Saturday, 30 July 2022 | 17.2°C Dublin

I t’s all about ‘getting the clover right on the farm, a reseeding plan, better use of slurry and sorting out the soil pH’

Taking the plunge: Dermot Heaney on his Meath farm

Drought is a bit of a problem. I am having to water the new hedge around the yard. I went to the effort of getting it into the ground, and I want to give it every chance to grow.

I am growing 66kgDM/ha of grass, with a demand of 55kgDM, so I am OK, but I wouldn’t like it to go any lower. I will continue to hold the 21-day rotation if it does get tighter, upping the meal first and then silage… but only if I have to. I am currently feeding 1kg of meal.

I did a check on my grass grown for 2022, year to date, and it was 7.4tDM/ha. For the same period last year it was 7.3tDM/ha, so minimal difference, and I have spread a lot less nitrogen: 157kg, compared to 204kg at this stage in 2021.

I am delighted to have been able to cut nitrogen with no adverse effect on grass growth.

I put this down to getting the clover right on the farm, a reseeding plan, better use of slurry and sorting out the soil pH.

Also, the encouragement from my advisor, other farmers and researchers to believe the science and take the plunge and reduce N rates over the summer.

I am now using 25 units for every round. I could probably pull it back even further. The reduction in N use didn’t happen overnight but it’s great to finally see the result.

I will come back to this again at the back end of the year when I have a full year’s data.

I dosed last week for worms and also did the calves for IBR. This is my first worm dose of the year. I followed the advice from my vet and waited until the first signs of calves coughing.  

I also did dung samples lately and nothing showed up. Another time I might have blindly dosed the yearling heifers without thinking whether I needed it or not — I was probably over-dosing.

Now that things are a little quieter on the farm I am working with my new advisor, Niamh Lynch, to see how we can get our electricity bills under control and at the same time reduce emissions.

Options include installing a variable speed vacuum pump, a heat recovery unit and solar panels.

Another possibility is a heat transfer unit, which means taking heat from the compressor to heat water in a storage tank, available at a rate of €3,509.87 per unit.

There is also solar photovoltaic, which generates renewable electricity from the sun. This is available at a rate of €2,861/KW up to a max of 11KW.

Dermot Heaney farms at Kilberry, Navan, Co Meath. He is advised by Fergal Maguire, Owen McPartland and Niamh Lynch

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