Large crowds of farmers travelled to the Foyle Farm of Excellence in Co. Tyrone on Friday, October 11, for the farm’s annual autumn producer event.
The event featured a range of interesting presentations detailing the latest research and advice on offer to the farmers who attended.
As well as the information on offer, the Foyle t-shirts, hats and steak dinner, also all proved popular with the farmers attending the event.
The event focused on farm management, livestock performance and soil health, with an interesting presentation on beef cattle nutrition also.
At the end of the event, a presentation from the Northern Ireland-based charity Rural support detailed the work the charity does with farm families and the farmers in attendance made donations to the charity.
Foyle Food Group’s Wilson Marshall explained that the physical and financial performance of the farm is tracked with the help of the farm management and livestock management app GMG E- Farm.
The key statistics of the finishing cattle performance on the farm is outlined in the table below:
2023
2024
Daily live weight gain:
1.5kg
1.8kg
Dry Matter intake/day (DMI)
13.2kg
13.14kg
Feed conversion ratio (FCR)
8.8 FCR
7.3 FCR
Weight recording of cattle is used to measure growth and performance and this data can be viewed in graphical and tabular format.
Dry matter intake (DMI) and feed costs analysis is measured using Alltech/Keenan software.
Cattle movements, births , deaths and farm compliance is recorded through the AIM Northern Ireland Food Animal Information System (NIFAIS).
Wilson outline some of the key changes the farm has made in the past year to improve the performance of the cattle and the cost of these changes.
He said that the farm has switched from using ground maize to rolled maize and added that since this change was made, an improvement in cattle performance has been seen.
A new product called FerrAppease is being used on the cattle also which the farm management staff say is helping to reduce stress in cattle during transitionary periods.
Feed bunk scoring is used to ensure the correct volumes of feed is being given to cattle and 4kg of silage in the diet has been replaced with concentrates.
Over a 60-day period, the FerrAppease was costed at 4p/day. The silage replaced with meal was costed at 12p/day and replacing the ground maize with rolled maize incurred no additional cost.
The extra cost of the changes which boosted performance was valued at 16p/day over a 60 day finishing period and the additional return of these changes was valued at 70p/day or £42 over a 60-day finishing period.
Technology on the Foyle Farm
Foyle’s Cara Moore gave a presentation on the Monil Virtual Fencing Technology being used for the farm’s 180-cow suckler herd grazed on mountain ground.
She also explained what the new product called FerAppease is and what it aims to achieve.
FerAppease will be officially launched in the UK at the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) congress in Newport Wales this week from October 17-19. The sole agent for the product in the UK is Calibre Control.
Moore said that FerAppease is a maternal bovine appeasing substance that can be topically applied to cattle and reduces threat perception and stress consequences.
She said the product can be used every time animals are exposed to management and physiological stressors, such as during disbudding, weaning or castration. It is also used to reduce stress when cattle arrive to the farm and are being transitioned to a finishing diet.
Soil health
Next up was Foyle’s Catriona Marshall, who explained how the farm is improving its soil structure and how it is verifying this.
She said the farm uses an app known as ‘Soilmentor’ to record all the relevant information on the soils on the farm.
The app gives farmers a step-by-step guide on on how to perform different soil tests and observations can be uploaded from the field.
Some of the soil tests carried out include:
- Earthworm counts;
- Rhizosheaths;
- Slake test;
- Rooting depth;
- Visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS);
- Infiltration rate;
- Brix;
- Nodulation of legumes.
A regenerative index is generated to benchmark each field against others in the UK and the app provides a way to monitor any changes that have been implemented to improve the soil health.
She also explained how a current research trial is examining the benefits of vermicast (earthworm cast) which is produced on the farm and processed to be spread on land using a tow and fert applicator.
Animal nutrition
Animal nutritionist Gareth Anderson from FarmGate Nutrition delivered an interesting presentation on beef-cattle nutrition on the Foyle Farm.
He explained the key concepts to keep in mind with an effective of a finishing cattle diet and emphasised the importance of adequate supplies of clean drinking water with beef cattle at all times.
He said that finishing cattle can drink up to 50L of water/head/day.
He said that the dry matter ikntake (DMI) of finishing cattle on the farm is approximately 2.2% of the cattle’s bodyweight and added that a total mixed ration (TMR) with a DM not exceeding 50% is advisable.
Commenting on starch and energy in the diet, he noted that the farm has moved from feeding ground maize to rolled maize and said this change has had a positive impact on cattle performance.
He emphasised the importance of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) or fibre in the diet, saying the value of adding hay to a finishing ration is “underestimated”.
0.5kg of hay is included in the Foyle finisher cattle diet. The nutritionist said that hay is prefeed over straw due to cost.
There are no soya products used on the farm and protein in the diet comes from good silage and maize distillers.
He also detailed the minerals and additives used in the diet including Glycopass, Rumen Aid 250, Rumenate and Elensis.
Rural support
Gyles Dawson from Rural Support in Northern Ireland, detailed the work that the organisation does with farm families dealing with stress, anxiety and sudden loss.
The charity has a team of staff and councillors that work discreetly with farmers going through challenging times and offer farmers guidance to deal with their situation.
