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James Walsh
A spinal injury disrupted plans James Walsh had for 2014, but luckily for him, he had his son Andrew to stand in and help him out. The Walsh family have not invested in new buildings or milking parlours and yet they deliver exceptional milk quality.
Cows are bedded with straw at Island Farm, Kilmuckridge, Gorey, Co Wexford. The Walshs are milking 47 cows on a large land block, typical of the area, farming a mixed, beef, dairy and tillage farm.
Yield delivered in 2013 was 5,870 litres per cow to Glanbia. Milk quality results are outstanding, averaging 4,500 in TBC and 70,000 SCC.
Remarkably, the TBC figure only exceeds 5,000 for one month all year. The SCC results are equally as impressive, only going over 80,000 for two months and those were the last two months of lactation.
What makes the TBC results even more impressive is the fact that milk is only collected every third day. Better again is that no milk recording takes place and James maintains low cell count starts with good nutrition and no stress.
The milking machine washing procedure is automated. There are two cold water rinses after milking of 80 litres each followed by a hot wash using Sanigard. The hot water is at 80°C for this and is circulated for about eight minutes before being drained out and a post-rinse of 40 litres of cold water is then done. Both Sanigard and Acidsan are used to wash the bulk tank.
To ensure milk quality, James pre-strips every cow before morning and evening milking to ensure any cows with signs of mastitis are picked up on as soon as a problem arises.
Pre-foaming of the teats is also done to reduce risk of infection. James believes it is important to apply the cluster to the cow no later than 90 seconds after the cow has been stripped.
Farming system
In 2013, milking 47 cows in spring milk production supplying Glanbia. 286.5 acres (116ha) farmed. Milk delivered was 5,870 litres per cow at 4.27% fat and 3.59% protein.
Parlour
Five-unit double-up herringbone.
SCC results
Average 70,000 for 2013.
TBC results
Average 4,000 for 2013.
“A cow with mastitis is treated with Terrexine tubes, marked, ankle-taped, number written up on the wall and milked into an individual bucket.”
“We never use chlorine in the wash mix – it reacts with our water supply and we use Peracetic acid in last rinse.”
A real example of a farmer using the best science and knowledge to deliver excellent results without the need to invest in fancy equipment.
Micheal Crowe
You don’t get too many new entrants hitting the sort of targets Michael Crowe is achieving. Michael started into milk in autumn 2011 when he bought 40 acres adjoining the 30-acre home farm.
Up to that, sheep and calves were paying the bills, but now milking cows has taken over. With four uncles all milking, he’s aware of what it takes. Now, after investing in land and new buildings, he needs his south-facing, high and exposed farm to deliver for him.
Micheal has a simple four-step programme to ensure infections are not spread from cow to cow in the milking parlour: 1) Wear gloves when milking. 2) Pre-spray. 3) Post-spray. 4) Mark problem cows and draft them to be milked after the rest of the herd.
Cows are stripped before milking to detect any clinical cases in the herd and the milk recording results are used with the CMT kit to detect any sub-clinical cases (and which quarters) that may be in the herd. Before each cow, the milker also sprays their hands to stop the spread of infection.
If a cow is found to have either a clinical or sub-clinical case of mastitis, she is treated with Terrexine tubes. Usually, the cow will get five tubes over the course of a treatment. A course of Betamox injections may also be used if it is a severe case.
Micheal is milking 70 cows in Cappawhite, Co Limerick, and last year, he supplied almost 368,000 litres to Tipperary Co-op. Cows are producing 6,421 litres per year at 4.17% butterfat and 3.54% protein. The cows were fed 1t of concentrate last year to replace some silage, but Micheal is milking all-year round to help cashflow during the growth phase. A keen grass manager, he operates a spring and autumn grass planner and allocates grass according to his grass wedge on PastureBase.
Micheal is hoping to increase cow numbers to 90 next year with the abolition of milk quotas, but some slurry storage is required.
Farming system
In 2013, milking 70 cows in spring milk production supplying Tipperary Co-op. 127.8 acres (51.75ha) farmed. Milk delivered was 6,421 litres per cow at 4.17% fat and 3.54% protein.
Parlour
Six-unit herringbone.
SCC results
Average 132,000 for 2013.
TBC results
Average 10,000 for 2013.
“My business is built on grass because large repayments limit me from investing in anything else. Any efficiencies mean a lot to a growing business.”
“I use the CMT paddle when the milk recording results come back to identify which quarter is infected.”
Outstanding new entrant performer using all the free, value-added technology, but keeping the system simple and repeatable.
Cathal Lowry
When Cathal Lowry left agri college 20 years ago, he didn’t envisage producing quality milk from Loughrea. However, after a short stint in Australia, he realised the green fields of Galway were calling and he returned home to develop and grow the dairy business with his father.
Not that long ago, Cathal was on the verge of exiting milk due to very big SCC problems, but now the wheel has turned full circle.
Cathal is now milking over 122 crossbred cows near Loughrea, Co Galway, and last year, he supplied 598,341 litres to Aurivo. His cows averaged 5,000 litres last year with exceptional solids. They averaged 4.68% butterfat and 3.74% protein.
This is a very compact calving herd, with 80% of the herd calving in six weeks. Over 90% of the AI used is dairy and emphasis is on protein, fertility and EBI when choosing these bulls. The herd average EBI is €170.
Cathal is hoping to expand his herd next year to milk over 200 cows, when quotas are gone, from 160 acres in total farmed. Slurry storage will need to be increased to cope with this number of cows and the plan is to put an extra ring on the current slurry store.
In order to identify if there is an infection present in the herd, Cathal strips problem cows before milking. The SCC results are monitored closely and if results go over 150,000, action is taken.
Milk recording results are also monitored closely to identify individual problem cows. All these high cell count cows are marked and their clusters are dipped after they are milked to reduce transfer to other cows in the herd.
There is a hot wash done on the machine in the morning, which is kept over 70°C. The volume of water used is set at 10 litres per unit. A cold wash is completed every evening. The machine is also descaled twice per week.
Farming system
In 2013, milking 122 cows in spring milk production supplying Aurivo. 160 acres (68ha) farmed. Milk delivered was 5,000 litres per cow at 4.68% fat and 3.74% protein.
Parlour
16-unit herringbone.
SCC results
Average 153,000 for 2013.
TBC results
Average 18,000 for 2013.
“In 2006 and 2007, I had a lot of cell count trouble and faced serious fines and a job to cull over one third of my herd. There is always hope.”
When asked for three tips, he said “clean, clean and clean”.
From the very depths of almost exiting the business due to poor quality milk, the turnaround on this farm is almost miraculous.
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