Michael Crowley started off his recent talk with a comment you wouldn’t expect to hear at a farm walk focusing on a Greener Dairy Farms Project. He said: “To be honest, the words sustainability and environmental efficiency don’t mean much to me, but when it means I make €40 per cow extra profit, then the Crowleys sit up straight and listen.”
More profit for the dairy farmer through efficient use of resources was the clear message at the Carbery Greener Farm Walk in Skibbereen, Co Cork, on Tuesday.
For 2015, Micheal Crowley must deliver on six different management targets to deliver an extra €4,639 profit for his farm. These are:
To increase the length of his grazing season by four days. Increase his herd EBI by €11. Reduce his bag nitrogen rate by 2kg/ha. Spread 28% more slurry in the spring.Reduce meal per cow by 180kg per cow. The sixth and final measurement target is to reduce his carbon footprint by 7% and this involves reducing energy costs, reducing water wastage and maximising grass growth. Improving on all of these elements combined will reduce his carbon footprint by 7%. Michael has plans for delivering on all of the above. Some will be dependent on weather and some will involve spending to get a longer-term return, but Michael is willing to invest for a better future. Obviously, there is an additional spin-off for his milk processor, which should mean a better milk price for the Crowley farm in the long term.
Energy costs down
John Upton from Moorepark showed that energy costs varied from 0.37c/l to 0.63c/l of milk produced on the 14 project farms. The largest energy use on Irish dairy farms is milk cooling (33%), followed by energy used by the vacuum pump during milking.
John explained the various ways you can reduce energy costs. He said: “Farmers need to move to the cheapest electricity supplier and use more night-rate electricity.
‘‘The best website I know for comparing different energy rates is www.bonkers.ie and, if you know what units of electricity you are using, you can compare across different providers selecting the best price for your farm. Installing a plate cooler is probably the other most significant investment you can make as a dairy farmer, which will give you a great return on investment.”
Michael Crowley had installed a large stainless steel plate cooler with a solenoid valve on the water line, which opens when the milk pump is turned on and switches off 40 seconds after the milk pump is turned off. The retail price of the plate cooler was €1,845 and the solenoid valve and fitting of the new unit, including a bigger housing for a larger filter sock, amounted to another €700.
John Upton was impressed with the investment and said Michael would have his money back within a few years.
John explained: “If you don’t have a good enough water supply for plate cooling, running an ice bank tank on night-rate electricity is probably the next best option.”
John also suggested that while solar panel heating can reduce the cost of heating water by 30% to 40%, the capital cost of the panels means it will take 10 years to repay the investment, which is too long. He advised all farmers to do their sums carefully before investing in solar panels.
Water usage
Eleanor Murphy and Tom Ryan from Moorepark explained the basics around water use on a farm.
Eleanor explained that, on the project farms, the water used per litre of milk produced can vary from a low of 3.5 litres of water/litre of milk to 11.2 litres of water/litre of milk.
By investigating where water was used on these Carbery farms, they had found many underground leaks and areas where efficiencies were poor, which subsequently in-creased energy consumption on the farm.
Eleanor used the example of a plate cooler running at 1:1 water to milk, which would consume 15.7 watts/litre, but a plate cooler running at the correct ratio of 2:1 water to milk would run at greater efficiency and only use 10 watts/litre.
Eleanor showed how a water meter costing between €80 and €100 can allow you to detect and measure what water you are using.
She said if you can have water zones (parlour/water troughs) in your farm with individual water meters, you can turn on and off the different zones and isolate problems and that can save you money.
Maximising growth
James Humphries and Seamus O’Dowd from Teagasc explained the simple steps to improve soil fertility. They said that when Michael Crowley started this project in 2011, 88% of his paddocks were low in lime, phosphorus (P) or potassium (k) and the paddocks with something wrong were growing 13.8t, on average, versus 16t/ha for paddocks at the optimum soil fertility. Hence, the message was to prepare a tailored fertilizer plan for your farm to identify the deficiencies and correct the problem. Seamus said: “On a lot of farms, potash (K) and lime is the problem and there are no restrictions on either of these elements. Farmers should work to fix these problems and maximise growth. On average, a spring-calving herd cost about €600 per cow in feed, normally made up of 3.5t of grass dry matter, 1t of winter silage and 0.5t of meal. This can reach up to €1,000 per cow if you are not growing enough grass and have to buy more feed.”
