagasc/Tipperary Co-op programme.’’

Donal Mullane, area manager, Tea-gasc, said that successful joint pro-grammes between Teagasc andTipperary Co-op have been operatingsince 1999. ‘‘The support for the pro-gramme from the suppliers has beenheartening,’’ he said. ‘‘I am very proud ofthe progress that has been achieved andis so visible on the ground. The successof the programme, which is focused onprofitability, can be attributed to theteamwork of the parties involved.’’

‘‘Tipperary Co-op has a track record ofworking closely with Teagasc, in con-junction with Solohead Research Farm,to transfer the most up-to-date technol-ogy and research onto its milk suppliersand to help Tipperary Co-op’s suppliersto be at the leading edge of productionefficiency,’’ said Ted O’Connor, generalmanager, Tipperary Co-op.

‘‘I would like to express a special wordof appreciation to the three monitorfarmers who made their farms availablefor walks and for their generosity inproviding information for the benefit of oursuppliers.’’

The three monitor farmers are DeclanRyan, Tim Crotty, Shronnell, and SeamusFarrell, Borrisoleigh.

The advisers are Kevin Barron (pic-tured, above right), John JM O’Dwyer andJames Mullane, together with back-upfrom Denis Carr. Paul Fortune (pictured,above left), organises from the TipperaryCo-op side, together with other co-oppersonnel.

on regular reseeding, with about 10acres done each year, while clover is in-cluded in every seed mix.

Declan is in REPS. His 14-unit dairyparlour allows for swift milking of theexisting herd and has scope to accom-modate future expansion.

Cell counts of under 200,000 showthat this aspect of milk quality is well inhand.TheTeagasc Profit Monitor is akey source of data for Declan. ‘‘You haveto keep an eye on your costs per litreand, of course, your profit per litre �that’s what it’s all about.’’

22/10/1018:33


beefTo

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HIGHERgrainpriceshaveresultedin an increase in concentratecosts of €50 to €60 per tonne.The

biggest effect will be on finishing sys-tems, where large amounts of concen-trates are fed. But most cattle get someconcentrates over the winter, so winterfeed costs will increase for most classesof stock. Good management can lessenthe effect.

Feed issuesBefore you purchase feed, it is worth es-timating exactly howmuch feed and thetype of concentrate you need for thewinter.You can then get quotations andnegotiate on price.

It will simplify matters in relation topurchase, storage and feeding if one ra-tion formulation can be used for all (ormost) stock. For example, a mix of rolledbarley, citrus pulp anddistillers could beused for fattening cattle, weanlings andsuckler cows in milk, with the appropri-ate minerals added later.

Teagasc have a complete nutritionadvisory service that provides informa-tion on the nutrient value of ingredientsand the formulation of specific rationsfor all categories of stock.Teagasc clientscan also use the web-based ration reck-oner which allows them to formulate aration and compare a complete diet(forage and concentrates) withTeagascrecommendations.

On theTeagasc client site(www.client.teagasc.ie) there is an inter-active calculator that allows you to cal-culate the value of most common feedsrelative to rolled barleyand soyabean orrolled barley and distillers grains.To ac-cess this site, go on theTeagasc clientsite, clickon ‘interactive calculators’andscroll to ‘nutrition’ (see graph).

This year there are indications fromanalysis that silage quality is well aboveaverage.This shouldallowscope formealsaving with autumn calving cows, storecattle and weanlings. Each three unitsimprovement in digestibility will save1kg meal/day.

It is worth having silage analysed ifyou are unsure of its feeding value. Con-sider if there is scope to reduce themealallowance to cows, weanlings and storesby about 1kg/day where good silage isavailable. Dry cows don’t need any meal,except where silage is restricted or cows

on poor quality silage are thin at hous-ing.

Keep a close watch on performance ofanimals intended for grass in spring andreduce meal where performance is sa-tisfactory.

An alternative approach would be tofeed normal amounts ofmeal at the startand reduce or withdrawmeal in the sec-ond half of the indoor period, having as-sessed the performance of stock.Reducing meal feeding before going tograss improves the opportunity for bet-ter compensatory growth.

How can you save on meal?* Buy in bulk�meal bought in bags is€40/tonne more expensive than bulkpurchases. Small-scale producers couldcollect a bulk supply frommerchants orco-ops and store in a trailer under cover.*Buy off-farm cereals, suchasbarleyorbarley/wheat mix, from cereal farmers.

Aprotein balancer andmineral/vitaminsupplement can be added at feeding.Where good silage is available, rolledbarley, with addedminerals, is adequatefor store cattle and strong weanlings.* Feed-to-need onlyby monitoring thecondition of suckler cows, stores andweanlings throughoutthewinter to see ifsavings can be made.Weanlings andstores can have meal feeding reducedthree to six weeks before going to grass.* Early turnout in spring will reducethe overall meal requirements. Draw upa spring grazing plan and aim to getpriority stock to grass in February.

Meal supplementation with silage

Since silage forms the basis of mostcattle diets in winter (apart from thefinal finishing stage), the amount ofmealneeded to meet target gains determinesthe quantity to be purchased.The targetliveweight gain for weanlings and store

Liam Fitzgerald,Beef Specialist,Teagasc,Athenry

Getting themost from

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Go towww.client.teagasc.ie, clickon ‘interactive calculators’and scroll to ‘nutrition’.

expensivewinter feed

cattle going to grass in spring is 0.5kg/day to 0.6kg/day. Cows with calves pro-duce six to 10 litres of milk per day andneed to maintain a body condition of 2.0to 2.5.

Finishing cattleIn recent years, most beef cattle havebeen finished on an ad lib concentratediet, with minimal roughage, over a per-iod of about 100 days, having beenbrought to within 120kg to 150kg of theirslaughter weight on forage-based dietsof grass or silage.

Even at the higher meal prices,Dr Siobha¤ n Kavanagh,Teagasc, hasshown that the ad lib concentrate dietremains competitive against alterna-tives such as high quality grass silage,maize silage and fodder beet-baseddiets.

>> Next page

Table1 |Meal requirements, kg/day

Silage quality Weanlings Store Cows with

cattle calves

High — 74% DMD 1kg for first six None None

weeks after

housing

Moderate — 1kg 1kg for first 2kg to

68% DMD 60 days mating;

1kg

thereafter

Low — 62% DMD 3kg at start,

reduce to 2kg 2kg to 3kg 3kg to mating

reduce to 2kg

thereafter,

depending

on body

condition

Adiet of silage, waste bread and strawbeingfed to cattle on JohnWhite’s farm in Cratloe,Co Clare (see page 20).

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beefTo

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’sfarm To control the feed cost on the ad lib

concentrate diet, the meal should bebought at a competitive price, the rate ofgain must be high (in the range 1.3kg to1.5kg liveweight/day), and the animalsshould be finished in a relatively shortperiod.

Teagasc recommend that animalsshould be grown on mainly forage diets,with high concentrate feeding confinedto the final 80 to 90 days forheifers; 90 to120 days for steers and about 200 daysfor young bulls.

Diets should have a high energy con-tent (0.97 UFVor higher as fed) andabout 12% crude protein. Don’t neglectthe water supply; stock should have aconstant supply of fresh water.

Animal concernsFeeding management should concen-trate on getting the best performancepossible from the feeds provided.Withfinishing cattle, the optimum level of in-take is essential to maximise weightgain.

Regular feeding, a fresh supply, ade-quate feed space, feed available to ap-petite and no big or sudden changes tothe diet help to ensure high intakes.

The next priority are the environ-mental conditions in the cattle house.The lying area needed in a slatted houseranges from 1.7m2 for a weanling to2.5m2 for a large animal at finish.

Cattle produce a lot of body heat andmoisture (especially those on finishingdiets) which has to be expelled by venti-lation. Excessive moisture on roofs is asign of inadequate ventilation.

The third major area is animalhealth. A healthy environment will helpto reduce the risk of diseases such aspneumonia. Fluke (including rumenfluke), stomach worms and lice are themain parasitic diseases that have to becontrolled to get the most from the feedinputs.

Clare farmer secures feedrequirement in good time

JOHNWhite farms near Cratloe inCo Clare, keeping 100 sucklercows and selling the progenymostly as yearlings.

The bull weanlings, all continentalcrosses, are sold at about 400kg. Johnhas a big number of replacements atpresent so all the best heifers are keptfor breeding.

The cow herd is mainly Limousincross, with some Belgian Blue andSalers. He runs two bulls, a Limousinand Blonde d’Aquitaine, and also uses

some Belgian Blue AI. In August, asfeed prices were escalating, Johnmovedto secure some of his winter feed supplywhen he got the opportunity to purchasewaste bread from the UK.

