The dairy industry in NI is often characterised by high-input systems, calving all year round and producing well over 8,000 litres of milk per cow.

That contrasts with the Republic of Ireland, where the message is consistently that low-cost spring-calving, based on 5,000 litre cows and maximising grass in the diet, is the most profitable way to produce milk.

But is there a role for a mix of both systems (some type of halfway house), with high-yielding Holstein Friesian cows calved in a tight block in the spring and put out to grass?

That is something currently under investigation at the University College Dublin (UCD) research farm at Lyons Estate in Kildare in a trial involving 60 high genetic merit Holstein Friesian cows.

Speaking at an AB Vista seminar in Armagh last week, Professor Finbar Mulligan from UCD said that the study was initiated to investigate what might be possible for farmers with a fixed land bank who can only expand by producing more milk per cow, but still use grass to its maximum.

The key question is can these high-merit cows, with an estimated breeding index (EBI) of €154 (herd ranked top 5% in Republic of Ireland) prosper in a spring-calving environment, with the majority of feed coming from grazed grass?

The initial results from the first full year of the study (2016) are mixed, but should be treated with some caution given that numbers are relatively small. It should also be recognised that the conditions at Lyons Estate are much better suited to spring-calving than many farms further north. Grazing in 2016 started in mid-February, with cows out full-time by 1 March.

The target is to produce 625kg of milk solids (fat and protein) in a 305-day lactation (7,500 to 8,000 litres of milk; 4,670 litres from forage), feeding 1.5t of concentrate and with over 50% of the diet grazed grass.

In 2016, the herd produced 588kg of milk solids, with average milk yield at just over 7,400 litres.

The farm grew 13t of grass dry matter (DM) per hectare last year, behind the target of 17t, and something Mulligan is keen to improve this year.

The other significant area for improvement is cow fertility.

While the submission rate was high at 91%, and empty rate after 12 weeks breeding a respectable 9%, conception rates to first service were below target at 43%.

“Fertility was not as good as we would like. Some 28% of the herd was recorded as thin at the time, and that may have contributed to underperformance,” said Mulligan. In 2017, cows started calving on 24 January, with breeding from 24 April.

Outcomes

Perhaps one of the key outcomes from the research is that it will confirm that high-yielding cows in early lactation are perhaps best kept inside.

“If a cow can’t exist on 21kg to 22kg of dry matter intake (DMI), then it won’t suit a grazing system. We would like to get 23kg of DMI to include 17kg from grass, but that is very hard to achieve. The best we got was 17kg from grass and 5kg from a supplement,” said Mulligan.

That leads to other challenges, particularly in the early part of the year, when it has been difficult to graze down to an acceptable residual and still feed the cow to her potential.

“Managing grass is more challenging with high output cows, no doubt about that,” concluded the UCD researcher.

Also making a presentation at the AB Vista seminar were Rodney Elliott and his son David, originally from Fermanagh, and who now operate a large dairy business in south Dakota.

The Elliott family moved to the US in 2006 having previously milked 140 cows on 180 acres outside Maguiresbridge. At the time, the family became well-known locally after their move was featured on the BBC programme “Wanted: Farmers”.

Initially starting with 160 acres and 1,400 cows on a newly built site, further significant expansion in 2013 means that the farm now operates with over 4,000 cows producing nearly 1m litres of milk per week.

Next stage

The next stage is to go to 5,250 cows, with Rodney reaching an agreement with a farmer in Kansas (nearly 500 miles away) to rear his 3,000 heifers. That will free up land around the dairy for growing crops for more cows and to take slurry. However, given the scale of the farm, the biggest issue now is probably finding and keeping labour. “The problem has been exaggerated thanks to the election of Donald Trump. Our 50 employees are mostly Hispanic. If we were relying on Americans we wouldn’t be milking 450 cows,” said Rodney.

On milk price, he said it has come back a little this year, from around 40c/l to about 35c now (34p to 30p). He estimates his costs of production are around the 26p/l mark. The majority of the herd is now crossbred, a mix of Holstein put to Jersey and then to a Swedish Red. Milk is sold to a cheese processing business.

Apart from the scale, what is the major difference between farming in NI and the US? “Much more is thought of farmers in the US. People know that we drive the local economy. We are seen as kings in south Dakota,” replied Elliott.