09-05-2025
Roscrea-based beef finisher to host IGA event on June 10
The Irish Grassland Association's (IGA's) annual beef event is set to take place outside Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, on the farm of Tim Meagher (Eircode: E53 V054) on Tuesday, June 10.
The beef farm walk is set to kick off at 6:30p.m and conclude at approximately 8:30p.m. Flame-grilled Irish beef burgers will be served from 6:00p.m onwards – before the farm walk kicks off. The event is sponsored by FBD Insurance.
Ahead of the event, IGA council member and Elanco Animal Health's Niall Claffey caught up with the host farmer to find out more about his beef farming system.
Tim, his wife Shauna, and their four children operate a store-to-beef system on the 88ha of grassland and 24ha of tillage on the farm, which has been in the Meaghers' family for generations.
The old farm system
The farm was a suckler-beef enterprise when Tim took over the reins, and he increased suckler cow numbers to 90. These cows were predominately Limousin and were crossed with a Charolais stock bull. Replacement heifers were ran with an Angus bull.
Weanlings were also purchased from the west of Ireland. At the time, the farm was also home to roughly 200 breeding ewes.
However, over a decade ago, Tim moved to simplify the operation and focused on changing to a traditional store-to-beef enterprise – prioritising on incorporating as much grass into the diet as possible.
All cattle are purchased from marts in the west of Ireland ,with a clear emphasis on buying-in quality cattle to the beef enterprise.
Current beef system on the farm
Heifers and bullocks are bought in September and October each year weighing in the 500-520kg weight bracket.
These are then finished the following year from July to October as they come fit for slaughter. All cattle are slaughtered under 30 months-of-age.
Some of the key figures are as follows:
Number of cattle on farm: 250;
Bullocks: 160;
Heifers: 90;
Number of paddocks: 43;
Number of cattle/grazing group: 40-50.
Strip wires are also used to achieve desired clean outs and to manage paddocks correctly.
In the springtime, all cattle are grouped according to age to ensure easy management during the summer grazing period.
To reduce the farms' dependence on purchased meal, 24ha of spring barley is sown on the farm each year.
This grain is fed to the finishing cattle at grass along with soya hulls and minerals. The straw is baled at harvest and used to bed cattle over the winter months.
Silage clover and animal health
The farm has a big focus on making high-quality silage as winter feed. The aim is to produce silage with a dry matter digestibility (DMD) of 75% or above.
High-quality silage available over the winter reduces the need for bought-in concentrates on the farm.
Due to the difficult weather conditions in 2024, silage quality ranged from 68% to 73% DMD on the three cuts harvested last year.
Tim started reseeding with clover in the early 2000s, and now both red and white clover play a pivotal role in both silage production and the grazing platform.
Since incorporating clover into the system, he has reduced his dependence on chemical nitrogen (N), while not negatively impacting the amount of beef sold off the farm.
Animal health protocols are strictly adhered to on the farm with a vaccination programme in place and and dosing is carried out as required.
Tim has invested in a state-of-the-art handling facility to manage animals efficiently and safely.
A slurry aeration system is used to agitate slurry on the farm, which is beneficial from a health and safety point of view and eliminates the need for agitation.
Speaking ahead of the event, Trish O'Halloran from FBD Insurance said: 'At FBD, we're delighted to support the IGA Beef Event again in 2025.
'We recognise the important role that events like this play in fostering innovation, and collaboration within the farming community.
'Knowledge sharing and education empowers farmers to develop and maintain efficient, sustainable beef production systems, ensuring the continued success and global competitiveness of Ireland's beef industry for years to come.'
