John Walsh farms at Knocknageeha, Boherbue, in northwest Cork. Boherbue is a small village in the Duhallow region. Boherbue Co-op, with 80 suppliers, collects and supplies all co-op milk to the US-owned Kraft plant in Rathmore (formerly Cadbury’s), where the milk is converted to chocolate crumb.
When you stand and look out behind John’s farmyard, you can see the Paps Mountains of Kerry in front and the Mullaghareik and McGuillcuddy Reeks in the surrounds. Farms in the region have recorded over 800mm (32 inches) of rain already this year, which is twice and three times as much rain as many farms in the east of the country to date, and 300mm less than many farms less than an hour away by road. Last week John hosted a dairy farm walk for Boherbue Co-op and Teagasc with the focus on breeding for milk solids.
Farm overview
John milks 85 cows from 54 hectares farmed (132 acres) with a 32-hectare milking platform (80 acre) and a quota of 439,370 litres (96,650 gallons). Last year, John filled his quota with milk solids of 4% fat and 3.45% protein (400kg MS/cow). The principle farm focus is milk production with no other cattle held on the farm except milking cows and replacements.
Last year, John only had 12 heifer calves so this year he only has 12 bulling heifers. Lucky for him 2014 has been kinder in terms of the male-female calf ratio and he has had 20 heifer replacement calves.
The herd has an EBI of €131 (€36 milk/€76 fertility), which is close to the national average EBI of €121. The top 10% of herds in Ireland have an EBI over €180.
Despite the fact that John has some very heavy soils and the fact the farm is located in a high-rainfall area, John is still focused on spring milk produced primarily from grazed grass.
Last year, cows were fed 1,000kg of meal, silage and grazed grass and produced 5,400 litres at 4% fat and 3.45% protein (400kg MS).
Last week, John’s cows were producing 28.8 litres at 4.1% fat and 3.3% protein (2.2kg MS) on 6kg of meal and grazed grass. John needs to reduce the meal now that grass has taken off and weather is relatively settled so he can maximise grazed grass – even if he has a high proportion of fresh calvers in the herd.
Cows start calving from 10 February on this farm and, depending on grazing and weather conditions, will be turned out to grass soon after calving. Over 70% of John’s cows will calve in February and March and last year the empty rate at the end of the breeding season was 6% (five cows not in calf). This year, despite the very wet February, John was able to turn the cows out to grass by day from 10 March and day and night from early April.
Breeding
John Maher, Teagasc, explained the basics around breeding and selecting sires to improve milk protein.
“John Walsh’s herd has a predicted difference (PD) for milk of 147kg with a PD fat of 0.03% and PD protein of 0.03%,” he said.
“These figures describe the baseline breeding figures for the herd. What we know is that every 0.01% in genetics (PD) is worth 0.04% at farm level, so if the base cow is producing 3.3% protein milk, then a herd with 0.03% protein should be delivering 3.42% milk (0.03% x 4 on top of the base 3.30%).
“As you can see, John Walsh’s herd are delivering 3.45%, which is more than the genetics in the herd would suggest and this is down to other factors such as management and feeding.”
John then went on to explain the differences in two AI bulls that are available this spring. He highlighted a bull called Delta Trading (ZTG) which has an EBI of €262 with a PD milk of 386kg, PD fat of –0.06% and PD protein of 0.05%. The other bull he highlighted was Ballinaborta Primo (PBM), which has a similar EBI of €285 but a PD milk of 233kg, a PD fat of 0.14% and a PD protein of 0.18%.
John said: “Using Delta Trading on a cow in this herd will produce a calf with a PD protein of 0.04% (ie, the average of both parents, which are 0.03% cow and 0.05% from the sire). Using Ballinaborta will deliver a calf with a PD of 0.11% (ie, 0.03% cow and 0.18% from the sire). It’s not enough to use EBI only – you need to select within it for milk solids and use a team of sires with high EBI and high milk solids to deliver what farmers want in this region.”
In summary, he said: “Choose wrong and the pain is long because genetics is a long-term burner. Use a team to avoid using too much of a bull where a proof might drop.”
Breeding tips
The message from Doreen Corridan’s, Munster AI, on heat detection was simple: “Use tail paint on cows and keep them topped up with paint. On maiden heifers, use scratch cards with scotch weld glue. The cards can be bought for €55 per roll of 100 cards but the most important point is to use the cards properly. Apply some glue to the cards and allow it to dry. Apply some glue to the heifer and once the glue on the cards is sticky, press the cards onto the heifers.”
Doreen also stressed the importance of how a vasectomised bull can play a vital part in the second- and third-round repeats.
She said: “Because heat intensity drops in the fourth and fifth week of the breeding season, you need to get more aggressive at picking up cows in heat and the easy way to do this is to let in a vasectomised bull. If you haven’t got one this year, at the very least pull out the strongest bull calf now and keep him for next year.”
Feeding hints
John Walsh’s Teagasc adviser, Noreen O Rahilly, discussed commonly used ingredients during the dairy farm walk.
“Avoid the fillers like wheat feed (Pollard), palm kernel, sunflower oil and cotton seed,” she said.
“Assess feeds on UFL and crude protein percentage and while the best ingredients might be the most expensive per unit of energy and protein, they could be the best value.
“Go for four or five good ingredients and keep the mix simple.”
KEY POINTS
Milk from grass on a heavy soil farm in high rainfall is driven by good herd fertility, good management, clear focus and measurement.Use the best bulls on EBI, fertility and milk solids to maximise the genetics in the next generation.Vasectomised bulls can help increase the intensity from week four onwards in the breeding season. Tail paint is still the best tool available to help pick up cows in heat.Boherbue
Co-op
Boherbue Co-op supplies all the milk from its 80 suppliers to the Kraft chocolate crumb factory in Rathmore. The average supplier produces about 275,000 litres (60 cows). At farm level, Boherbue Co-op subsidises AI usage and milk recording.
At the farm walk last week, Declan O‘Keeffe from Boherbue Co-op highlighted the significant difference milk solids can make to milk price for a supplier milking 64 cows and producing 320,000 litres at 2013 milk prices.
Declan showed that the difference varied from 7.5c/litre in April up to a difference of 15.75c/litre for milk supplied in December.
He said: “When you multiply the difference in milk solids by the volume supplied per month, it comes to a milk price difference of €32,784, or over €500 per cow milked.”
Dairy farming & high rainfall
I often wonder about the competitive advantage of dairy farming on heavy soils in high rainfall regions and after my recent foray into north Cork, where I visited three farms, there were a number of issues reinforced:
Dairy farming has a real place in these regions but the continued focus must be on investing in drainage, soil fertility and breeding the right type of cow. There is no doubt farms and farmers are better set up this year and are looking forward to a good summer. Small, lighter cows are more suitable to the terrain rather than bigger, higher-volume cows which definitely require higher maintenance and higher input systems. Fertility is as important if not more important in these regions – you must calve in time. While herds might not always be able to get out early, if cows aren’t calved, they are no good to anyone. Farms in the region really grow high volumes of grass when the ground dries out and you need to be able to harness it. Set realistic stocking rates. We hear plenty of talk of three cows per hectare on dry ground where farmers are growing 12 to 13 tonnes of grass and utilising most of it but if you are stocked at less than two cows per hectare on heavy land that is colder and slower to dry out, then you may still be overstocked, even at two cows per hectare. A reserve of quality forage is money in the bank. Some of the farms in this region are not far from the tillage producing lands near Mallow and whether it’s beet, maize or wholecrop wheat, they have opportunity for alternative quality feed. Streamline the system to dairy only. John Walsh has set up a dairy-only system and he is dead right. There is no room for low profit-making animals (culls, bullocks, extra replacements) and more often than not they can cost more to keep than any potential profit.
John Walsh farms at Knocknageeha, Boherbue, in northwest Cork. Boherbue is a small village in the Duhallow region. Boherbue Co-op, with 80 suppliers, collects and supplies all co-op milk to the US-owned Kraft plant in Rathmore (formerly Cadbury’s), where the milk is converted to chocolate crumb.
When you stand and look out behind John’s farmyard, you can see the Paps Mountains of Kerry in front and the Mullaghareik and McGuillcuddy Reeks in the surrounds. Farms in the region have recorded over 800mm (32 inches) of rain already this year, which is twice and three times as much rain as many farms in the east of the country to date, and 300mm less than many farms less than an hour away by road. Last week John hosted a dairy farm walk for Boherbue Co-op and Teagasc with the focus on breeding for milk solids.
Farm overview
John milks 85 cows from 54 hectares farmed (132 acres) with a 32-hectare milking platform (80 acre) and a quota of 439,370 litres (96,650 gallons). Last year, John filled his quota with milk solids of 4% fat and 3.45% protein (400kg MS/cow). The principle farm focus is milk production with no other cattle held on the farm except milking cows and replacements.
Last year, John only had 12 heifer calves so this year he only has 12 bulling heifers. Lucky for him 2014 has been kinder in terms of the male-female calf ratio and he has had 20 heifer replacement calves.
The herd has an EBI of €131 (€36 milk/€76 fertility), which is close to the national average EBI of €121. The top 10% of herds in Ireland have an EBI over €180.
Despite the fact that John has some very heavy soils and the fact the farm is located in a high-rainfall area, John is still focused on spring milk produced primarily from grazed grass.
Last year, cows were fed 1,000kg of meal, silage and grazed grass and produced 5,400 litres at 4% fat and 3.45% protein (400kg MS).
Last week, John’s cows were producing 28.8 litres at 4.1% fat and 3.3% protein (2.2kg MS) on 6kg of meal and grazed grass. John needs to reduce the meal now that grass has taken off and weather is relatively settled so he can maximise grazed grass – even if he has a high proportion of fresh calvers in the herd.
Cows start calving from 10 February on this farm and, depending on grazing and weather conditions, will be turned out to grass soon after calving. Over 70% of John’s cows will calve in February and March and last year the empty rate at the end of the breeding season was 6% (five cows not in calf). This year, despite the very wet February, John was able to turn the cows out to grass by day from 10 March and day and night from early April.
Breeding
John Maher, Teagasc, explained the basics around breeding and selecting sires to improve milk protein.
“John Walsh’s herd has a predicted difference (PD) for milk of 147kg with a PD fat of 0.03% and PD protein of 0.03%,” he said.
“These figures describe the baseline breeding figures for the herd. What we know is that every 0.01% in genetics (PD) is worth 0.04% at farm level, so if the base cow is producing 3.3% protein milk, then a herd with 0.03% protein should be delivering 3.42% milk (0.03% x 4 on top of the base 3.30%).
“As you can see, John Walsh’s herd are delivering 3.45%, which is more than the genetics in the herd would suggest and this is down to other factors such as management and feeding.”
John then went on to explain the differences in two AI bulls that are available this spring. He highlighted a bull called Delta Trading (ZTG) which has an EBI of €262 with a PD milk of 386kg, PD fat of –0.06% and PD protein of 0.05%. The other bull he highlighted was Ballinaborta Primo (PBM), which has a similar EBI of €285 but a PD milk of 233kg, a PD fat of 0.14% and a PD protein of 0.18%.
John said: “Using Delta Trading on a cow in this herd will produce a calf with a PD protein of 0.04% (ie, the average of both parents, which are 0.03% cow and 0.05% from the sire). Using Ballinaborta will deliver a calf with a PD of 0.11% (ie, 0.03% cow and 0.18% from the sire). It’s not enough to use EBI only – you need to select within it for milk solids and use a team of sires with high EBI and high milk solids to deliver what farmers want in this region.”
In summary, he said: “Choose wrong and the pain is long because genetics is a long-term burner. Use a team to avoid using too much of a bull where a proof might drop.”
Breeding tips
The message from Doreen Corridan’s, Munster AI, on heat detection was simple: “Use tail paint on cows and keep them topped up with paint. On maiden heifers, use scratch cards with scotch weld glue. The cards can be bought for €55 per roll of 100 cards but the most important point is to use the cards properly. Apply some glue to the cards and allow it to dry. Apply some glue to the heifer and once the glue on the cards is sticky, press the cards onto the heifers.”
Doreen also stressed the importance of how a vasectomised bull can play a vital part in the second- and third-round repeats.
She said: “Because heat intensity drops in the fourth and fifth week of the breeding season, you need to get more aggressive at picking up cows in heat and the easy way to do this is to let in a vasectomised bull. If you haven’t got one this year, at the very least pull out the strongest bull calf now and keep him for next year.”
Feeding hints
John Walsh’s Teagasc adviser, Noreen O Rahilly, discussed commonly used ingredients during the dairy farm walk.
“Avoid the fillers like wheat feed (Pollard), palm kernel, sunflower oil and cotton seed,” she said.
“Assess feeds on UFL and crude protein percentage and while the best ingredients might be the most expensive per unit of energy and protein, they could be the best value.
“Go for four or five good ingredients and keep the mix simple.”
KEY POINTS
Milk from grass on a heavy soil farm in high rainfall is driven by good herd fertility, good management, clear focus and measurement.Use the best bulls on EBI, fertility and milk solids to maximise the genetics in the next generation.Vasectomised bulls can help increase the intensity from week four onwards in the breeding season. Tail paint is still the best tool available to help pick up cows in heat.Boherbue
Co-op
Boherbue Co-op supplies all the milk from its 80 suppliers to the Kraft chocolate crumb factory in Rathmore. The average supplier produces about 275,000 litres (60 cows). At farm level, Boherbue Co-op subsidises AI usage and milk recording.
At the farm walk last week, Declan O‘Keeffe from Boherbue Co-op highlighted the significant difference milk solids can make to milk price for a supplier milking 64 cows and producing 320,000 litres at 2013 milk prices.
Declan showed that the difference varied from 7.5c/litre in April up to a difference of 15.75c/litre for milk supplied in December.
He said: “When you multiply the difference in milk solids by the volume supplied per month, it comes to a milk price difference of €32,784, or over €500 per cow milked.”
Dairy farming & high rainfall
I often wonder about the competitive advantage of dairy farming on heavy soils in high rainfall regions and after my recent foray into north Cork, where I visited three farms, there were a number of issues reinforced:
Dairy farming has a real place in these regions but the continued focus must be on investing in drainage, soil fertility and breeding the right type of cow. There is no doubt farms and farmers are better set up this year and are looking forward to a good summer. Small, lighter cows are more suitable to the terrain rather than bigger, higher-volume cows which definitely require higher maintenance and higher input systems. Fertility is as important if not more important in these regions – you must calve in time. While herds might not always be able to get out early, if cows aren’t calved, they are no good to anyone. Farms in the region really grow high volumes of grass when the ground dries out and you need to be able to harness it. Set realistic stocking rates. We hear plenty of talk of three cows per hectare on dry ground where farmers are growing 12 to 13 tonnes of grass and utilising most of it but if you are stocked at less than two cows per hectare on heavy land that is colder and slower to dry out, then you may still be overstocked, even at two cows per hectare. A reserve of quality forage is money in the bank. Some of the farms in this region are not far from the tillage producing lands near Mallow and whether it’s beet, maize or wholecrop wheat, they have opportunity for alternative quality feed. Streamline the system to dairy only. John Walsh has set up a dairy-only system and he is dead right. There is no room for low profit-making animals (culls, bullocks, extra replacements) and more often than not they can cost more to keep than any potential profit. 
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