Contrary to some of the comments in last week’s Dairylink pages written by Jack Kennedy, I think that Northern Ireland (NI) is home to some of the best dairy farmers on these islands.

Before sweeping assumptions are made some things need to be understood about the background to our industry compared with that of the Republic of Ireland.

First of all, with the UK producing less milk, NI has been effectively without quota for the last 10 to 12 years giving farmers here the opportunity to expand. This has been done in two ways, firstly by increasing numbers but also by pushing the cows harder to make every cow as productive as possible.

This is in contrast to the Republic of Ireland where due to the nature of the quota system the only way to improve efficiency was to take cost out and accept low levels of production as a result.

I accept that on many farms in NI, production increased at a rate that was above the level of management available, and in some cases production from grass has suffered as a result. However, I would argue that in a predominantly winter milk system, overall forage quality is much more important than solely focusing on grazed grass alone.

As a member of a discussion group, I know many top-class farmers who can easily achieve 3,000 to 4,000 litres from forage while at the same time producing high yields from housed cows with seasonal calving patterns.

Volume

Regarding breeding policy and the production of watery milk, southern-based milk processors pay for volume and, as yet, there is no real incentive to breed low-production cows with high solids.

In my own situation, I have been breeding for milk solids and better health and fertility for the past few years. Without doubt, progress has been made with regard to improved milk solids and I now have a more robust type of cow that should last a bit longer.

The downside of this is that I suspect I have bred some of the milk out of the cows. The reality for us is that a significant part of our turnover comes from selling calved cows, and regardless of milk solids you can always sell a cow with a good udder and giving plenty of milk. With this in mind, I have more high milk bulls in the AI tank this year. The current profitable lifetime index (PLI) system now gives us a range of bulls available that offer high milk without having to compromise on solids or fertility.

Supply

A sceptical person might be forgiven for thinking that the payment system (including winter bonuses) implemented by processors in the Republic of Ireland suggests they are more than happy to let us carry on producing large volumes of watery milk as it gives them a steady supply when the cows are dry in the Republic.

This enables them to run their factories at full capacity for longer, allowing them to pass the efficiencies back to their shareholders (mainly in the Republic of Ireland).

However, it should also be noted that from analysis of DAERA benchmarking, and through my discussion group, it is clear that no one system is more or less profitable than another. The secret to success is attention to detail, focusing on what is important in your own particular situation and making the most efficient use of your own resources.