Maintaining mid-season grass quality has huge benefits for the farmer and the processor. Higher milk solids means a higher milk price for the farmer and more product for the processor. Maintaining good quality grass in front of spring-calving cows to drive higher milk solids for June, July and August can mean a €40/cow summer bonus.

Research has shown the three areas that drive this better performance are good genetics for protein, an earlier mean calving date and better quality grass. Some think that this summer bonus can only happen on dry farms, so I called into one of the heavy soil research farms at Solohead on the Tipperary/Limerick border to check current performance and past records.

There are 126 cows milking at the moment and due to weather difficulties for grazing the majority of cows are on grazed grass and 2kg of meal per day. The current production is 27 litres at 4.55% fat and 3.65% protein (2.28kg MS/cow).

Looking back through the milk statements and milk solids, performance results on the farm are consistently 0.2% ahead in milk protein compared with the rest of the farmers in their co-op. This can be attributed to:

  • Better genetics for protein.
  • A mean calving date of 20 February.
  • Staff actively managing grass quality every week.

    • Manager Dan Barrett will walk the farm weekly, target a rotation length of 18 to 20 days, target a pre-grazing cover of 1,400kg to 1,600kg, bale surplus grass instead of topping and graze out to between 4cm and 4.5 cm.

    1. The Solohead herd is two-thirds crossbred (Norwegian or Jersey cross) and one-third Holstein Friesian. The average herd EBI is €191 and, looking at the EBI report, all lactations (see green bars) are close to €200 – well ahead of the national average (blue bars).

    2. The mean calving date for the Solohead herd is 20 February. A recent analysis of 45 farms suggested that those farms with a mean calving date around mid-February had a higher proportion of good quality milk in mid-season compared with a herd with a mean calving date close to mid-March.

    3. The Solohead herd grazes leafy grass as much as possible all through lactation. If there is wet weather, the herd grazes on/off, which means out for four hours after milking and back into the cubicles with no silage.

    4. Last year, in June, July and August, the Solohead cows produced milk that was 0.2% better in protein than co-op average results. June protein percentage averages 3.60%, July 3.62% and August 3.76%. This year, the summer bonus will be worth over €5,000 to the farm, which is a good return for managing grass properly.