Sustainable production is a term often used in Irish agriculture. When mainstream dairying in Northern Ireland was starting to expand in the late 1990s, Antrim farmer David Laughlin decided to take his 100ha farm in a different direction.

An application was made to the soil association to convert the farm to organic milk production and the farm has remained organic since.

Sustainability is one of the core principles of the business. Along with producing milk mainly from grazed grass, the farm is now powered almost entirely by renewable energy.

In Northern Ireland, surplus energy can then be sold back to the national power grid, bringing in an additional income stream.

The farm has also diversified in recent years to develop a small, but growing farm shop. Boxed organic beef is sold directly off the farm, produced by the male progeny born from the dairy herd. The farm has just been granted a licence to sell milk directly off the farm this spring and plans are under way for developing fresh milk sales.

Herd details

The herd consists of 100 Ayrshire cows calving all year round, with 75 cows in milk at any one time. In recent years, the herd has reduced in size from 150 cows in milk. Cows are yielding an average of 5,500 litres of milk annually with milk solids at 4.3% butterfat and 3.6% protein (447kg MS).

Meal consumption is 600kg/cow as David maintains high meal feeding would go against the ethos of sustainable milk production from grass. Organic meal costs £395/t (€484/t).

Milk is sold through an organic marketing body in which David has a major shareholding. It is sold through all major retailers, but mainly Marks & Spencer. Farmgate price is currently 41p/litre (50c/litre). Production costs are 33p/litre (40c/litre) with all costs accounted for except own labour. Organic milk makes up approximately 1% of the liquid milk market in NI.

All cows are bred to artificial insemination, which David carries out himself. Conception rates are typically around 70% to first service and a mix of Ayrshire and some Angus sires are used. The annual replacement rate is typically 20%. David maintains that herd health has improved under organic production as cows are managed less intensively.

There is a herd health plan which was drawn up with the local vet and submitted to the organic body. Cows can be treated for fluke and worms as in conventional dairying. Mastitis levels are routinely 5% to 6% of the herd each year. TBC for the herd is just under 9,000 with an SCC of 120,000 cells/ml. No preventative vaccines, such as BVD or Lepto, are used in the herd.

Robot milking

As David is the sole labour unit, time management is important. He carries out all routine management tasks as well as DIY insemination and silage-making.

To ease labour demand, David installed a robotic parlour in 2009 to replace the 12-point, double-up parlour. The approximate set up costs were £120,000 (€147,000).

Housing has been altered to accommodate a second parlour in the future as David’s son has plans to farm full-time on his return from college. Herd expansion is possible as the land block carried higher numbers in the past under organic management.

Getting used to milking with the robot took some time for David as he had been used to the routine of bringing cows in every day for so long.

The main change was placing faith in a machine to milk the herd rather than himself. Cows and heifers are trained within three days to come in and be milked. Some high-yielding cows will milk up to four times per day.

As the cows graze on day and night paddocks, there is no risk of a cow going without milking. All cows are milked at least twice daily. The day paddocks are cleared by 6pm, at which point David will walk any cows present into the parlour. After milking, they pass through an EID automated shedding gate which diverts cows onto the night paddocks. The night paddocks are cleared by 6am.

The computer records udder health and carries out the exact same disinfecting procedure on every cow compared with human management, which can vary from cow to cow.

Maintenance of the robot is carried out every four months and this includes replacing liners.

Feed management

Turnout this spring was 13 March with cows starting off on a 45-acre grazing platform. As more freshly calved cows were turned out, the grazing platform increased to 60 acres and this area will be maintained for 75 cows over the summer.

As cows walk to the grazing paddocks individually after milking, there is less traffic damage around field gateways.

Cows have access to a buffer feed of hay or silage when they come in off grass until grass supplies are adequate. Freshly calved cows get up to 5kg/day of meal in the first nine weeks of lactation. The aim is to feed 50% of concentrates in this period. Cows are then moved back to 1kg/day for the rest of their lactation as grass quantity and quality is capable of sustaining yield. In winter, cows are fed grass/clover-based silage made in three cuts.

The first cut usually has the lowest protein level as clover content is lower.

First-cut silage is still a minimum of 70DMD with 13% crude protein, but second-cut and third-cut silage consists of 14% to 16% protein content. Clover is also high in trace minerals such as copper, selenium and iodine, which has a positive effect on herd fertility.

Grass rotation

The high percentage of clover produces nitrogen in soils. AFBI have been analysing David’s soils in the past and the farm is receiving between 200kg and 250kg of nitrogen per hectare from the clover, which is the equivalent of 160 to 200 units of CAN per acre over a full season.

Land is farmed in a crop rotation of grass for five years, followed by potatoes and then oats. The rotation is crucial for weed control as spraying is prohibited under organic rules. Grassland weeds are controlled by topping.

Grassland is limed on requirement, with regular soil analysis carried out to determine fertility status.

Farmyard manure and slurry are targeted to silage ground to replace nutrient offtake. Farmyard manure has had a great effect on soil conditioning, which has improved drainage and aeration.

Renewable energy

A wind turbine was installed five years ago and, last year, a solar panel system was installed on the roof of the cubicle house.

As the herd is milked by a robot, there is a more even, steady demand for electricity rather than two peaks periods of demand under conventional milking.

The 50kW solar panels are south facing and set at an angle of 22o which makes them around 98% efficient at harnessing sunlight. The angle at which the panels are set influence efficiency, as over 30o reduces the ability to harness sunlight.

The panels are connected to three power converters which change the electricity from direct current to alternating current. This is then used to power the farm and dwelling house. Before installing any renewable energy source, the farm and house had a monthly electricity bill of £700 to £900 per month and, for the average dairy farm, electricity can make up 17% of fixed costs.

Installing the panels cost £70,000 (€85,000) which includes planning and grid connection. Payback time depends on how much renewable energy can replace bought-in energy. Using the power generated is more profitable than exporting, or selling to the national grid.

Every kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity produced from renewable energy is entitled to a subsidy payment known as a Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC). Four ROCs can be claimed per kWh worth 17p (21c).

If electricity is used from the national grid, it costs the user 16p/kWh, while electricity sold to the grid from a renewable source will generate 5p/kWh.

Currently, the solar panels are generating £15,000 (€18,300) per annum which should see the initial investment repaid in five years.

The more renewable power the farm can produce and use, the shorter the repayment period.

David is planning to potentially install more solar panels after the first set is paid off.

Currently, there are no viable methods of storing the electricity supplied by either renewable source, which means the farm is partially reliant on the national grid for some of its power.

  • Organic dairy farm since 1999.
  • 75 pedigree Ayrshire cows in milk and all-year round calving.
  • 5,500 litres rolling average.
  • 600kg meal/cow meal through robot.
  • 4.3% butterfat and 3.6% protein.
  • 100ha grassland stocked at 1.7LU/ha.
  • Electricity produced by renewable source.
  • Slurry targeted to silage ground to replace nutrient offtake.