The Ulster Grassland Society (UGS) held their summer meeting at Lisgoole Abbey Estate Farm, Enniskillen on Tuesday.

The farm consists of 280ac (113ha) of grassland and 60 (24.3ha) acres of woodland.

The herd was traditionally run as an all-year-round calving system using predominantly Limousin and Belgian Blue genetics. However, the current focus has moved towards producing a maternal easy-calving cow to reduce farm labour inputs, stress and veterinary interventions.

Farm Manager Connor Donaldson has introduced a 12-week spring block calving system using Limousin, Simmental and Stabiliser bulls with a focus on easy calving traits.

He said he isn’t too concerned about breed, but rather cow type. “I’m going for a medium-sized cow, a good calver with good fertility,” he said.

Last year the herd achieved 96.5% scanning percentage from a 12-week breeding season. The average cow liveweight on the farm is currently 650kg. This spring, 101 cows calved with 100 calves currently on the ground taking into account twins and mortality at calving.

The target is to achieve 10 calves per cow over their lifetime. All progeny on the farm are finished apart from replacement heifers.

Grassland management

The farm is working with heavy soils which can make grazing difficult due to high average rainfall of 1,143mm.

Continuous drainage improvements are completed on a yearly basis. Stock are generally turned out to grass mid-April and batch grazed in order to better manage grass. Depending on ground conditions, cows and calves may have to be housed for periods of time but the aim is to keep cows at grass until the end of September and youngstock until the end of October.