John McGrath farms with his wife and four sons in Anglesborough, Co. Limerick. They run a weanling to bull beef system where they are finishing 50-60 bulls between 16 and 24 months of age each year.

John and his sons are using FarmOps since 2023 and since the introduction of the new Slaughter Data Module “the app has everything we need as beef farmers” John explained. “I wouldn’t be much good at the aul technology, but FarmOps is so simple to use, and at the money, it’s a no brainer” John confirmed.

They record the weights of their bulls every 4-6 weeks using the FarmOps app. John keeps a keen eye on which stock is performing best using the performance monitoring data in the Weights Chart. The McGraths separate the bulls for finishing based on weight, age and DLWG. Bulls are sent for finishing based on live weights recorded in FarmOps, with the goal to achieve >400kg carcass average. The Slaughter Data Chart then shows the McGraths the Carcass Weight, Grade, Fat score, Price/kg and Total Price for all finished bulls.

Each of John's sons have a keen interest in farming and they have FarmOps on their phones at no extra cost! Danny records the medicines and feed purchases in the app and recently completed their Bord Bia audit using FarmOps compliance reports with “no hassle at all”. Conor records the animal movements when purchasing cattle from other farms. He completes the movement before leaving the yard which “takes no time at all and avoids the paperwork”.

“Overall we are delighted with FarmOps. We have a much better grasp of how our stock is performing and are more confident in the killouts we will achieve when selecting animals for the factory” confirmed John.