The ability to influence and inspire suppliers and customers is vitally important, if we are to continue making the necessary improvements in production systems to maintain Ireland and the UK’s leadership position in sustainability. As a grass based livestock producing region, addressing the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and rising input costs are key to the sustainability of our industry.
We have always been at the forefront of research and development in agriculture, partnering with leading academic institutions, commercial partners and industry bodies. Our Demonstration Farms are an important part of our agricultural strategy, seeking to find the best way of producing sustainable, quality beef.
Inspire sustainable farming to foster better animal health and welfare, enhance meat quality and restore biodiversity, soil health and water quality.
The Newford Farm and the Tipperary Farms run by Dawn Meats in conjunction with Teagasc are two examples of multi-stakeholder collaboration which are helping to share knowledge and best practice across the wider farming community with more than 8,000 farmers participating in knowledge sharing events at Newford Farm since its establishment in 2015.
In May 2024, the Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm was established in Ireland. It is also part of the Teagasc Signpost Farms Programme (sponsored by Dawn Meats and other industry stakeholders) and is operated by Dawn Meats and Carbery, with independent technical advice provided by Teagasc.
Goal
Building on learnings from Newford and exploring genetics from dairy beef, Tipperary aims to;
- Operate a financially sustainable farm business using excellent pasture management, early age at slaughter and high animal health welfare
- Minimise both nitrogen and phosphorus losses to the environment
- Implement mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of dairy calf-to-beef farming on climate change
- Incorporate a proportion of the farm into high diversity landscape features
- Implement mitigation strategies to reduce ammonia emissions to the environment
- Reduce the use of antibiotics and anthelmintics
Together these management practices when fully deployed, will highlight the positive impact on emissions performance which will be reported upon at Open Days and subsequent Plan Four Zero updates.
Newford Suckler Beef Demonstration Farm, is also part of the SignPost Programme and was relocated to a new site in Roscommon in late 2023.
New baseline data has been established for this enterprise, with a focus on a range of target KPI’s including calving rate and calving interval, 100% AI within a 10 week window, Heifers in calf at less than 24 months and all livestock housed for less than 110 days in winter with a goal of less than 22 months of age at finishing.
At Newford, the 2025 calving season resulted in a 366 day calving interval, 1.01 calves/cow/year, 100% heifers in calf between 22 and 26 months of age, with cattle being returned to grass mid February (2 months earlier than in 2024).