Developing the grazing platform to grow more grass, carry more cows and produce more milk has been the priority on David Brady’s farm near Stradone, Co Cavan, over the past three years.

This has required substantial financial investment during a period which saw milk prices remain low for a significant length of time.

Average capital investment on David’s farm from 2015 to 2017 averaged €21,250 and the biggest investment year was 2016 when capital expenditure totalled €35,850.

This came mainly from cash reserves and, when coupled with an average milk price that year of 26.7c/l, explains the significant drop in cash surplus per cow during 2016, as outlined in Figure 1.

However, milk price recovery and increased output per cow helped deliver a cash surplus of €499/cow last year.

Cow numbers and milk platform stocking rate remained at around 80 and 2.05 CE/ha respectively from 2015 to 2017.

However, David upped cow numbers this season and is now milking 94 cows on the farm (stocking rate of 2.41 CE/ha). This is allowing him to begin to see a return on the investment from increased milk output.

Investment on the Brady farm has included addressing soil nutrient deficiencies. In 2015, only 9% of the milking platform was at optimal levels of pH, phosphorus and potassium. Results from last winter’s soil analysis show that this has now increased to 42%.

Last year, David spread 198kg N/ha on the grazing block, meaning each 1kg of nitrogen delivered 48kg DM of grass growth.

Drainage, reseeding, constructing additional laneways and opening extra gaps into paddocks has helped David grow and graze more grass.

Improving grazing infrastructure has allowed a more flexible approach to grazing, particularly when conditions are wet.

Improved grazing infrastructure has helped keep cows at grass when conditions are wet.

Grassland management is another key element of producing more from grass and allows improvements to be made without significant capital expenditure.

David started grass measuring around the same time he began the Dairylink Ireland programme.

He says that weekly measuring has allowed him to grow better quality grass for grazing and silage. It also helps David make decisions surrounding the long-term direction of the farm and helps him figure out how many cows can be carried on the land block sustainably.

Reseeding

Grass measuring data has also allowed him to identify underperforming paddocks that require reseeding.

For example, last year, grass yields ranged from 4.0t DM/ha in the worst-performing paddock to 11.9t DM/ha in the best-performing paddock. Over the past three years, 40% of the grazing block has been reseeded.

Genetic improvement in the milking herd has been another focus of David’s over the past three years. At present, herd EBI is €95 and average EBI of replacement heifer calves and in-calf heifers is €154 and €153 respectively. Fertility sub-index and percentage fat and protein are the priority for David when selecting bulls.

Milk fat and protein levels have moved upwards over the past three years, as Table 1 shows.

Genetic improvement has been a factor, along with better-quality grazed grass in diets. The latter has also allowed concentrate feed levels to drop. Although extra concentrates were fed last year due to the poor autumn, milk from forage levels still moved upwards.

Farmer comment: David Brady

What are the three most important steps you have taken in the past three years?

  • Grass measuring.
  • Land improvement and drainage.
  • Addressing soil fertility.
  • What is your aim over the next three years?

    We want to continue with improving soil fertility on the farm and carrying out land improvement where needed. An example is the heifer-rearing block where we drained half of it this year and we will do the other half next year. Rented land is now taken on longer term leases, which gives us the ability to invest in all land farmed.

    Herd size will also move on up to 100 milking cows. We will see after that if there is room to increase numbers further, but we want to make sure we aren’t caught with too much stock on the land block in a bad season.

    Further down the line, we will probably look about building a new cow shed, as one of the existing cubicle houses is away from the parlour and cows have to be walked whenever they are housed and in-milk.