The run-up to Christmas is well under way on the farm and the list of jobs to get done before the big occasion seems to grow every day.

All of the stock are settled well into their winter accommodation, but there’s still some winter dosing to finish off before calving starts. We have only 30 cows left milking and we can still let this group out to grass whenever ground conditions are suitable, but they have the option of cubicles indoors whenever they need them.

The outdoor cubicles are working very well for the dry cows. A lot of visitors to the farm ask if it’s possible to milk cows off them. They work well for our type of system and for dry ground where cows might be milked off them for a short period of time in late autumn or early spring. We also have enough indoor cubicles for this time of year anyway, so they work even better here. They might not be as suitable for heavy farms where cows might be milking off cubicles for an extended period of time or for winter milk systems.

We only store the run-off from these cubicles for the time that they are in use and again this works well on a drier farm where cows can be kept out longer in the autumn or get out early in the spring. When cows go to grass full-time in the spring, the cubicles can be washed down and the clean water from them can be diverted away from slurry storage tanks for the summer.

If developing a new dairy unit, they might work well for half of the winter accommodation. For anyone expanding an existing farm with some indoor cubicles already in place, they are probably a good lower-cost alternative to conventional housing. However, the extra slurry storage required makes them less attractive.

They work really well for anyone converting from an outwintering pad where the slurry storage is already in place and where the area of the pad can be used to accommodate and feed 75 -100% more cows in the same space.

Most people make allowances for pillars and roofing to go up at a later date when constructing outdoor cubicles and there’s a fair bit of interest in using polytunnel-type structures to cover them down the road, similar to New Zealand Herd Homes.

The decision on what type of winter facilities to build down the road should come down to economics. In a situation where the land is owned and the investment is for 20-plus years, the conventional system might be best, but for investing on leased ground for 10-15 years, the outdoor cubicle might be the only option to keep the initial cost to a minimum.

There was a series of meetings with Glanbia in the area over the last few weeks to discuss current developments in the company and future plans, especially around expansion and managing volatility. Most of the interaction with suppliers was positive, which isn’t always the case at this type of meeting, especially when facing into a tough year.

We were told that 40% of Glanbia suppliers have 30% of their milk price fixed for the coming season, which should insulate them from some of the pain, but no one was surprised to hear that we are facing into the toughest year in terms of milk price since the 2009 train wreck. Supply is outstripping demand worldwide and will continue to do this for the next six months at least.

The company has come through 2014 in a strong position with cash in hand to help support milk price to some extent and is ready to process extra milk in 2015 with €200m invested in the new facility in Belview. Hopefully price will turn soon and we can all reap the rewards of this historic investment.