Over 400 dairy farmers braved the wet to visit Shinagh dairy farm near Bandon in west Cork on Thursday.
The day was misty, wet, and overcast as the farmers heard from farm manager Kevin Ahern and Teagasc personnel Laurence Shalloo, John McNamara, Padraig French and Paid Kelly. The 229 cow spring calving herd were working hard grazing as the sun started to lift the fog by midday but the financial performance board did not make for rosy reading.
This is year six of a 15 year business and the farm’s performance is as impressive as anywhere.
However the global dairy crisis means the returns on milk sold are well down on other years. This is despite the fact the farm is supplying the best paying co-ops in the country.
In 2015, 425kgs of milk solids/cow were sold although this is likely to drop to 400kgs milk solid/cow this year. In 2015 the farm utilised 12.4t DM/Ha in 2015 from 15.6t DM/Ha grown.
So far this year 150kgs of concentrates per cow have been fed. They budget for 450kg/cow/year but so far 2013 is the only year they have gone over this figure.
Laurence Shalloo said locking in a milk price has helped insulate the farm this year.
“The farm is predicted to make €23,000 this year and between €18,000 and €20,000 of this is because the fixed price we took in the Carbery fixed milk price scheme is higher than current market returns.”
A farmer in attendance said if the Shinagh land rental price and contract rearing price were closer to market value it would show the vulnerability of the system to poor milk price.
Shalloo agreed but said it was all the more reason to deliver top technical performance from grazed grass.
“This farm has a high fixed cost structure and it takes 13.5c/litre to pay land rent, labour (one full time plus contractors) and repay annual bank repayments. The performance is there for all to see.
"The farm started in 2011 with the cost of producing milk was €246,000 that year. Costs have risen to €360,000 in 2015 but the farm has lifted performance from delivering 646,000 litres in 2011 to 1.1m litres last year. It means the cost of production has dropped from 38c/l to 32 c/l,” he said.
Shalloo was keen to make the point that the better fat and protein percentages are worth 2c/l to the farm.
See more in print next week
Read more
Why borrow money for the pleasure of milking cows
Over 400 dairy farmers braved the wet to visit Shinagh dairy farm near Bandon in west Cork on Thursday.
The day was misty, wet, and overcast as the farmers heard from farm manager Kevin Ahern and Teagasc personnel Laurence Shalloo, John McNamara, Padraig French and Paid Kelly. The 229 cow spring calving herd were working hard grazing as the sun started to lift the fog by midday but the financial performance board did not make for rosy reading.
This is year six of a 15 year business and the farm’s performance is as impressive as anywhere.
However the global dairy crisis means the returns on milk sold are well down on other years. This is despite the fact the farm is supplying the best paying co-ops in the country.
In 2015, 425kgs of milk solids/cow were sold although this is likely to drop to 400kgs milk solid/cow this year. In 2015 the farm utilised 12.4t DM/Ha in 2015 from 15.6t DM/Ha grown.
So far this year 150kgs of concentrates per cow have been fed. They budget for 450kg/cow/year but so far 2013 is the only year they have gone over this figure.
Laurence Shalloo said locking in a milk price has helped insulate the farm this year.
“The farm is predicted to make €23,000 this year and between €18,000 and €20,000 of this is because the fixed price we took in the Carbery fixed milk price scheme is higher than current market returns.”
A farmer in attendance said if the Shinagh land rental price and contract rearing price were closer to market value it would show the vulnerability of the system to poor milk price.
Shalloo agreed but said it was all the more reason to deliver top technical performance from grazed grass.
“This farm has a high fixed cost structure and it takes 13.5c/litre to pay land rent, labour (one full time plus contractors) and repay annual bank repayments. The performance is there for all to see.
"The farm started in 2011 with the cost of producing milk was €246,000 that year. Costs have risen to €360,000 in 2015 but the farm has lifted performance from delivering 646,000 litres in 2011 to 1.1m litres last year. It means the cost of production has dropped from 38c/l to 32 c/l,” he said.
Shalloo was keen to make the point that the better fat and protein percentages are worth 2c/l to the farm.
See more in print next week
Read more
Why borrow money for the pleasure of milking cows
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