He bought 120 tonnes of bread at €120per tonne and ensiled it in a narrowwalled silo under a layer of second cutgrass/clover silage.

The bread has a dry matter of 65%, acrude protein of 14.4% and an energyvalue similar to barley or wheat. At cur-rent barley prices, bread of 65% DM is

worth about €146 per tonne.The currentprice has risen in the UK and is nowcosting €150/tonne.Thebreadwill be fedto the autumn calving cows and theweanlings, mixed with first cut silage ina diet feeder.

The yearlings for salewill get first cutsilage, 3kg bread and 1kg to 2kg of beefration.The autumn calvers will get adaily diet of first cut silage plus 4kgbread. Dry cows will get a mixture of si-lage and a small amount of straw, de-pending on body condition score.

JohnWhite and Clare B & Tadviser Jim Hayes discuss the feedingof waste bread, which is ensiledunder grass silage.

22/10/1018:32

poultry


Today’s

farmHens

RUsAs times get hard, the

fun and practicality of

keepingpoultryisback

in fashion, writes

Nuala King, Teagasc

poultry specialist

HENS are ‘in’.Time was whenevery farmyard boasted aflock of hens, a few cockerelsfor the pot and turkeys or

geese for the Christmas dinner.But times changed and poultry on the

farm became almost taboo. Now it’strendy today, in both rural and urbansettings, to declare that you have eggsfresh from the hens in your own backgarden.

‘Should I follow the trend?’ is a ques-tion that’s frequently asked. Make yourdecision on the basis of a list of pros andcons. In favour of hensyou couldperhapslist:

Pros*Youwill have the freshest eggs possible— tasty and nutritious* You will enjoy having hens, lookingafter them and observing their carefreebehaviour* Hens provide rich education andinterest for children*They will greatly improve the compostbank*You’ll have stress-busters on your doorstep.

ConsThe cons might include:*A little attention is needed every day ofthe year* Hens need a house or an ark* They can be messy if left on the samepatch of grass for too long* Hens can attract pests, if feed is leftexposed* They may upset the neighbours,particularly if you keep a crowingrooster (cockerel).

If you want hens to produce eggs, youshould get point of lay pullets (younghens).Thesewill be specialist layers, butvirtually useless as poultrymeat birds.

Buy pullets from a reliable source; I’dlike to seewhere theywere reared.Don’tpay a fortune for them. Nomodern pointof lay pullet is worth the €12 that issometimes requested. (that’s 55 cent perdozen of eggs straight away). If you wantrare breeds, that is a different matter.

Six pullets fed a balanced diet, givenfresh, cold water and 14 hours light willsupplyabout fivegood sizedeggsperhenper week once they get into their layingstride.

Eggs will be small for the first fewweeks. Lighting is important; tradition-ally, hens stopped laying in winter andfarmers preserved eggs from the excessof the summer.Knowledgeabouttherole

of lighting solved that dilemma.Be aware that hens deprived of water

for a few hourswill cease to lay. Hens aregentle creatures and need protectionfrom foxes and other predators. Cocker-els are totally unnecessary with a layingflock. Provide a bed of chopped straw orwhite wood shavings. Give them aperching bar and have a nestbox forevery six birds.

Let the birds graze in a confined areaon short grass during the day. Lock themin at night. Feed consumption dependsonthetemperature. Incoldweather theyeat a lotmore than theusual 125g to 140g(4.5 to 5 ounces) per bird per day. Feed isexpensive � don’t waste it.

Keep the nests cleanCollect eggs as soon as possible afterthey are laid � young children will findthis a magical task � and keep the eggsin a cool place.

Remember: you cannot improve anegg after it is laid; you do your best tomaintain its quality. Eggs deterioraterapidly in warm conditions.

Intensive poultry farming is very bigbusiness, focusedonprofit.Atthis family‘backgarden’ level thereareothervaluesin play. Do what suits your situation anddo it well. Above all, enjoy the hen ex-perience!

At this family‘back garden’

level,other valuesareinplay.Dowhat suits yoursituation and do it well.Aboveall, enjoy thehenexperience!

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sheepTo

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Thekey to bettersheepprofitsTom Coll,Drystock B&TAdviser Sligo/Leitrim AMU

PHILIPHiggins farms a mixedenterprise of suckler cows andsheep with his wife, Amanda,and their children, Jonathan

(15), Naomie (13) and Hannah (7), inSkreen, Co Sligo.The children help outon the farm and have a keen interest,especially in the sheep. Philip’s farmillustrates that lambs reared per ewe tothe ram, high stocking rate, lamb priceand reduced variable costs are the fac-tors which drive gross margins on low-land sheep farms.

‘‘Our enterprise consists of 200 low-land ewes, made up of 25%mules, 20%Texel X mules and the remaining 55%Suffolk Xmules stocked at eight ewes tothe ram per ha,’’ said Philip.

Mature ewes are large, 90kgs plus;cull ewes slaughtered this year averaged41kgs carcase andmade €99. Suffolk andTexel rams are used both as terminalsires and for breeding replacements.‘‘Traditionally, we have bought mule re-placement lambs atthe annualmule salein Ballinrobe,’’ said Phillip. ‘‘Now wesource our replacements from our ownmature mules.’’

In2009, a total of 154matureewesand46 ewe lambs � 36 of which were homebred�went to the ram in early Sep-tember.The ram was used both on ma-ture ewes and ewe lambs. Philip said hefinds that the Suffolk cross ewes showheat twoweeks earlier than the muleewes.

Litter sizeEwesarenotpregnancyscanned,mainlybecauseof thepredictabilityof litter sizeon the Higgins farm, which is consis-tently in excess of 1.7 lambs weaned per

ewe put to the ram.This year this figurewas 1.74, which exceeds theTeagasc tar-getof1.6 for the lowlandBETTERFarmsand, when broken down, is made up of1.84 for mature ewes and 1.4 for ewelambs. Lambmortality is less than 10%for the farm.

‘‘Triplet lambs are cross fostered atbirth, sometimes to ewe lambs,’’ saidPhillip. ‘‘Two thirds of ewe lambs reareddoubles in2010.Goodquality,well-grownewe lambs are selected for breeding atfirst draft and are in excess of 60kgsgoing to the ram. Lambing began on 7February, and by 20 March, 95% of theflock had lambed.’’

By mid-October just seven lambs re-main on the farm for sale.The averagelambprice achieved this yearwas €96.60.Details of this year’s lamb drafting areshownTable 1. The lambs drafted fromAugust onwards were mainly thosereared by ewe lambs.

How’s it done?Fields are closed frommid-October tocreate a grass wedge and ensure there’senoughgrassatturnout inmid-February.Twenty units of pasture sward is spreadon all fields in early February, weatherpermitting, with barer fields receiving alight dressing of slurry. By early Decem-ber, all ewes are housed on plastic slatsand are fed pit silage plus concentratesfrom housing, gradually increasing to1kg/head/day at lambing. Ewes andlambsareputto grass as soonaspossibleafter lambing and are fed 1kg of concen-trates to the end of March.

Creep is introduced to lambs frommid-March. Ewes are batched in fourgroups,with ewe lambs runasa separategroup. ‘‘This year, ewes consumed 95kgsof concentrates per head at a cost of€23.20 and lambs consumed 27kgs at acost of €7 per lamb,’’ said Phillip. ‘‘Thatequates to €35 per ewe, or about 50% oftotal variable costs for 2010.’’

Philip is a founder member of theSligo/Leitrim Lamb Producer Group,whichwasestablished in2009.Thegroupsupplies lambs to Irish CountryMeats inNavan and works closely withTeagascand ICM to ensure that progress is madein lamb quality and selection, carcase-

weight, grade fat score and health.The group, in conjunction withTea-

gasc Sligo/Leitrim and ICM Navan, re-cently ran a field evening and stockjudging competition.The classes were:best upland and lowland ewe lamb forbreeding and best factory upland andlowland lamb. Philip is delighted withthe group. He said the main advantagesfor him are:*The time saved; lambs are collected bythe group at nearby stops* Improved drafting of lambs as lambscan be selected every week* Improved lamb price, due to betterselection, and

Draft Running %

date of totalEnd May 47%

End June 73%

End July 80%

End Aug 83%

End Sept 94%

Mid Oct 98%

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* Factory feedback on liver damage.

Lamb kill to date on the Higgins farmshows that 64% of lambs graded U with34%R.Only2%of lambs fell in fat class 4,with an average carcaseweight of20.1kgs.The group’s lamb kill figures for2010 show that 44% of lambs graded U,with 43% R, of which 8% were R2s.Eighty seven per cent of the lambs werefat class 3 with only 3% overfats 4 and 5.

