Beef Event 2025

Farming a short distance from Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, Tim Meagher, will host this year’s IGA Beef Event, sponsored by FBD Insurance.

The farm has been in the Meagher’s family for generations and Tim, his wife Shauna, and four children, operate a store-to-beef system on 88 ha of grassland and 24 ha of tillage.

When Tim took over the reins, he pushed suckler cow numbers to 90 – predominately Limousin which were crossed with a quality Charolais stock bull; heifers at the time were ran with an Angus bull. Separately, weanlings were also purchased from the west of Ireland. At the time, the farm was also home to roughly 200 ewes.

However, over a decade ago, Tim moved to simplify the operation and focused on moving to a traditional store-to-beef enterprise – prioritising on incorporating as much grass into the diet as possible.

Looking at the stock present on the farm, it’s evident that Tim – who does all the purchasing from marts in the west of Ireland – has a keen eye for quality. Heifers and bullocks are bought in September and October each year weighing in the 500 – 520 kg bracket. These are then finished the following year from July to October as they come fit for slaughter; all cattle are slaughtered under 30 months-of-age.

Currently, there is 252 head of cattle on the farm – 160 bullocks and 92 heifers. During the grazing season, the cattle are run in large batches of roughly 40-50 head in a paddock system; there are roughly 43 paddocks on the farm. Strip wires are also used to achieve desired clean outs and to manage paddocks correctly.

In the springtime, all cattle are grouped according to age (January, February, March and April-born calves) to ensure easy management during the summer period.
Additionally, where possible, Tim lowers his dependence on purchased meal. As mentioned, 24 ha of spring barley is sown on the farm each year; this grain is fed to the finishing cattle at grass along with soya hulls and minerals. The straw is chopped at harvest and used to bed cattle over the winter months.

Tim places a huge focus on preserving top-quality silage as a winter feed. If he can hit 75% plus DMD silage, he can cut out the need for meal over the winter.  However, due to weather conditions in 2024, silage quality ranged from 68% to 73% DMD on the three cuts harvested last year.

As part of the operation, Tim places a big focus on animal health to ensure all animals reach peak performance during their stay on the farm. Vaccination and dosing are carried out when required, and Tim has invested in state-of-the-art handling facilities to manage animals efficiently and safely.

Tim first introduced clover onto the farm in the early 2000’s and now both red and white clover play a pivotal role in silage production and on the grazing platform. Since incorporating clover into the system, he has reduced the reliance on chemical nitrogen (N), while not negatively impacting the kilograms of beef sold off the farm.

A slurry aeration system is also present on the farm.

Speaking ahead of the event, Trish O’Halloran from FBD Insurance said, “at FBD, we’re delighted to support the IGA Beef Event again in 2025. We recognise the important role that events like this play in fostering innovation, and collaboration within the farming community.
Knowledge sharing and education empower farmers to develop and maintain efficient, sustainable beef production systems, ensuring the continued success and global competitiveness of Ireland’s beef industry for years to come.”

The IGA beef event will take place on Tim Meagher’s farm outside Roscrea, Co. Tipperary (Eircode E53 V054) on June 10th . Irish beef burgers will be served at 6:00 pm, with the event kicking off at 6:30 pm sharp and will conclude at 8:30 pm.