Ciaran Bartley: Comparing yields from red clover and grass

While grass isn’t overly plentiful, I would still take this autumn over what I had in 2023 when the land was severely poached following intense flooding, writes beef farmer Ciaran Bartley.

Ciaran Bartley using a platemeter on his farm at Caherconlish, Co Limerick. Picture: Dan Linehan

I am currently doing OK in terms of grass growth, with covers on my heavier ground holding up at around 1,000kg DM/ha, while my drier ground is fairly bare, with little or no growth recently. 

I sold 26 cattle live recently, which took the pressure off the grass demand, and I covered the farm with 30 units of protected area in the past few weeks, which will hopefully keep grass ahead of demand. I am feeding over 6kg of meal to 45 cattle at grass with a target of finishing them in late October off the land.