The average carcaseweight for thegroup was 19.3kgs .The projected grossoutput per ewe for 2010 forPhilip is €164,with a gross margin of €97 per ewe.Thisequates to a 62% improvement over thepreviousyear,when thegrossmarginper

ewe was €60.The increased lamb price,better lamb selection (i.e. heavier carca-seweights), more kgs sold per ewe andbreeding from a greater percentage ofewe lambs bred from his own flock lead-ing to reduced replacement costs andhigh cull values, all contribute to thebetter gross margin achieved.

‘‘Output per ewe is the main driver ofgross margin on my farm,’’ said Philip‘‘Through better grasslandmanagementand more effective use of paddocks, sav-ings canbemade, especially inmeals fedto ewes at grass.’’

As for his breeding system, Phillipremarked: ‘‘If it works, why change it?’’

Throughbettergrassland

management andmore effective use ofpaddocks, savingscanbemade, especially inmeals fed to ewes atgrass

Philip Higgins: output perewe is themain driver ofgrossmargin onhis CoSligo farm.

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tillageTo

day

’sfarm PlanP&K

for spring crops

ARTIFICIAL fertilizer now ac-counts for about half of thetotal variable costs in cerealproduction.With this in mind,

it is essential to keep an eye on fertilizercosts and tailor crop fertilizer pro-grammes to satisfy crop nutrient re-quirements.

This is bread and butter stuff onGeorge and KennethWilliamson’s farm,which is theTeagasc tillage BETTERfarm inWexford.The entire farmwas soiltested in September 2009 to establishthe soil’s major and minor nutrients aswell as soil organic matter.These pro-vided up-to-date soil fertility informa-tion and the basis for good fertilizerplanning in 2010.

LimeA key starting point was to check thesoil’s lime status and ensure that soil pHwas correct for the crop being planted.Soil test results indicated that themajority of the farm had good lime sta-tus, which is a reflection of the ongoinglime programme on the farm.

Calcium limestonewasapplied, asperlimerecommendations, fromthesoil testreports, as soil magnesium levels werehigh.The aim is to maintain a soil pH of6.5 for crops in the rotation.

Farm soil P & KSoil test results inTable 1 show that alarge proportion of the farm was at soilindex 1 and 2 for P, with the majority ofthe farm at index 2 and 3 for K. Up to

2009, 18-6-12 was the predominant com-pound fertilizer used for spring cerealcrops. Soil test results showed that 10-10-20 would be a more suitable fertilizer asit better matched crop P & K require-ments. This is required to get crops off toa good start in the spring as sufficientlevels of P & K must be available in therooting zone for plant uptake.

In 2010, yield potential for springbarleyon the farmwas7.5t/ha (3.0t/acre).Table2 shows the potential crop offtakesat 29kg P/ha and 86kg K/ha betweengrain and straw at harvest.

The continued use of 370kg/ha (threebags/acre) of the compound 18-6-12would have supplied 67kg N/ha, 22kg P/ha and 45kg K/ha. Hence, there wouldhave been a shortfall of 7kg P/ha and41kg K/ha, resulting in a decline in soilfertility and a possible reduction infuture crop yield potential.

In 2010, index 1 soils received 430kg/ha (3.5 bags/acre) of 10-10-20, providing43kg N/ha, 43kg P/ha and 86kg K/ha,while index 2 soils received 370kg/ha(three bags/acre), providing 37kg N/ha,37kg P/ha and 74kg K/ha, which was in-corporated at sowing time.

This paid dividends as April andMaywereverydryandthisensuredthattherewas no restriction in the early stages ofroot and tiller development.

Index 3 soils received a maintenanceapplication of 18-6-12 plus additional K

Mark PlunkettJohnstown Castle &JohnPettit,Teagasc,Wexford

Table1: |%of soil samples atvarious soil P & K indices

Soil Index P K1 32 0

2 36 23

3 27 60

4 5 17

Table 2 | P & Kofftakes in cereal grain and straw

Crop Yield Potential P Offtake K Offtake

(t/ha) (kg/ha) (kg/ha)Spring barley 7.5 29 (23) 86 (68)

6.5 25 (20) 74 (59)

Winter Wheat 11.0 42 (34) 108 (86)

10.0 38 (30) 98 (78)

Winter Oats 9.0 34 (27) 130 (104)

8.0 30 (24) 115 (92)

( ) — Units/acre

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as muriate of potash (50% K) to ensurethe crop had sufficient levels of K.

P & K trials 2010Teagasc conducted a trial in 2010 to in-vestigate the effect of P & K rates ongrain yield and quality in spring barley.

This trial indicated the importance ofsupplying sufficient levels of P & K atsowingtimeonindex1soils.OmittingP&K resulted in a yield penalty of 1.1t/ha to1.25t/ha in2010.ThisequalsareturnonP&K investment of approximately 2:1.

Trace elementsThe importance of trace elements on theWilliamson’s farm was well recognised,with a previous policy of applying abroad spectrum trace element mix tocover all possible deficiencies.

Recent soil test results identifiedspecific fields with low levels of manga-nese and zinc, or a combination of both.

As a result, amore targeted approachwas adopted to trace element applica-tions, where specific products werechosen to deliver either zinc or manga-nese to satisfy crop requirements.

Trace elements were applied early(three-leaf stage to first node) and con-sisted of either a single or split applica-tion, depending on the soil test results.

With the heavy soil type on theWilliamson farm, all the land receives apass of a heavy soil press before sowingto ensure a sufficiently fine and firmseedbed.This facilitates better soil toroot contact, which improves traceelement availability and plant uptake.

Plans for 2011In 2011, fertilizerswill be selected on soilP & K levels plus crop yield potential.

For example, spring barley crops willreceive 370kg/ha (three bags/acre) of13-9-22, which will provide 48kg N/ha,33kg P/ha and 96kg K/ha.This better

matchescropofftakesandprovidesmoreN in the primary fertilizer application,whichwillbeofparticular importanceoncontinuous tillage fields.

Soil test results have showed that anumber of fields on the farm have lowmanganese (Mn) levels. Manganeseplays an important function in the earlystages of crop rooting and tiller devel-opment.To prevent a shortage of Mn inthe early stages of development, springbarley seedwill bedressedwithMn seeddressing for the very deficient sites.

Manganese also has a role to play inreducing the crops risk toTake-all infec-tion.

In 2010, an area of foragemaize silagewas grown on the farm for a local live-stock farmer.This provides many bene-fits in terms of crop rotation and theimportation of organic manure onto thefarm.

The addition of organic manure sup-plies a cost effective source ofN,P,Kandother nutrients, plus organic matter.

Maizewill be rotated around the farmtomaximisebothsoilandcroprotationalbenefits.

Artificialfertilizer now

accounts forabout halfof the total variablecosts in cerealproduction.With this inmind, it is essential tokeepaneyeonfertilizercosts and tailor cropfertilizerprogrammestosatisfy crop nutrientrequirements

KEY POINTS | P & K for spring crops

* Over the past decade therehas been adeclinenationally in theusageof P & Kfertilizeron farms, with a 60% and 58%reduction, respectively.* Where this continues, soil fertility levelsand crop yield potentialwill decline.* Inorder tomaintainsoil fertility, fertilizerprogrammes should replace crop P & Kofftakes for future crop yields.* Now is a good time to take soil samplesand check your farm’s soil fertility levelsandaddress soilswith low limestatusoverthe comingmonths.* Organicmanures offera good opportu-nity to cost effectively replace fertilizers

and add soil organicmatter to continuoustillage soils.* In 2010, cross compliance requires soilorganicmatter to bemonitored on contin-uous tillage soils.* Bytheendof thisyear,50%ofcontinuoussoilsmust be tested, with the remaining50% tested in 2011.Soil organicmatter re-sultsfromtheWexfordBETTERfarm,whichis a heavy soil type, are all above the soilorganicmatter threshold value of 3.4%.* Request an S9 soil test (pH,LR,P,K,Mg,Cu,Mn,Zn) for tillagesoils, which includessoil organicmatteranalysis, for e45,including VAT.

LEFT:George and KennethWilliamson, whooperate theTeagasc tillage BETTER farm in CoWexford.

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’sfarm

The ISIS project will

build on soil mapping

which began in the

1960s

SeanKenny,Teagasc,JohnstownCastle

‘‘ISIS is breaking new grounds,nationallyand internationally,for the farming sector and forscientists. It will provide the

knowledge and data that will help usmanage our soil resources productivelyand sustainably.’’ So said Teagasc direc-tor, Professor Gerry Boyle, at the March2009 launchof the Irish Soil InformationSystem (ISIS) project, which has as itsaim the completion of the soil map ofIreland to a scale of 1 : 250,000 (circa oneinch to four miles).

