On Thursday, September 4 at 6pm, Thomas and Peter O’Hanrahan will host a Teagasc DairyBeef500 farm walk on their dairy calf-to-beef farm just outside Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny (Eircode: R95 N25H).

This event promises to be a valuable opportunity for anyone involved in dairy calf-to-beef production to see first-hand how a simple system from calf rearing right through to finishing beef cattle can be labour efficient while also generating good levels of profitability.

On the night there will be a demonstration from a factory procurement manager on selecting animals for slaughter, along with information on winter finishing nutrition and health.  

All in attendance will see calves at grass, and there will be yearling and finishing animals on display. 

Over the last five or six years, the O’Hanrahans have developed excellent facilities on their farm, having built a calf shed, finishing shed, and new silage bases. 

All in attendance for the farm walk will see these facilities along with the handling unit, which allows for ease of management and improves labour efficiency on the farm.

Finally, there will be interactive discussions on calf-to-beef system budgets and the financial performance and probability of a dairy calf-to-beef system will all be addressed.

Peter O’Hanrahan, alongside his father Thomas, farm in partnership, running a progressive and commercially successful dairy calf-to-beef operation.

Their system is built around maximising beef output from grass, consistently hitting key performance targets to ensure a healthy profit.

The O’Hanrahans run a steer system where animals are slaughtered at 22-24-months-of-age.

Predominantly, Friesian bull calves with some Angus are purchased in the spring each year, but in recent times they have also brought in some autumn-born calves to spread the workload and maximise use of their purpose-built calf shed. 

Most calves are reared in a purpose-built calf shed on automatic feeders.

The shed can hold 120 calves at a time, so at times during the spring there are some bunches of calves reared on the blue teat feeders in adjoining straw bedded sheds.

Calves receive approximately one and a half bags of milk replacer, with ad lib straw and calf concentrate also fed.

Since joining the DairyBeef500 programme, Tom and Peter have invested heavily in farm infrastructure.

They prioritise grass utilisation and maximising their cattle’s gain from grass.

Numerous paddocks have been put in, with water troughs to service them all, and temporary fencing used to allow for flexibility and rotational grazing with cattle typically moved every three days.

In the last five years, there has been a lot of development completed in the farmyard also, with the building of a purpose-built calf rearing shed, slatted finishing shed, two silage bases, and a cattle handling unit with a weighing scale all installed.

Come join us on September 4 at 6:00p.m to see Tom and Peter’s calf-to-beef system in action.

There will be a lot of valuable information and experiences to be shared on the night and anyone with an interest in dairy calf-to-beef systems are encouraged to attend. We look forward to welcoming you on the night.