Having reached full organic status on his farm in March 2024, Joe Nolan of Fenagh, Co. Carlow is currently farming sheep along with operating a tillage enterprise.
Nolan began the conversion to organic farming in March 2022 and reached full organic status earlier this year on his farm which comprises of 98ha.
The farm consists of a mix of tillage (32.27ha) and grass/red clover/multispecies swards (65.7ha) where he carries his 550 ewes which lamb outdoors in March and April.
Nolan, who farms alongside his wife Clair and their son Ciaran, hosted a “Growing Organics” farm walk on their farm in Kilconnor, Fenagh, Co. Carlow on Wednesday, July 17.
The commercial flock on the farm is based on maternal foundations with Mule/Lleyn/Belclare/Highlander cross ewes mainly carried, which are returned to Belclare, Lleyn, Highlander and Charollais tups.
Along with the main flock, Nolan also has a pedigree Charollais flock on the farm and sells grass-fed hogget rams from this pedigree flock.
Land use Hectares Use Barley/peas/oats 15.39 Contract grown and winter feed Spring oats 16.88 Contract grown and winter feed Grass/white clover/MSS 60.22 Ewes and lambs Red clover silage 3.69 Silage and grazing Riparian buffer zone 2.05 Habitat Total 98.23
Lambs are grazed on a mix of old leys, which are part of a reseeding rotation with the tillage enterprise, multispecies grass swards, and white and red clover grass swards.
Targeting a finished weight of 42-44kg and a 50% kill out rate, lambs are marketed through Irish Country Meats (ICM) in Camolin, Co. Wexford in July/August.
The remainder of the lambs are held over the winter and fed according to their weights on winter cover crops of stubble turnips, rape, vetch, kale and multispecies swards.
This grazing is supplemented with arable and red clover silage, along with oats if necessary, with the aim to have lambs ready to market in January.
Sheep enterprise performance
As Nolan became fully organic in March of 2024, there is no premium organic price achieved in the figures for 2023 lamb sales.
All the lamb sales for 2024 will be sold organically and will command the organic premium.
The table below compares Joe Nolans’ financial performance in 2023 with national average figures from the Teagasc national farm survey (NFS) of 2022:
Mid-season lambing NFS 2022 mid-season Joe Nolan 2023 Sheep ha’s 45 82.9 Org. N/ha 143kg 118kg Ewes to ram 133 550 Gross output/ha €1,498 €1,148 Variable costs/ha €637 €541 Fixed costs/ha €730 €463 Net profit/ha €131 €144 OFS payment €0 €300
The stocking rate on this farm is low for 2023 and this obviously impacts on the output/ha which is €1,148 v €1,498 for the average sheep farm in 2022 according to the NFS.
Even with the low stocking rate on the farm and given that there was no organic premium price paid, the net profit/ha is very similar to the average from the NFS.
This is mainly due to the lower variable costs when fertiliser is taken out and the fact that all the feed is being produced on the farm.
The additional payment of the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) payment of €300/ha gives a significant boost to the profitability of the farm.