The project builds on the work ofTeagasc’s predecessor An ForasTalu¤ n-tais, which produced detailed soil mapsat scale 1 : 126,000 (circa one inch to twomiles) and red hard-backed reports bycounty for 44% of the country that wascompleted under that project.

The counties mapped by An ForasTalu¤ ntais are: Wexford, Carlow, Limer-ick, Laois, Offaly, Leitrim,Westmeath,Meath, Clare, Kildare,Waterford. Partsof northTipperary, westMayo, west Corkand west Donegal were also mapped.

These soil maps delineate areas ofdifferent soil type based on characteris-tics such as depth, drainage, texture andstoniness and are the basis for under-standing the soil resources that sustainour agriculture systems.

FamiliarIndeed, many farmers are very familiarwith soil series such as Clonroche, Eltonand Patrickswell, which were defined bythe survey and subsequently widelyadopted and understood in regional vo-cabulary to define a particular soil type.

These names have, for those countiesthatwere surveyed, become a commonlyunderstood standard of soil quality andproduction potential. Unfortunately, theprojectwas brought to a close in themid-1980s with the result that the remaining56%of thecountrywasmappedatamuchless detailed scale with no detailed soilseries information produced.

The ISIS project aims to address thissoil knowledge deficit by completing thesoilmapofIrelandatascaleof1: 250,000,thus providing the basis upon whichfuture research can build to provide

better soil specific nutrient advice whilemeeting with the requirement to havesuch soil information available to thepublic as recommended by EU legisla-tion.

Original mapsWhereas the original maps were pro-duced exclusively froman intensive fieldsampling programme, ISISwill combinecuttingedge spatialmapping technologydeveloped in the intervening years withtraditional field surveying to producethe newmap.

It is the first time that such an ap-proachwill beappliedat anational scaleand, as a result, the project has attracted

significant interest from scientistsacross theworld.Thisprocessutilises thefact that a given soil is a function of fivefactors: climate, relief, parent material,time and organisms including humans.

For the counties already mapped, astatistical model can be constructedwhich can determine the relative con-tribution of each to the soil classificationassigned.

Using the knowledge of this relation-ship and digital datasets for each of thefive factors outlined above, a predictionof the soil types in the currently un-mapped areas is produced from a Geo-graphical Information System (GIS).Thismap is then taken into the field and

Soilmappingmoving

The ISIS teampictured on Nicholas Bielenberg’sfarmat Munny House,Tullow,Co Carlow.From left:Billy Hamilton,Eoin Dooley,Nicholas Bielenberg(farmer),Rachel Creamer,Gero Jahns, JulianSpurwayand Sean Kenny.

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Today’s

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forward

used to inform the selection of samplingpoints as part of the traditional fieldsurveyelementof theprojecttocalibrateand verify the predictions. Survey teamsvisit representative areas within each ofthe soil units predicted by the map andusing a ‘Dutch’ hand auger, bore down to80cm.

Each 10cm of soil is brought to thesurface in sequence where changes intexture, colour, wetness, stoniness, etc,arerecordedandclassificationassigned.

The two-year field survey element ofthe project which started this year hasalready taken the team through Kilken-ny, southTipperary, west Mayo and intoWicklow.

Commenting on the progress of thefield work to date, project scientist DrRachel Creamer of Teagasc, JohnstownCastle, said: ‘‘We have been delightedwith the reception we have received onfarms this year.’’

Co-operation‘‘We have had excellent co-operationfrom farmers regarding access to theirlands and great understanding of thenecessity for completing the soil mapand information system and the role itwill play in helping manage our soil re-sources,’’ Dr Creamer said.

For 2011, it is planned to complete thefield survey for Dublin, Cork, Kerry

Louth, Cavan, Longford, Roscommon,Monaghan and east Mayo with Sligo,Galway and East Donegal scheduled for2012.

‘‘Farmers in these counties canexpectto hear from the project team as theproject progresses and we are verygrateful for the support of farmers forallowing access to their lands, withoutwhich the project could not be underta-ken,’’ said Dr Creamer.

On completion of data modelling,collection and validation, all of the soilinformation generated by the projectwillbemadepubliclyavailable throughaweb-based interactive map.

ISIS isbreakingnew grounds,

nationally andinternationally, for thefarming sectorand forscientists. It will providethe knowledge anddata that will help usmanage our soilresources productivelyand sustainably

Professor Gerry Boyle,Teagasc director

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Slurry is an excellent source of potassiumand should be applied as earlyas possible (and allowed) in spring.

TheKain’talwaysokayAnthony O’Connor,Teagasc, Athenry

DoGalway farmers facea ‘K’-

lamity? Maybe yes, maybe

no, let’s hope it ain’t so

POTASSIUM, or potash as manypeople know it, is essential forplant growth and animal nu-trition. Potassium� desig-

nated with the letter K� promotes rootdevelopment, vigorous growth and clo-ver development in grass swards. It aidsthe uptake andutilisation of othermajornutrients, such as nitrogen and phos-phorus in grassland.Without sufficientK, you will get reduced grass yield inpasture, even with good levels of nitro-gen.

Inrecentyears therehasbeenamajorreduction in the usage of K in Irelandpartly due to its increasing cost, a trend

to compound fertilizers which are low inK, and also environmental concerns,which have led to lower use of fertilizer.

This decrease has been reflected ondrystock farms in Co Galway.* The ideal K Index is soil index 3.* Index 1 and Index 2 indicate adeficiency of soil K.* Index 4 may mean excessive K in thesoil.

FromTable 1, note the fall in index 4,with a large increase in soil samples atsoil index 2 and soil index 1.

K requirements for grasslandPotassium requirement for grazed grassis low as K is recycled back on to thepasture in the form of dung, and espe-cially in the form of urine.

Intensively cut swards have a muchhigher need forK, thus soil reserves of Kmaybecomedepleted unless adequatelyfertilized.

Signs of K deficiency are poor anduneven growth in pasture, with grassspecies such as ryegrasses and cloverfading from the sward.

Soil samples are the basis for good Kmanagement. Recommendations forfarms should be drawn up by aTeagascadviser or agricultural consultant. Ifthere is a REPS or fertilizer plan on thefarm, recommendations should be fol-lowed closely.

If index 4 is found, then the excessiveK can lead to a problem with docks inpasture. It may also inhibit the uptake ofmagnesium fromgrass,which can lead tograss tetany in cows, thus high K fertili-zer shouldonlybeapplied in theautumn.

If index 1 or 2 are present, an appli-cation of Kwill give a vigorous response.

Sources of KSlurry is an excellent source of potas-sium and should be applied as early aspossible in spring. Straight fertilizerssuch as 0-7-30 and 0-10-20 are high in K,but their use maybe limited if you are inREPS. Compound fertilizers such as 18-6-12 and 27-2.5-5 are low in K but areused widely. Muriate of potash (50% po-tassium) isveryhigh inKbuthasbecomevery expensive in recent years.

KEY POINTS | Potassium

* Tomaintain optimumgrowth, ensurethat potassium is kept at index 3.* This can be achieved through regularsoilanalysisevery fivetosixyearsandbyfollowing recommendations carefully.* TheKain’tokay, but let’shopeitwillnotget anyworse!

Table1 | Soil samples

2006 2007 2008 2009Index 4 45% 33% 27% 23%

Index 3 28% 29% 32% 29%

Index 2 22% 29% 34% 39%

Index 1 5% 8% 7% 9%

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Today’s

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Christmastrees�agrowingmarketKevin O’Connell,TeagascForest Development Officer

Ireland’s 50 commercial Christmastree growers produce around600,000 trees annually, generatinge12 million. Half are sold on the

homemarket, with the rest going to theUK, France and Germany. In Europe,32.8 million Christmas trees will be pro-duced this year, with another four mil-lion imported from outside the EU.Therefore,hugepotential exists for Irishgrowers who can produce a quality tree.

Ireland has the climate and soil typesto produce the very best quality trees.Unlike commercial forestry, there are nogrants or premia for growing Christmas

trees but, as a forest product, they areexempt from income tax.

The two main species grown areNordmann fir (70%) and Noble fir (30%).Botharenon-shedandhavereplacedthetraditional Norway spruce.

Nordmann fir is suitable for heaviersoils and is relatively easy to work with.

Noble fir is more site demanding andrequires more intensive management.

Trees are grown on a 10-year rotationand are separated into two quality cate-gories, generally breaking down 50:50into premium and first choice.

