Best farmland

bigsheepdog

Well lads and lassies. Where is the best land in ireland? Im a bit biased but i think lamd around very south of kildare is top class. Also the land in meath around dunsany bective seems to be very good. What are peoples thoughts?

davidk1394

bigsheepdog wrote: »

Well lads and lassies. Where is the best land in ireland? Im a bit biased but i think lamd around very south of kildare is top class. Also the land in meath around dunsany bective seems to be very good. What are peoples thoughts?

Where were farming here along the suit valley is definitely near the top. Free draining, south facing and not too stoney. You could graze from mid January onwards, weather permitting. A lot of the ground in the south east is pretty good and there's a good mix of dairy,drystock and tillage operations.

kay 9

I always liked the lay of the land in parts of kilkenny, used to love the run when going to college in Waterford.
Some top quality land in the north too.
I'm on marginal land enough here in Galway

orchard farm

North leitrim

Thunderbird

North mayo;)

carrollsno1

kay 9 wrote: »

I always liked the lay of the land in parts of kilkenny, used to love the run when going to college in Waterford.
Some top quality land in the north too.
I'm on marginal land enough here in Galway

Kilkenny is a very mixed bag to be fair, but its definitly in the top, there are some awful veins of ground in areas of kilkenny usually right beside the best of tillage land too.

Floki

There's a vein of soil over volcanic rock from mid Waterford and it goes up through the centre of Wexford and then it pops up again in east Wicklow.
If fertilizer was banned in the morning that's where I'd like to be.
Then there's soil over sandstone and shale that was formed in a narrow ocean basin just on the west Wicklow east kildare border. The same soil is in north Dublin and Portlaw, Waterford. This is all for potentially good rich grassland.

For tillage anywhere with good drainage.
North of that volcanic vein in shaley land in Wexford away from the rain of the blackstairs mts around caim and ballindaggin and moving northeastwards to craanford is good tillage ground.

patsy_mccabe

Covered here before;
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=81284388

kk.man

North KK is very good due to limestone bed underneath while the South of the county is more mixed.
I really like the layout of the land in east Meath. While the nicest marking barley ground is around the town of Athy.
There is a vain of land stretching from bagenalstown to carlow town which has sand underneath which you wouldn't mark on the wettest day of the year.
The area around Carraig on Suit is some land where their winters can be two months ie December and January..unbeliveable but true.

davidk1394

kk.man wrote: »

North KK is very good due to limestone bed underneath while the South of the county is more mixed.
I really like the layout of the land in east Meath. While the nicest marking barley ground is around the town of Athy.
There is a vain of land stretching from bagenalstown to carlow town which has sand underneath which you wouldn't mark on the wettest day of the year.
The area around Carraig on Suit is some land where their winters can be two months ie December and January..unbeliveable but true.

We're still grazing cattle out cause there's so much grass

kk.man

davidk1394 wrote: »

kk.man wrote: »

North KK is very good due to limestone bed underneath while the South of the county is more mixed.
I really like the layout of the land in east Meath. While the nicest marking barley ground is around the town of Athy.
There is a vain of land stretching from bagenalstown to carlow town which has sand underneath which you wouldn't mark on the wettest day of the year.
The area around Carraig on Suit is some land where their winters can be two months ie December and January..unbeliveable but true.

We're still grazing cattle out cause there's so much grass

Ye must be millionaires!

bigsheepdog

Carlow has good land from what ive seen. What about up north?

carrollsno1

bigsheepdog wrote: »

Carlow has good land from what ive seen. What about up north?

Lot of tough ground in west carlow up on the hills too even the bit around mt leinster doesnt seem too bad either though

orchard farm

Im still grazin cattle out in the north west,only cause ive no fodder

Dakota Dan

Cork of. course

davidk1394

kk.man wrote: »

Ye must be millionaires!

Not enough cattle :P

JupiterKid

Much of the South East, especially Wexford, Waterford and Carlow have good land. Kildare has a lot of excellent land. Further north, much of North Dublin (Fingal), Meath and Louth has good land too.

East Cork and parts of East Donegal. In NI, east Down, North Armagh and parts of Antrim.

Floki

Management and fertilizer has a lot to do with making land look better than it really is.
There was a lot of poor land before the 70's and if people stopped with the fert there'd be a lot of poor hungry ground again.
Knowledge and know how of how to farm with less fertilizer and still have the same output is gradually being shared and implemented and it's not coming from industry or from bureaucratic rules but from the other side of the world from farmers themselves who don't have the luxury of subsidies and are genuinely interested in saving a few bob but through necessity truthfully.

Necessity is the mother of invention so to speak.

orchard farm

Floki wrote: »

Management and fertilizer has a lot to do with making land look better than it really is.
There was a lot of poor land before the 70's and if people stopped with the fert there'd be a lot of poor hungry ground again.
Knowledge and know how of how to farm with less fertilizer and still have the same output is gradually being shared and implemented and it's not coming from industry or from bureaucratic rules but from the other side of the world from farmers themselves who don't have the luxury of subsidies and are genuinely interested in saving a few bob but through necessity truthfully.

