Shropshire Farming Talk: BGS competition launching soon
We will soon be launching the competition to find the BGS Grassland Farmer of the Year 2025. BGS has been running a national competition since 1979, and our judges will looking for a farmer who shows overall excellence in grassland management and is a successful contributor towards profitable and sustainable farming practices.
The competition is open to members of local grassland societies that are affiliated to BGS, but full BGS members may also enter if there is no local society in their area.
The Winner’s Farm Walk is an important part of the competition and last year’s winners, Dylan and Wyn Jones from Anglesey Grassland Society, will be hosting a farm walk on Wednesday, 14 May. They will welcome us to Castellior Farm, Anglesey to hear about their system for finishing dairy-bred steers. Around 1,500 cattle are finished per year on just over 330 hectares. They are bought in at 16–24 months of age weighing 420–480 kg. They are mostly Holstein, with some dairy crosses. Cattle are weighed weekly. The finishing period is 92–140 days with an average DLWG of 1.7 kg/d. They are sold at 630–680 kg, with carcase weights of 310 – 380 kg.
Cattle graze from 25 March until the end of October, with no supplements fed during the grazing period. A minimum of 500 cattle are housed throughout the year, with this increasing to 700 in the winter. The total mixed ration (TMR) fed to them is 100% home produced. Both barley and peas grown on the farm are crimped and fed in the TMR. Silages are made from high protein grasses, red clover, and Westerwolds ryegrass on a multi-cut system. Cuts are taken every 5-6 weeks, with five cuts in total across the growing season.
Fertiliser use has been reduced through using legumes, with nitrogen application rates halved. A third of the farm is soil sampled each year. Weed management is self-regulatory due to arable-based rotation.
Over the years, the farm has been involved in a number of environmental schemes. Carbon footprinting has been carried out on the beef production system and was shown to be very low. Dylan Jones said that they have used a number of techniques to reduce their carbon footprint, but every step towards net zero has been profitable for the business and a boost to the productivity and efficiency of the farm.
The farm walk will be free to attend, but booking is essential. More details will be available on the BGS website soon.
The competition and associated events is kindly sponsored by Germinal, Nufarm and Yara
