Nigel Corbett is committed to developing a more sustainable dairy farm not far from Banbridge in the Dormara hills of Co Down.

The farm business had one of its most difficult years financially in 2016 and is determined to lower production costs and fully utilise resources available.

With the average final milk price received in 2016 of approximately 20.4p/l and a cost of production close to 25p/l it’s easy do the sums for 2016 (see Table 1).

Nigel has put plans in place to change the direction his business is going. So what is he doing to improve the situation on farm?

Nigel Corbett Co Down

Grazing management

To effectively lower the cost of production on the farm, I need to get more grass into the cow diet, especially grazed grass. I now measure every week, and use the information to improve the quality of grass cows are on. Last week, growth was at 41kgDM/ha and my stocking rate on the grazing block is 3.2 cows/ha. I budget on cows eating 18kg DM/day so my demand is around 60kg/ha at current stocking rate and with no feed-in. The average farm cover per cow is 180kg DM/cow. The dry weather slowed down growth last week, and hence I expect my cover per cow to drop next week. Cows are cleaning paddocks well with low residual grass left, so if growth improves when the rain arrives, grass quality should be good.

I plan to move cows into 24-hour grazing blocks next week. This will be a first for us on 24-hour grazing blocks, so the jury is out. The rationale is to lower labour requirement and lessen pressure on the first-calvers in the herd.

So far, 80 units of nitrogen has been put on the grazing block, and I will go again with another 27 units this week. Urea was used on the first round, then half bag 18-46-0, and now CAN. The grazing block is a 50:50 split between heavy and dry soil, with the heavy soil and poorer grass varieties still slow to respond to nitrogen. The grazing block is walked every week using a grasshopper, and the information is uploaded to Agrinet.

Current average production for our autumn-calving herd is 28 litres, at 4.21% butterfat and 3.31% protein (2.0 kg solids/day). Meal feeding is at 6kg/head/day.

Silage was cut this week in ideal conditions with no additive used. Slurry will go on at 2,000 gal/acre and I plan to use 24-6-12 on second cut area. A compound will be used again on the grazing block on the next rotation to help soil P and K. Despite the improvement in soil fertility on the farm, we still have paddocks that require reseeding, with 10 acres of this lower growth area earmarked for a reseed next month.

Fertility update

Cow fertility and getting cows back in calf has been our primary focus. We have tightened the calving profile from 31 weeks in 2015/2016, down to 20 weeks this coming autumn. There are 101 cows in the herd, with 75% due between October, November and December this year. The remaining 25% will calve in January 2018. Compacting the calving has helped with heat detection in the herd and also makes calving and calf rearing much less labour-intensive. Our plan is to move to 100% autumn calving, with all cows calved for the end of December.

Cow type

The breeding policy on the farm is now focused on sires with high fertility traits and improving milk components in the herd. We have 35 heifer calves, which are now weaned and out at grass. Of these heifers, 20 will be due for breeding in December, the remainder in February. The cow type is critical for the future of the farm. The cow must be fertile and utilise grass. Wwe also need to improve solids. Sires are still Holstein, but we have selected on fertility and milk components, with no emphasis on milk volume.

Investment for the future

Cow numbers have increased with the purchase of 20 additional cows last month. Investment is also targeted at infrastructure on the farm, with 600m of cow track going in this month. To achieve any improvement in milk from forage and capitalise on grass growth on the farm, we need to make access in and out of paddocks much easier for the herd.

Electric fencing and additional water drinkers will also be required. This work – along with some drainage and open drain maintenance – will significantly improve the grazing block on the farm, allowing us to capitalise on grass at either end of the season. Also, with multiple access points to paddocks, grazing management will improve.