Milking 94 cows on 68ha of land outside Banbridge, Co Down, Nigel and Edna Corbett have a system that is typical of many NI farms.

The cows are Holstein Friesian, yielding around 7,000 litres, or 527kg, milk solids per cow on 1.5t of concentrate. Calving is spread throughout the year, with peak milk output from the herd in the spring and early summer.

Land type is variable, and at 650ft above sea level, the Corbetts cannot always rely on grazing at the shoulders of the season. A significant financial investment has recently been made in new cow accommodation and a new milking parlour. The resultant debt, combined with a low milk price, has left cash reserves very tight this year.

It means that any changes to the system must be gradual and any future investments made must be targeted in the right areas. The aim is to increase cow numbers to 115 by 2018, producing 7,300 litres (560kg milk solids) on 1.5t of concentrate per cow. Stocking rate will be increased from 1.69 to 2.05 cows/ha.

Speaking at the event, DairyLink adviser Conail Keown outlined some of the changes that are being made. The first main area is to focus on soil fertility and grass. Soil analysis at the start of the year indicated that 83% of soils on the farm are sub-optimal for either pH, phosphorus or potassium.

Rather than investing in reseeding during 2016, the aim has instead been to build soil fertility across the farm. “It will cost £15,000 (€17,600) over a three-year period just to build up fertility. It will save money in the longer term,” said Conail.

In addition, he estimates that 1km of new track is required around the grazing block to improve access to paddocks and facilitate grazing, especially in more difficult conditions. This year, Nigel started measuring grass weekly and has grown 9.4t of dry matter per hectare, excluding grass for silage.

The other main area of focus on the farm is cow fertility. Average calving interval (number of days from one calving to the next) is 410 days, with calving taking place across 31 weeks of the year. The spread-out calving pattern and long calving interval makes it more difficult to rear replacements.

Nigel and Edna want to focus on autumn calving (their farm is not suited to going to a spring-calving system), but with only 12 freshly calved cows out of a total of 69 currently going through the parlour, it means there are a lot of stale cows currently in the herd.

“The target is to clip the wings and move from a calving period of 31 weeks down to 16 or 17 weeks over the next three or four years,” said Conail. That means getting to a point where calving starts in September and finishes by the end of the year.

The result – there will be freshly calved cows producing milk in the winter months to avail of bonus payments, but also there is a group of cows, settled in-calf, and ready to go out early in the spring to make the most of grass.

“To get to where we want, there might be some pain along the way. We might have to cull cows not-in-calf. Or there is the option of buying in autumn-calving cows, although that will depend on the cash available,” suggested Conail.

For the longer term, black and white bulls used on the herd this year are ranked highly for fertility traits, as well as milk solids.

The ultimate aim is to maximise the resources available on the farm, while making the business more sustainable for the future.

The third farm walk of the series will be hosted by Robin Clements, 40 Keenogue Road, Trillick, Co Tyrone, on Tuesday 11 October starting at 11am.