Declan White spoke to a packed auditorium at the Once a Day milking conference in the Horse and Jockey on Tuesday evening.

Declan is milking 250 cows near Clonakilty, Co Cork. For the past six years, he has been milking his cows once a day (OAD).

“The only reason we went OAD was because of superlevy. In 2012, we had increased cow numbers over and above our milk quota.

"I remember when the milk statement came at the end of September, it said the superlevy situation was bad.

"We decided that evening not to milk the cows and here we are today,” Declan says.

OAD milking allowed us to milk cows on this block, so we more or less doubled our milking platform

Despite initially planning to go back twice-a-day milking after quotas went, Declan continued milking OAD and has now completed six full years of OAD milking.

“We realised fairly quickly that it suited our farm.

"Our home block is 45ha around the yard and we have another 40ha block 800m up a public road.

"OAD milking allowed us to milk cows on this block, so we more or less doubled our milking platform.”

Declan says the key to the system is to keep things simple. Cows get fresh grass when they need it.

He will move them on to a new paddock between milkings if they have a paddock grazed out.

Ninety per cent of the cows calve within the first six weeks and cows go to grass as soon as they have calved

The 250-cow farm is operated by Declan along with one part-time employee, who works on the farm until lunchtime each day.

Declan says OAD milking has dramatically improved their work-life balance.

In 2017, the fully crossbred herd produced 332kgMS/cow but this increased in 2018 to 356kgMS/cow.

The calving interval is 365 days. Ninety per cent of the cows calve within the first six weeks and cows go to grass as soon as they have calved.

The stocking rate on the milking platform is 2.94 cows/ha and there is 32ha of support ground for heifers and silage.

Declan normally feeds around 200kg of meal, but this increased to 850kg of meal last year due to the bad spring and summer drought.

Total cost of production, according to the 2017 profit monitor, was €2.39/kgMS, but Declan says this will increase for 2018.

Average milk price was 44.2c.l in 2018, while the Carbery average was 37.5c/l. He says he is consistently achieving a milk price 7c/l above the co-op average.

This could be 10c/l above base milk price.

The fly in the ointment, according to Declan, is SCC. In autumn 2017, he used a lower-cost dry cow tube which he says cost him in higher SCC during 2018.

Average SCC in 2017 was 192k, but this increased to 260k in 2018.

He has also invested in better facilities since, with every cow having a cubicle this winter.

Declan says this should enable him to milk on a bit longer in the autumn also.

He still plans to have the cows dry for December and January.

Case study

Also speaking at the conference was Teagasc specialist George Ramsbottom.

George presented data on a case study of a farmer in his first year of OAD milking.

The farm went from milking 124 cows stocked at 3.1 cows/ha in 2017 twice a day, to 141 cows stocked at 3.5 cows/ha milked OAD in 2018.

The cows were fed 750kg of meal and produced 332kgMS/cow in 2018.

The output was lower than expected and the meal feeding, due to the bad weather, was higher than expected.

The farmer had predicted a cash surplus of €146,000 in 2018, but the actual cash surplus was less at €105,000.

This was primarily due to lower output and higher costs, particularly feed costs which were €20,000 higher than predicted.

In short

  • Around 250 people attended the OAD conference in Tipperary.
  • Declan White is milking 250 cows OAD in Cork.
  • Milk production in 2018 was 356kgMS/cow.