I farm: “115 acres on the outskirts of Abbeyleix with my son Padraig.”
Cows: “Our herd of 70 cows is made up of 60% British Friesian and 40% Holstein Friesian. We were quite pleased with the herd performance over the past year. Cows averaged 490kg of solids at 3.61% protein and 4.07% fat.”
Grass: “It really was a bumper year for grass and we grew 13t of DM/ha. Cows were housed on 20th November with average farm closing cover at 600kg DM/ha. Grazing probably finished up that bit sooner than we would have liked but thankfully we’ve plenty of feed.”
Winter feed: “Cows have been dried off since December 1st. They are in good condition being fed top quality silage. The results from the silage tests were very positive and it’s probably the best silage we’ve ever saved-DMD 72%, protein 14%, dry matter 21% and pH 4.2%. They are doing well on it and might have to be restricted as the calving period approaches.”
Fertility: “We ended up with an empty rate of 10% after our breeding season. Padraig has placed great emphasis on choosing Holstein Friesian bulls with a very high EBI to cross with our British Friesian cows. It works well for the system we’ve got in place and I’m delighted with some of the prices our surplus stock have been making.”
2015: “There is alot of talk about expansion with the removal of milk quotas next spring. We don’t plan on going mad next year. We’ll milk around the same number of cows again as milk prices are forecast to be volatile. Recently, we installed a new bulk tank. ”
Family: “I’m married to Pat, a tillage farmer. We have three children Padraig, Mairead and Aoife. Padraig graduated with a BAgrSc from UCD and together we have made many changes since he returned home.”
Quotable Quote: “It is extremely rewarding to see the future generation walking in your footsteps, with energy, enthusiasm and the capacity to embrace technology. In many ways it is what it’s all about.”
I farm: “115 acres on the outskirts of Abbeyleix with my son Padraig.”
Cows: “Our herd of 70 cows is made up of 60% British Friesian and 40% Holstein Friesian. We were quite pleased with the herd performance over the past year. Cows averaged 490kg of solids at 3.61% protein and 4.07% fat.”
Grass: “It really was a bumper year for grass and we grew 13t of DM/ha. Cows were housed on 20th November with average farm closing cover at 600kg DM/ha. Grazing probably finished up that bit sooner than we would have liked but thankfully we’ve plenty of feed.”
Winter feed: “Cows have been dried off since December 1st. They are in good condition being fed top quality silage. The results from the silage tests were very positive and it’s probably the best silage we’ve ever saved-DMD 72%, protein 14%, dry matter 21% and pH 4.2%. They are doing well on it and might have to be restricted as the calving period approaches.”
Fertility: “We ended up with an empty rate of 10% after our breeding season. Padraig has placed great emphasis on choosing Holstein Friesian bulls with a very high EBI to cross with our British Friesian cows. It works well for the system we’ve got in place and I’m delighted with some of the prices our surplus stock have been making.”
2015: “There is alot of talk about expansion with the removal of milk quotas next spring. We don’t plan on going mad next year. We’ll milk around the same number of cows again as milk prices are forecast to be volatile. Recently, we installed a new bulk tank. ”
Family: “I’m married to Pat, a tillage farmer. We have three children Padraig, Mairead and Aoife. Padraig graduated with a BAgrSc from UCD and together we have made many changes since he returned home.”
Quotable Quote: “It is extremely rewarding to see the future generation walking in your footsteps, with energy, enthusiasm and the capacity to embrace technology. In many ways it is what it’s all about.”
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