Trees are colour tagged and sold byheight.

Christy’sChristmas

C HRISTYand Kathleen Kavanaghrun a 40-acre Christmas tree farm

near Newtownmountkennedy, CoWick-low. It is a family business, with brothersand sisters helping out at busy times.Christy trained as a commercial horti-culturalist at Warrenstown College in1979 and worked in the mushroom in-dustry for a number of years before re-turning to the family farm.

‘‘The home farm was a small mixedfarmwith cattle and sheep and Icouldn’tsee a future in it,’’ said Christy, whoplanted a few acres of Norway spruce inthe firstyear.‘‘Ihadnoexperienceand,ofcourse, made mistakes, but one of themost important lessons I learned was toget advice and education.’’

Christy joined the Irish ChristmasTree Growers (ICTG), attended theirmeetings, went on field trips, spoke toother growers and began to build up asound knowledge base for growing thetrees. He discovered that his farm wasideally suited for growing Noble fir.

He is nowa full-time Christmas treefarmer, growing the non-shed speciesNordmann fir and Noble fir and has thecapacity to produce up to 7,000 trees perannum.

GrowingChristmas trees is a full-timejob that requires a number of differentskills � planting, weed control, fertiliz-ing, bud picking and shaping, pest anddisease control, selecting and tagging,harvesting, transportation, presenta-tion and selling.

Kathleen manages the business: ad-ministration, accounts, advertising,budgets, bookkeeping and web site.‘‘Your annual income comes in over justone week!’’ she said.

Marketing is keyChristy markets his wholesale sales onthe Irish ChristmasTree Growers web-site.

Each year, from 1 to 24 December, hetakes out a stand at Leopardstown Ra-cecourse and sells his trees directly tothe public.

‘‘Customers comebackyear after yearand pick out their Christmas tree; thetrees are not more than a day cut.’’

Christy has twice won the national

Christmas tree competition and is thesupreme champion for 2010.

‘‘Get advice before you commit your-self,’’ advises Christy. ‘‘Join an organisa-tion like theChristmasTreeGrowersandstrive for quality.The markets are there,and if you can consistently produce aquality tree, then you will be rewardedwith the best price.’’

* www.kavanaghchristmastrees.ie* www.christmastreesireland.ie

Table1 | Christmas tree price list

Colour Size (feet) Premium First ChoicePink 4 to 5 e15.00 e9.00

Green 5 to 6 e20.00 e14.00

Blue 6 to 7 e22.00 e16.00

Yellow 7 to 8 e25.00 e19.00

Orange 8 to 10 e35.00 e29.00

Conorand NiamhKavanaghwith the supreme champion Christmas tree 2010

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’sfarm

It may bepossible to

reduce the CGT bill byallowing for capitalimprovementexpenditure (net ofgrants) since the datethe farmwas acquired

Farmtransfer& retirement

The taxation issues

WHEN a farm is transferredby gift, the owner ‘dispos-ing’of the farmmust do thecalculations for Capital

GainsTax (CGT) and the young farmerreceiving the farmmust check for twotaxes� stamp duty and Capital Acqui-sitionTax (CAT).These taxes can be highbut can be eliminated or substantiallyreduced where the full range of reliefs isavailable, but usually there are condi-tions to be met.

The example (facing page) illustratesthe various taxes and reliefs whichapply to a farm transfer.

Stamp Duty (the son in this example)Stamp duty is a tax charged on the legaldocuments transferring fixed assets bygift or purchase.The fixed assets includefarmland, buildings, farm dwellings andmilk quota.

Stamp duty does not apply to the mo-bile assets like livestock and machineryor the Single Farm Payment.There is asliding rate of stamp duty of 1% to 5% ontransactions up to e80,000, but once thetransaction exceeds e80,000, the top rateof 6% applies to the full amount.

For transfers within the close family,stamp duty is reduced by 50% (the halfrate); e.g. the 6% rate is reduced to 3%(this is referred to as consanguinity re-lief).Young farmers can claim100%relief

John Norris,FarmManagementSpecialist,TeagascKildalton

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Example |Adairy farmerapproaching66yearsandapplyingfor thecontributoryoldpensionwishes to transfer the farmand related farmingassets tohis sonwho isaged 29 years and has completedagricultural training.Themarket value of theassets is as follows:

(a) Farm — 120 acres (48.6 ha) at e10,000/acre = e1,200,000

(b) Farm buildings and facilities = e 220,000

(c) Livestock (70 dairy cows + replacements + cattle) = e 110,000

(d) Milk quota (80,000 gls = 363,688 litres at 12 cent/l) = e 43,642

(e) Single farm payment (46 entls. At e350 each x 1.4 times) = e 22,540

(f) Machinery and equipment = e 45,000

Total = e1,641,182(1) An average milk quota price of 12 cent/litre is used for this farm. Milk quota prices recently

in the milk quota trading scheme have varied from a low of 4 cent/litre in parts of the West and

north to a high of 15 to 18 cent/litre in the high demand areas in southern co-ops.

(2) The Single Payment entitlements are valued at 1.4 times the annual value, which reflects

the local market value.

on stamp duty on the gift or purchase offarmlandwhere the following conditionsare satisfied on the date of transfer:(a) Must be under 35 years of age(b) Have the educational qualifications

required (check with agricultural col-lege orTeagasc education officer)

(c) For a period of five years from date oftransfer the young, trained, farmermust:

* Spend not less than 50% of normalworking time farming the land* Retain ownership of land and replaceany land sold within one year

If education requirements are notmet at time of transfer, stamp duty ispayable, but a refund can be claimed ifqualifications are achieved within fouryears.

In our example, stamp dutyapplies at3% on e1,463,642 (land, buildings, quota)= e43,909. The son meets the conditionsfor young farmer relief and can claim100% relief on this.

The relief is available for farm trans-fers up to 31 December 2012.

Capital Acquisition Tax (CAT) —(the son in this example)CATapplies to assets received as a gift(gift tax) or an inheritance (inheritancetax).The tax rate is 25% on the value ofassets received in excess of the reliefsavailable.The son is getting a gift ofagricultural assets valued at e1,641,182and he must check two important taxreliefs available:(1) Agricultural reliefThis special relief for farmers allows fora 90% reduction in the market value offarm assets for CAT purposes.The sonqualifies as a farmer if at least 80% of his‘gross property’ is agricultural propertyafter receiving the gift.

He owns aprincipal private residenceoff farm, valued at e280,000, from whichhe can deduct themortgage of e120,000 togive a net value of e160,000. He ownscash/shares worth e45,000 to give totalnon-farm assets of e205,000.

After the gift, 88.9% of his total assetsare agricultural and he qualifies for 90%agricultural relief reducing their valuefor CAT from e1,641,182 to e164,118.

The agricultural relief can be clawedback if theproperty isnotretained for sixyears, or up to 10 years for land sold fordevelopment. Farmers need to plan inadvance to ensure they qualify for agri-cultural relief.(2) Tax free thresholds for CATThe Class A tax free threshold for CATallows each son/daughter to receive atotal of e414,719 in their lifetime fromtheir parents as gifts/inheritances. Itincludes anything received since 5December 1991.

The son in this case is getting e164,118after agricultural relief, which is wellwithin his Class A allowance, so no CATapplies. The tax free thresholds aremuch lower for transfers betweenbrothers and sisters or to nieces/ne-phews.

Capital Gains Tax —(the father in this example)Theincrease inthevalueof landfromthedate it was acquired up to the date ofdisposal is a capital gain subject to taxat25%. Capital GainsTax was first intro-duced on 6 April 1974. Indexation reliefis available to allow for the effect of in-flation. In this example, the value of the120-acre farm in 1974 at e850/acre ise102,000. This is indexed by a factor of7.528 to give an adjusted cost of e767,856in October 2010 when the father gifts theland to his son. The CGT calculation isas follows:

(a) Market value at transfer (land+buildings+

milk quota + Single Payment but excluding

livestock and machinery) = e1,486,182

(b) Less indexed cost = e 767,856

(c) Total capital gain = e 718,326

(d) Less personal tax = e 1,270

exemption

(e) Taxable gain = e 717,056

(f) Tax due at 25% = e 179,264

It may be possible to reduce the CGTbill further by allowing for capital im-provement expenditure (net of grants)since thedate the farmwasacquired; getyour accountant to check this.

>> Next page

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’sfarm Retirement relief is available to farmers

who meet three main conditions at thedate of transfer:* Must be over 55 years of age*Must have owned the land for 10 yearsor longer*Must have farmed the land for 10 yearsor longer.