The farm
Michael and Marguerite Crowley are farming at Bauravilla just outside Skibbereen in West Cork. They are milking 125 cows on 38.5ha (95 acres). The farm cover this week is 750kg DM/ha. They have 43 maiden heifers on the milking platform this week, but they will leave soon for an outside farm. The growth rate for the last seven days measured 76kg per day, allowing them hold their 4LU/ha stocking rate. The milk yield this week was 22kg at 3.73% protein and 4.17% fat (1.74kg MS) on grazed grass only.
The project
Data collecting and analysis for the Greener Dairy Farms Project is currently being conducted by Teagasc, on behalf of Carbery Group, on 14 West Cork farms.
The project aims to identify specific technologies and management changes that could be carried out on farms to improve the efficient use of resources and reduce the effect on the environment.
Some of the techniques used so far to identify areas of potential improvement include energy audits, which analyse energy costs, the calculation of carbon footprint and the use of the carbon navigator. Sustainability plans analyse areas where carbon footprint could be reduced, such as breeding (EBI), calving interval, feed and fertilizer usage, the monitoring of farm outputs, nutrient management advice and grassland management advice. Both the carbon navigator and the sustainability plans link potential improvement to greenhouse gas reductions and financial gain.
The Crowley family farm delivered almost €600 per cow margin last year to pay for land leasing, tax and bank repayments.Gross output was €2,200 per cow and total common costs were €1,217 per cow, leaving €990 per cow common profit. If you take €400 per cow for a return on family labour, that leaves about €600 per cow to pay for the rest. The message from the Greener Dairy Farms Project is that Michael can improve this profit by about €40 per cow by improving on small management issues such as installing a plate cooler, spreading more slurry in spring, improving herd genetics and maximising grass growth.
Michael Crowley started off his recent talk with a comment you wouldn’t expect to hear at a farm walk focusing on a Greener Dairy Farms Project. He said: “To be honest, the words sustainability and environmental efficiency don’t mean much to me, but when it means I make €40 per cow extra profit, then the Crowleys sit up straight and listen.”
More profit for the dairy farmer through efficient use of resources was the clear message at the Carbery Greener Farm Walk in Skibbereen, Co Cork, on Tuesday.
For 2015, Micheal Crowley must deliver on six different management targets to deliver an extra €4,639 profit for his farm. These are:
To increase the length of his grazing season by four days. Increase his herd EBI by €11. Reduce his bag nitrogen rate by 2kg/ha. Spread 28% more slurry in the spring.Reduce meal per cow by 180kg per cow. The sixth and final measurement target is to reduce his carbon footprint by 7% and this involves reducing energy costs, reducing water wastage and maximising grass growth. Improving on all of these elements combined will reduce his carbon footprint by 7%. Michael has plans for delivering on all of the above. Some will be dependent on weather and some will involve spending to get a longer-term return, but Michael is willing to invest for a better future. Obviously, there is an additional spin-off for his milk processor, which should mean a better milk price for the Crowley farm in the long term.
Energy costs down
John Upton from Moorepark showed that energy costs varied from 0.37c/l to 0.63c/l of milk produced on the 14 project farms. The largest energy use on Irish dairy farms is milk cooling (33%), followed by energy used by the vacuum pump during milking.
John explained the various ways you can reduce energy costs. He said: “Farmers need to move to the cheapest electricity supplier and use more night-rate electricity.
‘‘The best website I know for comparing different energy rates is www.bonkers.ie and, if you know what units of electricity you are using, you can compare across different providers selecting the best price for your farm. Installing a plate cooler is probably the other most significant investment you can make as a dairy farmer, which will give you a great return on investment.”