Necessity is the mother of invention so to speak.

Any sugestions?

Floki

orchard farm wrote: »

Any sugestions?

Research.;)

carrollsno1

Floki wrote: »

Management and fertilizer has a lot to do with making land look better than it really is.
There was a lot of poor land before the 70's and if people stopped with the fert there'd be a lot of poor hungry ground again.
Knowledge and know how of how to farm with less fertilizer and still have the same output is gradually being shared and implemented and it's not coming from industry or from bureaucratic rules but from the other side of the world from farmers themselves who don't have the luxury of subsidies and are genuinely interested in saving a few bob but through necessity truthfully.

Necessity is the mother of invention so to speak.

Id love to visit your farm someday, you seem like a fairly well educated farmer with a lot of respect for the ground. Could learn a lot in a days talking with you!!.

CloughCasey1

Floki wrote: »

Research.;)

Now now dont be so stingy!!

wrangler

Floki wrote: »

Management and fertilizer has a lot to do with making land look better than it really is.
There was a lot of poor land before the 70's and if people stopped with the fert there'd be a lot of poor hungry ground again.
Knowledge and know how of how to farm with less fertilizer and still have the same output is gradually being shared and implemented and it's not coming from industry or from bureaucratic rules but from the other side of the world from farmers themselves who don't have the luxury of subsidies and are genuinely interested in saving a few bob but through necessity truthfully.

Necessity is the mother of invention so to speak.

Despite being highly stocked I don't put out much fertiliser,
So wasn't surprised when indexes came back low this time,
My adviser commented that the land and grass quality certainly didn't reflect the results of the soil test.
Over 500 ewes was enough to look after here so never wanted to grow anymore grass

Floki

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Id love to visit your farm someday, you seem like a fairly well educated farmer with a lot of respect for the ground. Could learn a lot in a days talking with you!!.

Ah I'm all mouth.:D

I'm trying out little things at present but it would show you there's other possibilities than the current npk relentless having to rely on bought inputs route.
Perhaps I'm too much of a dreamer but sure anyway. I'm only learning myself.

The much maligned "macamore" land why does that grow a mountain of grass when when summer conditions (hot and dry) allow with no fert inputs needed. If that's truely cracked and reasons for it then I'd say that's the way forward.

simx

kk.man wrote: »

North KK is very good due to limestone bed underneath while the South of the county is more mixed.
I really like the layout of the land in east Meath. While the nicest marking barley ground is around the town of Athy.
There is a vain of land stretching from bagenalstown to carlow town which has sand underneath which you wouldn't mark on the wettest day of the year.
The area around Carraig on Suit is some land where their winters can be two months ie December and January..unbeliveable but true.

Some land in north kk very wet too, have some sulky enough land, two miles from here is great dry land, couple miles further from there is best of land, tillage etc. Then a couple miles further the opposite way from me is dire in places, some land in Carlow is dire too, be parts up above killeshin would be very tough

Floki

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Id love to visit your farm someday, you seem like a fairly well educated farmer with a lot of respect for the ground. Could learn a lot in a days talking with you!!.

New Zealand seems to be way ahead on the organic front. There's farmers reported getting the same production (dairy) with org as the conventional.
The best one to talk to could be beside you out there.

patsy_mccabe

I often wonder about this whole good land thing. Is land ploughed because it's good or is it good because it's ploughed?
Same for trees like ash and oak. Is the land good because they grow there or they grow there because it's good.
Our best field here is called the big garden. It was ploughed in the old days, potatoes, oats etc. Both fields on either side of it wouldn't be a patch on it, yet the same vane of land.

CloughCasey1

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I often wonder about this whole good land thing. Is land ploughed because it's good or is it good because it's ploughed?
Same for trees like ash and oak. Is the land good because they grow there or they grow there because it's good.
Our best field here is called the big garden. It was ploughed in the old days, potatoes, oats etc. Both fields on either side of it wouldn't be a patch on it, yet the same vane of land.

If Floki was plonked in the middle of north mayo he would make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Doing a lot of work up there lately and you would see decent fields on the same stretch of land in the middle of absolute rush infested crap.

davidk1394

A lot of these new type grasses need routinely applications of fertilizer for them to remain productive. We've a few fields with old grass swards in them and grass stays growing without fertilizer.

20silkcut

orchard farm wrote: »

Floki wrote: »

Management and fertilizer has a lot to do with making land look better than it really is.
There was a lot of poor land before the 70's and if people stopped with the fert there'd be a lot of poor hungry ground again.
Knowledge and know how of how to farm with less fertilizer and still have the same output is gradually being shared and implemented and it's not coming from industry or from bureaucratic rules but from the other side of the world from farmers themselves who don't have the luxury of subsidies and are genuinely interested in saving a few bob but through necessity truthfully.