The father meets these conditionsand can claim full retirement relief onthe CGT tax of €179,264. It is a conditionthat the son retains ownership of theland for at least six years to avoid claw-back of the relief.Various rules apply ifland was leased out or, under the farmretirement scheme, before transfer, andthese must be carefully checked with anaccountant to see if relief applies. Also,check the rules carefully where land isjointly owned as, on some farms, one ofthe spousesmight not qualifyas a farmerbased on the rules.

Other issues to be checked*The father is retiring from farming andon the income tax side he needs to checkwith the accountant any adjustmentsrequired under the cessation rules.

Areasexaminedwill include finishingup on ‘income averaging’, valuations ofstock on transfer, dealing with leasedmachinery, transfer of capital allowan-ces, etc.The son will be commencingfarming and the commencement ruleswill apply to him.*Contact the District Veterinary Office(DVO) for the changeover of the herdnumber.* A transfer of entitlements form needsto be completed, signed by father andson, for the gifting of the Single FarmPayment entitlements, and returned toDAFF Single Payment Unit before theclosing date of 16 May 2011. The son willbe the new applicant for the SinglePayment in the future.* Discuss with the Co-op the transferprocedure for the milk quota* This farm is not in REPS, but thosewho are will need to check with theirREPS planner regarding the proceduresand paperwork to be completed fortransfer of the REPS contract andcommitments.* Arrangements need to be made withthe bank and other financial institu-tions for outstanding loans, leases andhire purchase agreements on the farm.Are these to be transferred to thesuccessor or paid off, etc? In thisexample, the father will be transferringsome farm loans to the son.*Are other family members catered for?Parents are allowed to gift one site, up toan acre in size, to each child for theirprincipal private residence — variousrules apply. These transfers are free ofstamp duty and capital gains tax whenthey are transferred by the parents.Sites received froma brother or sister oruncle/aunt do not quality for thisconcession. This has been used in thiscase.

Farmers need to be careful not to

overburden the successor with largedebts for family settlements.* The parents in this case are retainingthe farm dwelling. Some farmers mayhave rights of residence or move into aseparate house. Get legal and tax adviceon the various options.* On bigger farms, land may be splitbetween two or more children, or someland may be retained by parents andleased during their lifetime to give themsecurity and an additional source ofincome.* Where land transfers by inheritanceafter death, stamp duty or capital gainstax do not apply, but capital acquisitionstax (inheritance tax) applies and followsthe same rules discussed above.

* The parents in this example haveadequate provision made for income intheir retirement in addition to old agepension. They have a private pensionfund, savings and some off-farm prop-erty.

Future budgets may change reliefsChanges may occur in some of the taxreliefs relating to farm transfers infuture budgets, based on recommenda-tions by the Commission forTaxation in2009. Discuss these issues with youraccountant well in advance of this year’sbudget on 7 December 2010.This isparticularly important for the largerfarms where any change in relief or taxrates would have a larger effect.

KEY POINTS | Retirement

* Retirementisabiglifechangefor farmersandtheyneedtoplanforthis, inconjunctionwith their nominated successors, well inadvance.* Theyneed to plan for lifestyle changesand, most importantly, to have adequateincome.* Check thevarious reliefs available forstamp duty,Capital GainsTaxand CapitalAcquisitionsTaxandmakesure thevariousconditions can besatisfied.Thesuccessor

needstoensuretheyhavetheiragriculturaleducation completed.* It isveryimportant that thesuccessorwillbe viable and not be overburdenedwithdebtdueto familysettlementsorexcessivelease or support payments to parents,relative to the incomegenerated by thefarmand outside sources.* Discuss theissueswithyouraccountant,solicitorandagricultural adviser.* Every farm family situation is different.

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farmmanagementTo

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A joint approach totacklingpoor pricesBen Roche & A¤ ine Macken-Walsh

Arecent Bord Bia report ‘Path-ways for Growth’, produced byHarvard University experts,notes that ‘‘Ireland’s grass-

based production system wins points forsustainability and enhanced nutrition. Itspeople are viewed as friendly and open. Itis small (not ‘multinational’) and close toEurope...Its competitors for the ‘green’market cannot deliver on that promise.New Zealand, which otherwise would becomparable, is too far away for most.Argentina is too big and too far away.’’

Asnoted in the samereport, grass-fedbeef sells for $26 a pound in NewYork,more than three times the price of con-ventional beef.Themajorityof Irish beefand lamb is grass fed, free range andproduced on family farms that have atraditional and cultural significance inrural Ireland. All of these characteris-tics and qualities are potential brandingcapital for marketing a high-quality, dif-ferentiated food product that receives ahigher price than low value-added com-modities.

As there is a relatively small numberof factories in Ireland farmers operatingas individuals have little influence insetting the price paid for beef and lamb.

The small number of large supermar-ket multiples can, in turn, exert pricingpressure on factories. As a result of fac-tors such as these, farmers have poorbargaining power.

An American solution to improve de-clining farm incomes, the Middle Agri-culture Movement, discusses how foodproduction has come to followone of twopaths:* Artisan food production and directselling with high value-added, or* Mass-production of agricultural com-modities competitively priced on theworld market.

Many family farms in Ireland andelsewhere in Europe fall between thesetwo extremes and are going out of busi-ness.Theyaretoosmall tocompete in thecommodity markets and too conven-tional to sell in the direct specialitymarkets. Apotential strategy to addressfallingpricespaid for family farmed foodis to add value by highlighting the un-iqueness of family farmed food throughsophisticated public relations, brand-ing, marketing, and packaging.

Could the Middle AgricultureMovement be relevant in Ireland?High value-added differentiated food

does not mean processed food (such ascheese) ororganic food, andaccording toexperts, there is potential for addingbranding to family farmed food that hasa place-based regional distinctivenessand superior quality comparative to low-cost mass-produced commodities.

Arguably, Irish farmers are alreadyproducing superior quality foods withregional distinctiveness but strategicbranding and marketing activities mustbe applied in order to enter high value-added markets.

Some farmers are now starting toform groups such as Connemara HillLamb, Ring of Kerry Lamb, Mayo LambDirect, and Burren Beef and Lamb.

Such groups are producing superiorquality distinctive products that are de-sired by a growing consumer group thatdoes not necessarily want imported or-ganic food, but healthy regionally-branded food that is produced in an en-vironmentally and socially sustainableway.

Brandingregional food isastrategytodifferentiate family farmed food in themarketplace. Connemara Hill Lamb, forexample, was given Protected Geo-graphic Indication (PGI) status by theEuropean Commission. Lamb producedoutsideof theregioncannotbemarketed

or sold as Connemara lamb.Many producer groups have set-up

marketing networks and are succeedingon the basis of supplying customerswithunique, naturally produced lamb fromdefined geographical areas.They arebeing rewarded with higher prices fortheir produce. However, such producergroups are not without difficulties andchallenges.

The producer groups face difficultiesin keeping all aspects of theirbusinessesrunning effectively: producing, proces-sing, branding, marketing, advertising,distribution, and sales.

Small producer groups are chal-lenged with undertaking all of these ac-tivities that are necessary to make theirproduct a success and they lack the scaleand financial resources of other largefood companies to hire in the necessaryexpertise and services, such as market-ing experts and large distributors.

Many producer groups attempt to doall of this work themselves but, consid-ering that they are also producing theprimary product, they can have insuffi-cient time. Many producer groups caneasily neglect parts of the business orcan have insufficient expertise in one ormore areas.

>> Next page

Figure 1. Value chain for beef. Primary activities

Farmers Cattledealers

Factory or butcher

Fooddistributor

Supermarkets,shops &

restaurantsConsumer

Members of the Ringof Kerry Quality Lambgroup.

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’sfarm Federated Co-operatives

Small co-operatives in the Middle Agri-culture Movement have taken steps toaddress these challenges.While keepingtheir own independent brand and iden-tity, small co-operatives have joined to-gether in what is called a ‘Federated Co-operative’.

By joining together, they achievescale in contracting processing facil-ities; packaging facilities; marketing ex-pertise; public relations; advertising;and large-scale, efficient distribution.

Financing such facilities and profes-sional expertise is more affordable andefficient when funded and shared col-lectively.The Federated Co-operative,because of its larger scale and impact,can also attain greater visibility andbargaining power in national and inter-national markets. It also facilitates po-tential contracts with meat processorsand supermarket multiples where farm-ers have strong bargaining power andwhere the farmers needs are met.

Federated Co-operatives in the Mid-dle Agriculture Movement typically en-gage in one or more of the following:* Professional broad-scale marketingand advertising,* Regional/national co-ordination ofactivities and flows of product,* Research, education and other pro-fessional supports,* Third-party certification to ensurequality and consistency.

