‘Getting back to business’ theme at UGS conference

The conference was chaired by newly elected Society President Charlie Kilpatrick who introduced all of the speakers and kept proceedings to time.

The opening speaker was farmer and business consultant Tony Evans from The Andersons Centre who gave a wide-ranging presentation on his views of business management and the importance of developing young people in farming. He considered that “challenges really are opportunities” and encouraged delegates to focus on balance sheet growth.

He also highlighted the importance of having one third of income to cover variable costs; one third to cover fixed costs and one third for you.

Next speaker was dairy farmer Roger Hildreth who outlined his grass based dairy farming operation in the Vale of York where he is endeavouring to “develop a sustainable and successful farming business for the next generation”. His dairy herd of 110 cows is currently achieving 4,779 litres of milk from forage.

On the farm there is a major focus on rearing dairy replacements with attention to detail key to success. Heifers are targeted to have a 400kg bulling weight having achieved 0.82 kgs DLWG per day with extensive use of calf coats and routine veterinary tasks avoided during poor weather. All heifers are genomic tested with sexed semen used to allow the bottom 10% heifers to be excluded from the herd to ensure better genetic progress.

Roger highlighted many of the challenges facing farming at present including veganism and climate change which is a particular focus on his farm.

After lunch, which is always a good opportunity for further discussion, Nick Davis from Wales outlined his farming career and the development/growth of his farm since completing a Nuffield farming scholarship. His switch to dairying in 2014 was significant as the farm ranges from 1100-1420’ above sea level with herd size peaking at 580 cows although numbers have now settled at 480 cows - achieving similar herd production levels on 100 fewer cows.

Grass management is focused on soil fertility and reseeding to maximise production from grass. They have an interesting division of labour on the farm - ‘if it requires wellies then Nick does it, if the job requires shoes his wife Frances is responsible’

Important measures of success on the farm are time efficiency; facilities/infrastructure and cow size/breeding with uniform cows required to match cow body weight and milk solids produced - in 2019 cows averaged 475kgs live weight and produced 472kgs milk solids/cow.

He concluded by highlighting the Straight Face Test - Can we justify everything we do with a straight face?

The final session looked at the potential for dairy bred beef particularly the Blade farming scheme. The panel comprised Arthur Callaghan, ABP Calf Rearing Programme, John Egerton a calf rearer from Rosslea in Co Fermanagh and Trevor Burns, a calf finisher from Ballyedmond Farms, Rostrevor, Co Down. Key benefits of this system include a sustainable outlet for dairy bred calves, structured roles in the process and sustainability from beef and environmental aspects. The topic generated good discussion with intense audience participation reflecting the relevance of this subject for dairy farmers and indeed the wider beef sector.

Throughout the day delegates, which included a number of students from CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus, were able to interact through Slido with questions for the speakers accessed online and this proved very successful.

The conference was closed by presentation of gifts to all the speakers and a vote of thanks ably proposed by new UGS President Elect Harold Johnston.

Winners in Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition announced at UGS Conference

An important feature of the Annual Conference is the presentation of awards in the Society’s Grassland Farmer of the Year competition which was again generously sponsored by Danske Bank. Competition was high and included entries from all over Northern Ireland with first round judging undertaken by Norman McMordie and John Henning.

The final round of judging then saw the finalists visited by the 2019 winner John Martin, Dr Sinclair Mayne and Dr Debbie McConnell.

The winners in the Grassland Farmer of the Year competition were as follows:

Overall Winner: Grassland Farmer of the Year - Harold Johnston & Sons, Ahoghill

Runners Up: Grazing Cup - Robert Patterson, Hillsborough. Silage Cup - Geoffrey Malcomson, Donaghmore. Special Commendation - Christopher Hamilton, Carrowdore. BGS Regional Cup - John Martin, Greyabbey.

The judges complemented all of the winners on their dedication to grassland farming and ability to maximise production from grass.

Each of the finalists were focused on attention to detail to ensure their farm was performing to it’s optimum despite the vagaries of the weather and local conditions during 2019.

Commenting specifically on the winning farm they commented: ‘The Johnston’s demonstrated good measurement and utilisation of grass and silage with optimum use of soil analysis. Cows looked well producing almost 3,500 litres from forage per cow with succession in place and the sons fully involved in day to day decision making on the farm.’

The various awards in the competition were handed over by Rodney Brown, Head of Agribusiness, Danske Bank who again generously sponsored this prestigious competition.

New Society President Charlie Kilpatrick congratulated all of the winners and thanked Danske Bank for sponsoring this important competition in the UGS calendar.

Election of Office-bearers at Ulster Grassland Society AGM

The Ulster Grassland Society’s 61st Annual General Meeting took place prior to the Conference at the Dunadry Hotel with President Jim Freeburn handing over the President’s Chain of Office to Charlie Kilpatrick from Hillsborough.

New President for 2020/21 is Charlie Kilpatrick an arable/beef farmer and independent farm advisor specialising in farm management planning.

He studied Agriculture at Queens University Belfast and Reading University before terms working for Almarai in Saudi Arabia and then CAFRE.

The new President-Elect is Harold Johnston - a dairy farmer from Ahoghill where he farms in partnership with two sons.

Newly elected Committee members were Dr Francis Lively, AFBI; Cathal McAleer, Omagh; Robert McFarland, Dungannon and Andrew Morrison, Yara succeeding Ciaran Hamill, Campbell Hume, Harold Johnston and Ryan McDowell who were thanked for their contribution.

George Reid and John Henning were re-elected as Secretary and PRO respectively with the new Society Treasurer appointed being Neville Graham from Dale Farm.