Necessity is the mother of invention so to speak.

Any sugestions?

Liquid fertilizer

Keepgrowing

davidk1394 wrote: »

A lot of these new type grasses need routinely applications of fertilizer for them to remain productive. We've a few fields with old grass swards in them and grass stays growing without fertilizer.

How much are they growing in tonnes DM?

davidk1394

Keepgrowing wrote: »

How much are they growing in tonnes DM?

I never worked it out. Its in that low input permanent pasture for GLAS. But its still grazed in the regular rotation with sheep.

wrangler

Keepgrowing wrote: »

How much are they growing in tonnes DM?

I'm experiencing this ''extra grass at any cost'' ethos on the land I've leased out, I'd really have to wonder could lamb production ever justify it......we grass measure here, I must work it out, In the willy waving league it'd be ranked as erectile disfunction

our performance and lamb thrive isn't far off Athenry or a better farmer that we follow so still wouldn't be rushing to reseed......

Keepgrowing

wrangler wrote: »

I'm experiencing this ''extra grass at any cost'' ethos on the land I've leased out, I'd really have to wonder could lamb production ever justify it......we grass measure here, I must work it out, In the willy waving league it'd be ranked as erectile disfunction

our performance and lamb thrive isn't far off Athenry or a better farmer that we follow so still wouldn't be rushing to reseed......

Often hear guys talking of how much a paddock can grow yet they can't put a figure on it. I'm from the school of "if it can't be measured, it shouldn't be quoted

Keepgrowing

wrangler wrote: »

I'm experiencing this ''extra grass at any cost'' ethos on the land I've leased out, I'd really have to wonder could lamb production ever justify it......we grass measure here, I must work it out, In the willy waving league it'd be ranked as erectile disfunction

our performance and lamb thrive isn't far off Athenry or a better farmer that we follow so still wouldn't be rushing to reseed......

Took over a new dairy farm this year. All told me the great grass farm it was, well I've yet to see it. Old pasture that won't respond to fert or carry any half decent sr.

Have half of it reseeded at this stage with cows milking more kg Ms when grazing new seeds as opposed to old award. Milk p dropped to 3.12 at one stage in May. Only cure is reseed, lime NP&K.

wrangler

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Took over a new dairy farm this year. All told me the great grass farm it was, well I've yet to see it. Old pasture that won't respond to fert or carry any half decent sr.

Have half of it reseeded at this stage with cows milking more kg Ms when grazing new seeds as opposed to old award. Milk p dropped to 3.12 at one stage in May. Only cure is reseed, lime NP&K.

We're just on the max stocking for nitrates this year and same lamb thrive as Athenry so reseeding isn't the answer to lamb thrive. everything goes through the scales once a fortnight here from july on so that's our milk tank. we have electonic tags so its recorded nearly as fast as they'd walk through the scales.
Weight gain since the last weighing comes up on the screen for each lamb and we give the slow thrivers cobalt with worm dose
My point is it doesn't stack up to be doing reseeding or indeed anything expensive with sheep

Cattlepen

wrangler wrote: »

We're just on the max stocking for nitrates this year and same lamb thrive as Athenry so reseeding isn't the answer to lamb thrive. everything goes through the scales once a fortnight here from july on so that's our milk tank. we have electonic tags so its recorded nearly as fast as they'd walk through the scales.
Weight gain since the last weighing comes up on the screen for each lamb and we give the slow thrivers cobalt with worm dose
My point is it doesn't stack up to be doing reseeding or indeed anything expensive with sheep

Have to agree with this. It's all situation dependent. I started reseeding a few years ago and am sorry I did. A seemingly never ending and expensive collection of inputs is needed to keep the award alive. If the end product can't sustain this what is the point?
To the dairy men, I applause your vigour, enthusiasm and scientific approach. You are genuinely great farmers and dairying in Ireland has gone to such a standard that we rival the Dutch. But remember not to get carried away either. Three to four years ago 30% of Dutch dairy farms were going broke as a result of massive borrowings for expansion from the early 80's. Bigger isn't always better

wrangler

Cattlepen wrote: »

Have to agree with this. It's all situation dependent. I started reseeding a few years ago and am sorry I did. A seemingly never ending and expensive collection of inputs is needed to keep the award alive. If the end product can't sustain this what is the point?
To the dairy men, I applause your vigour, enthusiasm and scientific approach. You are genuinely great farmers and dairying in Ireland has gone to such a standard that we rival the Dutch. But remember not to get carried away either. Three to four years ago 30% of Dutch dairy farms were going broke as a result of massive borrowings for expansion from the early 80's. Bigger isn't always better

Best spent money for lambs is probably redstart, typhon, etc but then you have to..... reseed