Michael Crowley had installed a large stainless steel plate cooler with a solenoid valve on the water line, which opens when the milk pump is turned on and switches off 40 seconds after the milk pump is turned off. The retail price of the plate cooler was €1,845 and the solenoid valve and fitting of the new unit, including a bigger housing for a larger filter sock, amounted to another €700.
John Upton was impressed with the investment and said Michael would have his money back within a few years.
John explained: “If you don’t have a good enough water supply for plate cooling, running an ice bank tank on night-rate electricity is probably the next best option.”
John also suggested that while solar panel heating can reduce the cost of heating water by 30% to 40%, the capital cost of the panels means it will take 10 years to repay the investment, which is too long. He advised all farmers to do their sums carefully before investing in solar panels.
Water usage
Eleanor Murphy and Tom Ryan from Moorepark explained the basics around water use on a farm.
Eleanor explained that, on the project farms, the water used per litre of milk produced can vary from a low of 3.5 litres of water/litre of milk to 11.2 litres of water/litre of milk.
By investigating where water was used on these Carbery farms, they had found many underground leaks and areas where efficiencies were poor, which subsequently in-creased energy consumption on the farm.
Eleanor used the example of a plate cooler running at 1:1 water to milk, which would consume 15.7 watts/litre, but a plate cooler running at the correct ratio of 2:1 water to milk would run at greater efficiency and only use 10 watts/litre.
Eleanor showed how a water meter costing between €80 and €100 can allow you to detect and measure what water you are using.
She said if you can have water zones (parlour/water troughs) in your farm with individual water meters, you can turn on and off the different zones and isolate problems and that can save you money.
Maximising growth
James Humphries and Seamus O’Dowd from Teagasc explained the simple steps to improve soil fertility. They said that when Michael Crowley started this project in 2011, 88% of his paddocks were low in lime, phosphorus (P) or potassium (k) and the paddocks with something wrong were growing 13.8t, on average, versus 16t/ha for paddocks at the optimum soil fertility. Hence, the message was to prepare a tailored fertilizer plan for your farm to identify the deficiencies and correct the problem. Seamus said: “On a lot of farms, potash (K) and lime is the problem and there are no restrictions on either of these elements. Farmers should work to fix these problems and maximise growth. On average, a spring-calving herd cost about €600 per cow in feed, normally made up of 3.5t of grass dry matter, 1t of winter silage and 0.5t of meal. This can reach up to €1,000 per cow if you are not growing enough grass and have to buy more feed.”
The farm
Michael and Marguerite Crowley are farming at Bauravilla just outside Skibbereen in West Cork. They are milking 125 cows on 38.5ha (95 acres). The farm cover this week is 750kg DM/ha. They have 43 maiden heifers on the milking platform this week, but they will leave soon for an outside farm. The growth rate for the last seven days measured 76kg per day, allowing them hold their 4LU/ha stocking rate. The milk yield this week was 22kg at 3.73% protein and 4.17% fat (1.74kg MS) on grazed grass only.
The project
Data collecting and analysis for the Greener Dairy Farms Project is currently being conducted by Teagasc, on behalf of Carbery Group, on 14 West Cork farms.
The project aims to identify specific technologies and management changes that could be carried out on farms to improve the efficient use of resources and reduce the effect on the environment.
Some of the techniques used so far to identify areas of potential improvement include energy audits, which analyse energy costs, the calculation of carbon footprint and the use of the carbon navigator. Sustainability plans analyse areas where carbon footprint could be reduced, such as breeding (EBI), calving interval, feed and fertilizer usage, the monitoring of farm outputs, nutrient management advice and grassland management advice. Both the carbon navigator and the sustainability plans link potential improvement to greenhouse gas reductions and financial gain.
The Crowley family farm delivered almost €600 per cow margin last year to pay for land leasing, tax and bank repayments.Gross output was €2,200 per cow and total common costs were €1,217 per cow, leaving €990 per cow common profit. If you take €400 per cow for a return on family labour, that leaves about €600 per cow to pay for the rest. The message from the Greener Dairy Farms Project is that Michael can improve this profit by about €40 per cow by improving on small management issues such as installing a plate cooler, spreading more slurry in spring, improving herd genetics and maximising grass growth. 
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