The Troy family farm in Newtownshandrum in north Cork is an impressive place.
Not only are Robert and Mary breeding good cows and growing lots of high-quality grass, they are doing so at scale.
The farm has grown in size over the last decade with the Troys now milking 450 cows on a 136ha milking block, which is a stocking rate of 3.3 cows/ha but with 2.6 cows/ha as the overall stocking rate.
Robert explains that keeping the overall stocking rate at 2.6 cows/ha is important as it means that the farm can produce all of its winter feed requirements and keep bought-in concentrates to a minimum.
At a typical growth rate of 14t DM/ha from an average of 220kg N/ha last year, it’s a high-performing farm.
The herd of Holstein Friesian cows delivered 465kg MS/cow to Kerry Agribusiness last year and all whole milk was fed to calves from around 850kg of meal fed last year, which is higher than the target of 600kg of meal.
The farm is part of the Deel River European Innovation Programme (EIP) and a new farm pond has been created, which will act as a settlement pond for water running off the land before it enters the watercourse. Fields nearest to the watercourse have been reseeded with red and white clover and will not receive any additional nitrogen. Other fields have been oversown with white clover and clover is used in all reseeds.
Labour efficiency is a key part of the Troy farming philosophy and Robert and Mary have a really efficient system of calf rearing. They use contractors for most machinery related tasks and have a very efficient rotary milking parlour.
The Troys have nine cattle grids installed across the farm to enable easy access of machinery and to prevent cows from escaping.
The Troys have always been breeding good cows and have had 10 or more bulls progress to AI sires. The herd EBI is €224 with €65 for milk and €101 for fertility. This year’s crop of calves have an EBI of over €300.
Beef AI bulls are used on cows that they don’t want to breed heifers from.
Replacement heifers and silage are kept on the outfarm, which was the main milking block up to 2011 when they moved the dairy herd two miles down the road to the current milking block.
Robert and Mary manage the farm with help from their own children, plus the equivalent of two full-time employees between temporary students and part-time employees.
Troy family are milking 450 cows at Newtownshandrum, Co Cork. The farm grows 14t of grass per hectare. