Q: What is the breeding policy for the future?

A: The policy is Jersey semen or easy-calving Holstein Friesian on the maiden heifers and high-EBI Holstein Friesian or Jersey criss-crossed on the main milking herd. Breeding season will be 11 weeks this year and we are hoping to keep the not-in-calf rate less than 10%.

Q: The herd looks in great condition – how much meal have they been fed so far this year?

A: So far, milking cows have had grazed grass and 180kg of meal per cow on average.

Q: My father always said don’t ever stop applying phosphorus (P) because it takes so long to build up again – would you agree?

A: We are playing within the nitrate directive rules and very definitely on low P index soils, you need to direct slurry and bag P and yes we are finding it does take time to lift P levels, especially when growing large volumes of grass.

Q: Lime – pH hasn’t moved from 6.5 – will you spread lime?

A: Yes, we are planning on spreading 2t per acre this autumn on some paddocks that we feel are not performing good enough – we haven’t spread any lime for the last five years, but each year leaching and lime leaving the farm in dairy product will reduce pH.

Q: Potash (K) - ye spread a lot of it up to 70kg/ha?

A: Yes, because K indices were very low and we put a good lot on silage paddocks and we have seen higher crops of silage as a result. We haven’t seen a lift in K yet.

Q: Sulphur – why are ye spreading it in two rounds?

A: We are spreading the risk in case a large amount might tie up copper but the important point is we are starting to apply in April rather than leaving it too late in the summer.

Q: Grass varieties – see any difference?

A: We find Abermagic is growing well but not great for grazing and seems more suited to silage and we find Tyrella the most consistent variety. We had a very dry year last year and some varieties are better this year.

Q: Are you worried about monocultures – some of the grasses seem very open?

A: The clover works well with the monocultures.

Q: You’re struggling to grow 10t/ha on a dry year - will you ever grow 14t to 15t?

A: Soil fertility is improving all the time – the organic matter and soil P and K is improving, so we would hope on a year where we get enough rain that yes, we can hit 14t. We have grown over 7t/ha so far this year and it only now slowing down because we need rain on this farm.

Q: Why not reduce stocking rate and grow all your own winter feed?

A: We found even in years when we planned with a lower stocking rate that second-cut silage ties up ground and we struggle to build grass in the back end. We found the cost of the fertilizer and the feed we had to buy when building autumn grass was almost the same as the cost of going out and buying in silage if required. This year, we will be able to grow enough winter feed at our stocking rate of 2.7 cows/ha.

Q: Are the milk solids too low?

A: The herd is hitting over 400kg of milk solids per cow on low purchased feed. First, almost 60% are first and second lactation and second, the herd was purchased in 2010, so it’s fair to say that it is only now that the planned genetics are beginning to come through.

Q: Do ye do any topping?

A: No, but we do cut paddocks for round bales.

Q: You have €125,000 in the bank on deposit earning no money and over €700,000 costing you over 4% per year – will you leave the money in the bank?

A: Yes, the €125,000 is locked away as a price volatility tool, which can be activated if milk price drops.

Q: Take this as a comment – is it fair to say something like this works when you get a good milk price?

A: Yes the good milk price for last number of years has helped but improving milk price with high milk solids also improves output.

Q: Will you borrow more to invest more?

A: No, any further capital development will have to come from funds out of the business shared with landowners.

Q: Is the current ag college system good enough to train a person for a managerial position on a dairy farm like this?

A: For me, there is not enough emphasis on practical work experience when in college. I’ve learned more here in six months than my two years in ag college.

Q: If you were back again, would you put in a stand-off pad or cubicles?

A: You can’t make a decision looking back. The only thing we could afford at the time was the stand-off pad. Since then, the cost of woodchip has over doubled, the cost of steel and concrete has reduced but a dairy farm under development can only carry so much debt.

Q: If back again, would you buy in-calf heifers or a mix of cows and heifers like you did?

A: Our decision back in 2009/10 was to limit the spend to about €1,300 per animal so we could get enough cows on the farm to produce milk and dilute the costs that we had. We did spend over €50/head on health disease screening, but when you buy mature cows, you buy high cell count cows no matter what checking you do. Heifers would have cost us at least €300/head more and getting batches of heifers or cows in big enough lots is difficult when sourcing large numbers.

Q: What is the cost of shed v topless cubicles?

A: In round figures, a shed for 250 cows would cost over €200,000 while a topless cubicle set up for 250 cows would come in about half the price, for around €100,000.

We will cover the labour and cashflow forums in coming weeks.