Banbridge dairy farmer Colin Boggs farms 120 mostly New Zealand Friesian cows in a grass based system on 140 acres. It stayed dry for around 170 members of the Ulster and British Grassland Societies to walk around the award winning farm in Co. Down on Wednesday morning.

Colin’s cows are currently yielding 26.1 litres per cow per day at 4.23% butterfat and 3.35% protein. The cows calve in a spring calving system from the end of January to the end of April and are milked once a day from November to dry off.

Rolling yield stands at 6,023 litres with 5,022 litres coming from forage and 4,054 litres coming from grazed grass. Concentrate feed rate stands at 0.09kg per litre with rolling concentrate usage at 565kg per cow.

On the farm a huge emphasis is put on grassland management and, as Colin pointed out to visitors, utilisation of grass and not just growing grass. He said that by pre mowing every paddock after the first rotation he can deliver utilisation rates of 85-95% compared to 45-55% on most farms in NI.

“Pre mowing keeps a clean sward that is highly utilised by cows. I mow between two and a half and three acres each day for two grazings at a time which usually takes around an hour and a half,” he said.

Further coverage of Wednesday’s farm walk will feature in next week’s edition of the Irish Farmers Journal and on www.farmersjournal.ie