More than 500 Kinisla milk suppliers turned out to a recent research insight dayt at Teagasc Moorepark, as part of Kinisla’s Evolve supplier training programe.

The Evolve programme was developed to help develop farmers skills and knowledge base, in order to enhance the profitability and long-term sustainability of their farming businesses.

On the day, research updates covering a wide range of topics were provided by the research staff in Moorepark.

The first stop on the tour was the Kilworth farm, home to the Next Generation herd. This is the second edition of the Next Generation Herd study, with the first one running from 2013 to 2016.

The ultimate goal of this version of the Next Generation Herd is to evaluate and validate the economic breeding index (EBI).

Other objectives, such as evaluating the environmental footprint of different genotypes, stocking rate effect and feasibility of a sexed-semen breeding programme, are also being researched.

The study began in 2025, with 2026 set to be the first full year of data, and it will run until the end of 2028. Within the trial herd, there are three different dairy cow genotypes. The first group is the national average animals.

These are Holstein-Friesian cows with an average EBI of €139, reflecting the average cow in Ireland.

The second group is the Elite Holstein-Friesian herd. These cows have an EBI of €235 and rank inside the top 1% of cows nationally.

The third group of cows are the Elite Jersey x Holstein-Friesian. This group has an average EBI of €221 and ranges from 25% Jersey up to 75%, with an average of 36% Jersey genetics.

This element of the trial is very similar to the first edition of the Next Gen herd, however, the big difference between the two studies is the additional element of comparing the three genotypes across three different stocking rate systems.

These are a 170kg organic N/ha, 220kg and 270kg. This equates to 1.89 cows/ha, 2.44 cows/ha and three cows/ha respectively.

There are 22 cows of each of the three genotypes in each stocking rate, meaning 66 cows per stocking rate study.

The results for 2026 so far are in Table 1. Speaking on the trial, Brian McCarthy, the research officer overseeing the study, highlighted some important details.

“The breakdown of the herds is around 24% first-lactation animals, with 40% second lactation and the rest third lactation plus,” Brian said.

To make the study fair, replacement rate has to be equalised across the different genotypes.

This means the elite herds are essentially being punished somewhat as with lower empty rates, they would inevitably have a lower replacement rate and with more mature cows in the herd, they should produce more solids which can’t materialise.

“This year we’ll go close to 500kg of milk solids per cow across all three stocking rate groups, which would be reasonably good performance.

“We’d be disappointed that we didn’t get a bit more solids out of the cows on the 170kg N/ha, as there’s more grass available in that system.

“The big thing there though is even if you get an increase in milk solids per cow on that low stocking rate, there’s still a significant drop in milk solids per hectare versus the other systems, which has a big impact on profitability,” Brian said in relation to the stocking rate systems.

In relation to meal feeding, Brian pointed out that while they had planned to feed 600kg of meal across the trials, the drought in July and August means this will get closer to 800kg.

To keep the trial fair, the same amount of meal is fed in all three systems, as well as the same amount of nitrogen being applied.

The end result is grass being “very difficult to manage in the 170kg system”, according to Brian, and a lot more silage made.

At the second stop, the Kinisla suppliers heard how their grassland performance stacks up versus the rest of the country. Michael O’Donovan outlined the information in Table 2.

On average, Kinisla suppliers are growing 12.6t DM/ha.

This is almost 3t above average, but still close to 2.5t lower than the top 100 farmers on Pasturebase.

According to Michael, the key for Kinisla farms to close the gap lies in better soil fertility and utilising more grass.

As many of the farms are located in a high rainfall area, getting grazing infrastructure right to increase the number of days grazing is crucial.

Going from seven to eight grazing’s could mean an extra 1.3t DM/ha of grass in the diet, according to Michael.

Soil fertility was the second big area he tasked the farms with improving.

“By lifting soil pH above 6.5, farms could grow an extra 1.5t DM/ha. Every tonne of this grass utilised is worth €330/ha,” Michael said.

The last take-home message was around clover. The percentage of farm area in the catchment with good clover is low, at less than 8%.

To address this issue, farms need to target P and K indexes of at least three, while boosting soil pH to 6.5.

With only 5% of farm area reseeded on average each year by Kinisla farms, clover content will be slow to increase.

Reseeding levels need to be around 10%, with some level of clover also being over sown each year to speed up the process.

When selecting the right grass and clover varieties farmers were encouraged to use the pasture profit index (PPI).

On the final stop of the day, the profit monitor data from Kinisla suppliers was explored.

Deirbhile Browne, a Teagasc dairy advisor in the region gave attendees a couple of the standout figures as can be seen in Table 3.

One of the more notable figures, is the amount of concentrates fed by farmers in the region.

The more profitable farms are feeding less meal, but producing more milk.

In 2025, the top 20% of farms produced 518kg of milk solids with 1.47t of concentrate fed, versus the 445kg of milk solids produced by the bottom 20% at 1.62t of concentrate.

In terms of costs, both the fixed and variable costs of the top 20% of farms are lower.

This difference is even more exaggerated if you compare the costs on a €/kg MS basis.

The farms in the top 20% have a variable cost of €2.35/kg MS with a fixed cost of €1.30/kg MS, giving a total cost of €3.35/kg MS versus the farms in the bottom 20% that have a variable cost of €3.03/kg MS and a fixed cost of €2.10/kg MS, giving a total of €5.13/kg MS.

At the current average milk price of €5.20/kg MS and taking 2025 costs, farms in the bottom 20% will have very little room for margin in 2026. It’s worth noting these figures are also based on farmers who completed an E-profit monitor.

The reality is the average Kinisla supplier is producing much less milk at 418kg MS/cow and 4.21% fat and 3.57% protein.

Speaking on farm profitability, Laurence Shalloo, head of animal and grassland research at Teagasc, said he expects to see farm profitability “down 9c to 10c/l in 2026, compared to 2025”. This is equivalent to roughly €1.40/kg MS of a drop.

The day itself was a showcase of all that is good about the dairy industry.

Farmers travelled in force, bringing enthusiasm and energy to engage with some of the brightest agricultural research minds in the country.

There was laughter, passion and robust discussion between farmers and Teagasc staff throughout the day, all with the shared goal of challenging each other and improving what they do. In a year of low milk prices, high input costs and challenging weather conditions, a co-op re-emphasising the importance of grass, genetics and cost control as the pillars of profitability and long-term sustainability is to be admired.

I have a feeling more days like this would be welcomed by farmers, Teagasc and the wider dairy industry.