Tipperary farmer: 'I feel like I’ve fallen back in love with farming’
Pat started organic conversion in January 2024, on 24 hectares of good, free-draining soil in Cashel
Pat Maher, a Growing Organics Demonstration Farmer, was recently highlighted by Teagasc for his work in transitioning his farm from a conventional dairy enterprise, operating under the Nitrates Derogation, to an organic suckler beef system.
Pat started organic conversion in January 2024. He farms 24 hectares of good, free-draining soil in Cashel, and has incorporated more white clover over the past few years to reduce his reliance on chemical fertiliser.
As a sixth-generation dairy farmer, by 2003 Pat had been dairy farming for over fifty years.
He had been in derogation and farming quite intensively prior to starting conversion to organic in January 2024 when he felt it was time for a change.
“I don’t want to milk the cows anymore but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to farm, nor does it say that I want to let the place go wild. I see organic farming as using modern practices in a more sustainable way.”
Pat retained his own breeding stock during the transition, and all animals are bred from the original British Friesian stock. Currently, the enterprise consists of 17 spring-calving cows.
One of Pat’s key objectives in the Growing Organics Programme is to establish a beef herd through selective breeding and produce organic cattle for the organic supply chain.
He has an Aubrac stock bull with the cows and an Angus bull with Angus cross heifers.
Pat’s current system involves selling the cattle at approximately 20 months for finishing within the organic sector.
Having retained his paddock system, Pat has incorporated more white clover over recent years, reducing his reliance on chemical fertiliser and has also sown multispecies swards.
This year, he has also sown some red clover as part of an on-farm trial designed to evaluate the performance of two varieties, AberClaret and Fearga.
HOUSING
To comply with the organic housing requirements, Pat had to ensure the cattle had at least 50% solid area for lying space.
On conversion to organics, Pat removed his cubicles for ease of management and has turned this area into two calving boxes. Pat did all the shed renovations himself.
“Now I’m still farming and I’m busy, but I’m not tied to time as much. I put my whole heart into the organic to try and get it right and set myself up, and there’s a learning curve in it.
"I feel like I’ve fallen back in love again with farming, the constant slog is over, it’s at my own pace now.”
A farm walk was hosted on his land in early July, offering other farmers a chance to see in real-time how the system works.
Growing Organics is a programme focused on supporting and increasing organic production.
The programme, led by Teagasc and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, promotes the adoption of best practice at farm level to increase the future viability and sustainability of the Irish organic sector.