This is the analogy Teagasc dairy adviser Patrick Gowing used to describe a good farm roadway from a cow flow point of view.
Speaking at a farm walk in Kilkenny yesterday, Patrick said that too many farm roadways have right-angle turns and while cows might walk three or four abreast leading up to the turn, they will only walk in single file around the bend, which causes a bottleneck and a delay in bringing cows in.
“Rather than putting in a sharp turn, roadways should sweep around at a lesser angle so that cow flow is not impeded. The milking process includes bringing cows in and out of paddocks, not just attaching clusters ,so the layout and surface quality of farm roadways is very important for good cow flow,” Patrick said.
The farm walk was held on Brendan Phelan’s farm in Kilmacow, near the Waterford border in south Kilkenny. Brendan is in an expansion phase. He milked 128 cows last year and plans to milk 170 cows next year. Brendan is part of the Teagasc/Glanbia monitor farm programme.
Brendan took on an extra 40 acres last year in a long-term lease. This land has been reseeded and fenced with a new central roadway and loop water system installed. Brendan put in recessed entry points to the paddocks to improve cow flow and also to make it easier to enter and exit paddocks with machinery by avoiding sharp turns which cuts up the roadway.
“I try to limit the amount of driving on roads as much as possible. Slurry is spread with an umbilical system and fertiliser is mostly spread in bulk every few weeks,” he said.
Paddock size
Patrick Gowing said that the size of the paddocks on Irish farms is an issue. He said the ideal paddock size allows for three grazings but he said most paddock systems were installed in the 1970s and 1980s and they have not kept pace with increasing herd size, meaning there are too many small paddocks on farms.
He said that the ideal number of paddocks is between 16 and 18 and the ideal size for a 100-cow herd is 2ha when pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/ha.
A full report from the farm walk, including the steps Brendan is taking to manage in a low milk price year will feature in next week’s .
Read more
Monday management: weather affecting grass availability
This is the analogy Teagasc dairy adviser Patrick Gowing used to describe a good farm roadway from a cow flow point of view.
Speaking at a farm walk in Kilkenny yesterday, Patrick said that too many farm roadways have right-angle turns and while cows might walk three or four abreast leading up to the turn, they will only walk in single file around the bend, which causes a bottleneck and a delay in bringing cows in.
“Rather than putting in a sharp turn, roadways should sweep around at a lesser angle so that cow flow is not impeded. The milking process includes bringing cows in and out of paddocks, not just attaching clusters ,so the layout and surface quality of farm roadways is very important for good cow flow,” Patrick said.
The farm walk was held on Brendan Phelan’s farm in Kilmacow, near the Waterford border in south Kilkenny. Brendan is in an expansion phase. He milked 128 cows last year and plans to milk 170 cows next year. Brendan is part of the Teagasc/Glanbia monitor farm programme.
Brendan took on an extra 40 acres last year in a long-term lease. This land has been reseeded and fenced with a new central roadway and loop water system installed. Brendan put in recessed entry points to the paddocks to improve cow flow and also to make it easier to enter and exit paddocks with machinery by avoiding sharp turns which cuts up the roadway.
“I try to limit the amount of driving on roads as much as possible. Slurry is spread with an umbilical system and fertiliser is mostly spread in bulk every few weeks,” he said.
Paddock size
Patrick Gowing said that the size of the paddocks on Irish farms is an issue. He said the ideal paddock size allows for three grazings but he said most paddock systems were installed in the 1970s and 1980s and they have not kept pace with increasing herd size, meaning there are too many small paddocks on farms.
He said that the ideal number of paddocks is between 16 and 18 and the ideal size for a 100-cow herd is 2ha when pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/ha.
A full report from the farm walk, including the steps Brendan is taking to manage in a low milk price year will feature in next week’s .
Read more
Monday management: weather affecting grass availability
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