The principles of the co-operativesare that they are owned by the farmerswho use them, controlled by the farmerswho use them and that benefits gener-ated by the co-operative should accrueto their users on the basis of their use.

Funding such ventures?The EU LEADER Programme was de-signed to provide financial support forestablishing ‘alternative’ rural enter-prises. It has a total fund of €425m forthe period 2007 to 2013. Farmers in Ire-land and elsewhere in the EU have beenrelatively slow to avail of this pro-gramme compared with other socialgroups.Through a Federated Co-opera-tive structure, farmers could leveragesupports for research and developmentas well as capital for processing andother industry facilities and services.

EU rules suggest LEADER fundingcould be used to provide financial sup-port for:* Professional development for estab-lishing and developing value addedsupply chains,* Identifying and developing new eco-logical/cultural type services related toagriculture and forestry,* Co-operation for development ofcritical mass and economies of scopefor added value products, services,processes and technologies in the agri-culture, food, and forestry sectors (co-operation between primary producers,processors, community, society and/orthird parties),

* Establishing and meeting the qualitystandards for local and regional agri-culture branded services and foods.

At a recent meeting facilitated byA¤ ine Macken-Walsh and Ben Roche, re-presentatives of existing producergroups expressed enthusiasm for thepotential of a federated co-op.

‘‘We all want to retain our identitybuta larger body could help share somemarketing costs,’’ said Tom Staunton ofLamb Direct in Mayo.

‘‘But it won’t be easy to co-ordinate itall,Teagasc could play a role in that.Markets are gettingmore difficult as therecession bites. Hotels, for example, arebecoming extremely price conscious.Small co-ops can help each other at avery practical level � sharing experi-ences and describing pitfalls they haveencountered. A Federated Co-op couldalso potentially benefit smaller groups.’’

Christy Roche is part of the BurrenBeef and Lamb Groupwho sell beef andlamb direct to consumers.

‘‘The recession is causing difficultiesand people are not as ready to pay extrafor food but this is still a good way tomake better returns from cattle,’’ saysChristy. ‘‘Factory prices are a dead duck.I’m hopeful something good will comefrom this initiative.We have an excellentproduct but we don’t have the expertiseto do marketing.’’

‘‘The Ring of Kerry is an internation-ally-renowned part of Ireland and, assuch, had the potential to be developedinto a powerful brand,’’ saysTeagasc ad-viser Michael Gottstein who has helpedestablish theRing of Kerry Quality lambGroup. ‘‘Yet processing, marketing and

delivering lamb to the end consumerwas a huge challenge for a group ofsheep farmers with virtually no experi-ence in red meat sales/marketing. Pro-ducing a superior quality product wasrelatively easy, getting consumers to payfor it required huge effort and was moredifficult than anyone in the group hadanticipated.’’

Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb (cur-rently about 30 producers and growing)aspires to become the market leader interms of taste, quality and innovation.As the group controls the entire pro-duction chain right through to the deliv-ery of the end product to the end user, itis possible to ensure quality/service at alevel that no other processor/retailercan.To date, the product offering hasmet standards which are unparallel inthe red meat industry.

The Federated Co-operative modelwas identified as having potential in theIrish context through a research pro-jected conducted byA¤ ineMacken-Walshat Teagasc’s Rural Economy and Devel-opment Programme (REDP). A currentproject involvingTeagasc’s Ben Roche,A¤ ine Macken-Walsh, Paul McCarthy, Ed-die O’Neill and a wide range of partnersin other Government and voluntaryagencies, aims to assist groups such asRing of Kerry, Burren Beef and Lamb inClare, Lamb Direct in Mayo and manyother small co-ops to move to the nextlevel possibly by forming a FederatedCo-op.

* For more details, contact BenRoche at Teagasc Moorepark 02542222.

Ringof Kerry Quality Lamb (currently about 30 producers andgrowing) aspires to becoming themarket leader in terms of taste, quality and innovation.

22/10/1018:27


horsesTo

day’s

farm

Breeding: it’s all in the genesGood qualitymares and sires are the foundation of breeding success and

profit, writes Declan McArdle

WHOwouldn’t want to havebeen in Eamonn Kenny’sshoes atLanakenwhen thehorse he bred, NLS Coole

AL Clover, took gold at the FEI WorldBreeding Jumping Championships forYoungHorses?Asbreeders,we fantasiseabout suchmoments, anddreamscangetus throughthetoughdays.But, ifwewantto ensure we have a realistic chance ofsuccess, we need to focus on what willgenuinely increase the likelihood ofproducing a winner.

The upcomingTeagasc seminar inassociation with Pegus Horse feeds,‘Breeding for Profit and Performance’,will discuss what Irish breeders need todo to breed gold medallists. And, if notgold, at least perform competitively andleave a profit.

Comdt John Ledingham, interna-tional rider and coach, says it is time to‘stop looking over the fence; it’s time tojump it!’ He believes that breeders mustreflect on their produce to date, decideon what they want to breed and takestock of the herd they intend to work

with. John will discuss his ideas on theway forward, derived from his experi-ence as an international competitor,coach and HSI inspector.

Carol Gee, international rider andproducerof eventhorses,will answer thequestion: ‘is themodern dayevent horsejust a lucky bag?’ Was it just a freak thatLa Biosthetique-Sam FBW led all theway with his dressage score at theWorldEquestrianGames recently to take gold?Is it possible to breed a world class com-petitive event horse? Her answer is yes.

Carolwilldiscuss theIrish-bredhorseand the huge role it plays in the world ofeventing. She will outline how the sporthas changed and how breeders mustchange with it if they are to remain suc-cessful.

For Ireland to produce top equine

athletes into the future, the youngergeneration needs to be educated on therequirements of the modern-day equineathlete.TheTeagasc equine team willdescribe the work they continue to do inconjunction with Horse Sport Irelandwith young breeders. Also speaking willbe JaneHurley, Devenish Nutrition, whowill offer advice on feeding horses thiswinter on a budget.

The seminars will stress that if youwish to make a profit you must breed forperformance.There is strongdemandforquality animals but too many vendorsare returning homewith light pockets orheavy horseboxes because too many be-low average horses are being produced.

It is unrealistic to expect a mare withno pedigree and no performance to pro-duce a superstar.

TheTeagasc seminars provide a un-ique opportunity to engage with expertson the issues of currentmarket demandsand how to produce commercially viablehorses which will ultimately put moremoney in your back pocket and maybemake that dream come true!

Admission is freeandall arewelcome.

* For furtherdetails contact theTeagascequineteam:Declan McArdle, 087-6831876;Wendy

Conlon, 087-9879083; Norman Storey, 087-

2222513; Ruth Fennell, 087-9602537, or David

Stone, Pegus Horse Feeds, 086-3000500.

SEMINARDATES‘Breeding for profit& performance’

* Tuesday 2 November,CavanCrystal Hotel,Cavan, 8pm

* Wednesday 3 November,Loughrea Hotel and Spa,Loughrea,Co Galway, 8pm

Stop lookingover the fence;

it’s time to jump it!

ClemMcMahon competingon NLSCooleAl Clover 6,Y/Owinner,Lanaken 2010.

22/10/1019:17


climate changeTo

day

’sfarm

IRELAND is unique among EU coun-tries in that our national GHG(greenhouse gas) emissions fromagriculture are higher than the EU

average. A little over one quarter of ourGHG emissions originate in agriculture.This level of emission is easilyexplainedby the dominance of livestock farminghere.

New Zealand is the only developedcountry in the world with a higher pro-portion of emissions from agriculturethan Ireland. Major inroads have beenmade into reducing the level of GHGemissions from Irish agriculture. Irishagriculture has reduced GHG emissionsby 8% since 1990.This has occurredthrough reduced fertilizer use and moreefficient production systems.Thisreduction inagriculture is setagainstthebackground where most other sectorshave increased their emissions to levelswell above Kyoto targets.

It would be incorrect to pinpointagriculture as the chief culprit in theglobal greenhouse gas debate. In fact, itis a relatively small player, although itpresents particular challenges sincemethane and nitrous oxide are muchmore powerful greenhouse gases thancarbon dioxide (about 20 and 300 timesrespectively) and emissions of thesegases are strongly related to livestockproduction.

Approximately half of agriculturalGHG emissions in Ireland come in theform of methane arising from entericfermentation.This is the process wheregrass is broken down in a cow’s stomach.Despite popular belief, 80% of themethane is produced by belching.Theother half of GHG emissions from Irishagriculture come in the form of nitrousoxide. Nitrous oxide is emitted fromagricultural soils and manure manage-ment.Teagasc has established a majorcross centre programme focused onbothquantifying accurately GHG emissionsfrom agriculture and reducing theseemissions.

Major inroads have been made intoreducing nitrous oxide emissionsthrough techniques such as using clover,improving the genetic merit of animals,diet manipulation, biofuels, min-till aswell as on-farm energy efficiency.Thereare many more approaches that are cur-rently under development. Of course,forestry has the potential to play a largerole in termsof offsettingGHGemissionsfrom agriculture.

To co-ordinate the organisation’sefforts,Teagasc has established a multi-disciplinary internal working group onclimate change. This group has beentasked with providing scientific com-ment on climate changematters relatingto agriculture as well as identifying fu-ture research opportunities.

The working group builds on the factthat climate change is affecting, and willcontinue toaffect, allpartsofagricultureand therefore includes representativesfrom all Teagasc programmes.

Irish farming is carbon efficientManyofus often complainaboutthehighrainfall and cloudy days we experiencein Ireland. However, it is our temperateclimate that gives us a competitive ad-vantage over many other agriculturalnations. Our mild climate means that wecan grow grass much more efficientlythan other countries. This also meansthatwecanproducemilkandmeatwithamuch lower carbon footprint than com-peting countries�a factwhich has beenacknowledged in a report by the UNFood and Agriculture Organisation(FAO).

This is an extremely important find-ing and gives direction to the task of re-ducing global greenhouse gas emissionsfrom agriculture.TheTeagasc ClimateChangeWorking Group recently orga-nised an international climate changeconference in the Mansion House,Dublin title ‘Opportunities for CarbonEfficient Farming’. A strong messagearising from this conference was thatIreland is uniquely positioned to turn

Opportunities for theMark Gibson,environmentspecialist,Teagasc, Athenry

NewZealandisthe only

developed country inthe world with a higherproportionofemissionsfromagriculture thanIreland.Major inroadshave beenmade intoreducing the level ofGHG emissions fromIrish agriculture

22/10/1019:18


Today’s

farm

Climate change in anutshellClimate change has been recognised asthe greatest threat to the planet and thegreatest challenge facing humanity. Sincethe beginning of the industrial revolution inthe 1750s, concentrations of the threemain greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide,methane and nitrous oxide) in our atmo-sphere have increased dramatically.Scientists are now unequivocal that thisdramatic increase in greenhouse gases isas a result of human activity.

As a result of this increase, globalaverage air and ocean temperatures areslowly increasing. Scientists don’t believethat the unstable climate conditions wehave observed over the last number ofyears are as a direct result of climatechange but have more to do with naturalfluctuations in climatic cycles. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Changehas established that this increase intemperature of the earth will have sig-nificant effects on our climate. Some ofthese effects include:

1) Increases in rainfall in many tem-perate regions, such as Ireland, whiledroughts will become more frequent.

2) Increased risk of inland flash floodsand more frequent coastal flooding andincreased erosion.

3) Many of the presently water-stressed areas of Africa are likely tobecome more drought-prone, seriously

compromising their agricultural produc-tivity.

In a bid to reduce global greenhousegas (GHG) emissions, the United Nationsestablished the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.This global agreement established legallybinding targets for countries to reducetheir GHG emissions. In effect, eachcountry has been given a quota of GHGemissions.

The European Union has taken afurther initiative of introducing Europeantargets for eachmember state. Ireland hasa target to reduce greenhouse gasemissions from the non-emissions tradedsector by 20% by the year 2020. The non-emissions traded sector comprisestransport, agriculture and residential.

future of Irish farming

Atmospheric GHG levels

0

100

200

300

400

2000150010005000600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2000150010005000

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)Methane (CH4)Nitrous Oxide (N20)

CO2 (

ppm

), N2

O (p

pb)

CH4 (

ppb)

Year Source: EPA 2008

the threat of greenhouse gas emissionsinto an opportunity for Irish farming.

Should Irish livestock numbers bereduced to meet our GHG targets? Thiswas a key question that was posed at theconference.The simple answer is no.

While it may appear an obvious solu-tion on the surface, such a move wouldactually increase global greenhouse gasemissions through ‘carbon leakage’.Thereason for this is that global demand forfood is rising. Ireland is the fifth largestexporter of beef in the world.

In a scenario where Ireland woulddecide to limit its food production tomeet its own GHG target, the increaseddemand for food will be met by agricul-ture in other regions of the world. It ishighly likely that the production of meatandmilk in these other regionswill havea higher carbon footprint than if it wasproduced in Ireland.

Carbon leakage relates directlyto thepoint made earlier that Ireland has oneof the most carbon efficient livestocksystems in the world.

So, how can we feed the world and, atthe same time, reduce greenhouse gasemissions?

International researchInternational research has establishedthat the fairest andmost accurate wayofmeasuring GHG emissions is on a perunitproductbasis.Forexample, the totalGHG emissions from a litre of milk or akilogram of meat. By reducing the ‘car-bon footprint’ of our produce, all coun-tries would compete on a level playingpitch and work toward reducing GHGemissions from global agriculture.

Our lowcarbon footprintmeans thereare vast marketing opportunities forIrish food products.Teagasc, in conjunc-tionwith other agencies, has establishedmany initiatives that aim to capitalise onthis natural advantage we have inIreland.

Teagasc has allied with Internationaland European research partners in ajoint effort to develop strategies to re-duce the carbon footprint of agriculture.

Cattle at MooreparkequippedwithGHGmonitoringequipment.

22/10/1018:27


botanic gardensTo

day

’sfarm Bamboozled

Paul Fitters Botanic Gardens

BAMBOOSwere introduced toEurope in the middle of the19th century and have sincebecome well established as

ornamental plants here. Although youmightnotthink it, bamboosbelong to thePoaceae or grass family.

The term ‘grass’ is also applied toplants that are not members of the Poa-ceae family, including the rushes (Jun-caceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae).Thisbroad use of the word ‘grass’ has led toplants of the Poaceae family often beingcalled ‘true grasses’.There is a usefulrhyme (author unknown) to help distin-guish these groups of plants:

Sedges have edges,rushes are roundand grasses are hollowright up from the ground.

As most schoolboys can tell you,bamboos are hollow between the nodes(the knobbly bits on the stem).

Generally, grasses only produce hol-low stems when they flower. Until then,they keep low to the ground and tiller(produce side shoots).These shoots havetheir leaves very closely packed on veryshort stems.This is why grasses can begrazed without losing their growingpoints and can continue to generate newgrass blades. Only when they intend toflowerwill they send their growing pointskywards in order to let the wind helpwith pollination.

UnlikemostEuropeannative grasses,bamboos rarely flower. Many bamboosflower at intervals of as long as 60 to 120years, so they are propagated by divi-sion.

Popular bamboo species often comefrom a few individuals or clones and,therefore, all are the same ‘age’. As theclones are genetically identical, whentheydo finallydecide to flower theytendto flower all at the same time, whereverthey are in the world.

This unusual flowering mechanism is

still largelyamystery, butwould indicatesome kind of internal ‘alarm clock’ thattriggers the diversion of all energy awayfrom vegetative growth into flower pro-duction. It might take a long time forthem to flower but, when they do, theplant can wear itself out and even die.Some Fargesia species, for instance,flowered in most gardens last year andhave since died.

When buying bamboos, be sure theyare not likely to be too invasive. As arough guide, bamboos are either clum-pers or runners.The clump forming typetends to be better behaved in the sensethatall theshoots (culms)arrive fromtheground closely packed together. In time,the plant will grow in size, slowly in-

creasing its clump. Examples includePhyllostachys and Semiarundinariaspecies. Despite this non-invasive nat-ure, these bamboos can grow intoconsiderable clumps and, once estab-lished, will be difficult to remove.

Runners, on the other hand, tend tosend out horizontally, growing under-ground shoots with vertical shoots atconsiderable distance from each otheralong the shoot.These types, such asPseudosasa and Sasa species should beused with care as they can run wild in agarden. One way of containing them isto dig in a root barrier around the plant.This is an impenetrable sheet of rubber,which prevents the runners from es-caping.

An occasional series byexperts at theTeagasc collegeat the National Botanic Gardens

aimed at adding to theappearance and value

of your farm

Managedwell,bambooscanbe

very useful and versatileevergreen ornamentalgarden plants, with theirown distinctive elegance.They can be grown verydramatically as individualclumps or usedashedgesfor screening

ABOVE& LEFT:Elegant clump formingThamnocalamus spathiflorus at the NationalBotanic Gardens inwinter.

BELOW:Phyllostachys flexuosa at the NationalBotanic Gardens.

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Today's Farm Nov - Dec 2010