The animals we farm are selected to give the best quality beef & lamb, while achieving the lowest emissions per kg carcass as possible.

The level of emissions from a ruminant animal are largely dependent on the length of their lives & the digestibility of the feed they eat, so we select animals that can efficiently convert grass into meat, achieve high average daily gains, and therefore positively influence on farm emissions.

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Hereford & Angus Cattle with a flock of Suffolk x Texel Sheep

Our cattle are traditional beef breeds, bred for centuries in Ireland and recognised for producing extremely tasty meat due to the high level of marbling. Our sheep are a mix of Suffolk and Texel, also traditional to Ireland. The breed & sire of the animals are an important factor in achieving maximum live weight gain per day.

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Beef calves from a dairy herd rather than suckler herd.

Published lifecycle analysis (LCA) research calculates that calves from dairy cows reared to beef have a lower emission per kg carcass weight than calves reared from the suckler herd. We recognise that this is largely due to how the LCA emissions are calculated, and further research into this area is required.

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The calves are sired by genetically approved Beef bulls.

We work closely with the farm where we source our calves in the selection of the best beef sires for the calves we buy. Rather than use a stock bull, our source farm uses only genetically proven AI bulls which are selected for a number of factors including average daily gain.

We’re all try to eat as much homegrown, low air miles, locally sourced products as we can, but our animals are doing it all their lives.

 

Grass-Fed & Locally souced – Our lambs are only feed on grass from the farm or milk from their mothers. Our calves are fed milk at the start that is made from Irish milk powder, a small amount of meal sourced locally until they are 4 months old, and for the rest of their lives they only eat our homegrown grass, even the grass silage they eat all winter has been homegrown.  

Soya Free – when the calves are young they are fed a small amount of a cereals based feed for a few weeks, this is specially made for us locally and contains no soya

We aim to only give our cattle and sheep the most digestible grass we can grow using clover and organic fertiliser predominantly, the more digestible the grass the less emissions from these animals & the better it is for the environment.

Mixed Swards

All our grasslands are a mixture of traditional grasses, rye grasses and clover.

Regenerative Programme

We are currently midway through a programme to reseed the farm with a more diverse composition sward to include more clover, plantain, chicory and Timothy.

Min Till

Ploughing breaks up the soil structure and causes the release of carbon so we reseed using a minimum till process, so the soil underneath is not disturbed

Fertilising

The land is fertilised using farmyard manure spread using low emission systems

No animal thrives when they are cold, uncomfortable or hungry. The less an animal thrives, the slower they grow and the higher the emissions over their life cycle. So we aim to make our animals are happy as possible. Land with animals left on it in poor weather becomes overgrazed, poached & damaged, and will then release carbon from the soil rather than captures it.

 

Straw Sheds

To ensure that all our animals have the most comfortable lives possible they are housed during the cold wet months of winter & early spring. The animals always have a clean straw bed on which to lie and the straw is collected from a local farmer

 

Protects the Land

Housing the animals is also good for the land, as it saves the land from being poached & carbon released.

 

Access to Grass Silage & Clean Water

When the animals are housed they will always have access to grass silage, or hay for the sheep, and clean water. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Unhealthy animals don’t thrive, and the longer animals take to reach maturity the more emissions they produce. All our animals are reviewed by our local vet annually, when we agreed a plan for the year based on the risks to the animals.

 

Vaccines

Just like we get vaccines as babies & the annual flu jab, our cattle & lambs do too. But only those prescribed by the vet & never close to when they might be slaughtered.

Medicines & Worm Dosing

If any animal becomes unwell or sick they are seen by the vet & treated if required. No antibiotics are administered to our animals unless they are prescribed by a vet. Dosing for worms is only carried out following faecal samples analysis to determine if we need to dose& what type of dosing is required.

When the animals are in the field they wee & poo outside fertilising the fields naturally, however when we house them we have to capture this waste & waste will be dung or slurry.

 

Dung 

Dung is dirty straw bedding & is spread on the land in the autumn to breakdown over the winter.

Slurry

Liquid slurry is collected in a tank and then we spread it using Low Emission Slurry Spreading Equipment (LESS) so that all the nutrients go into the ground and not into the atmosphere.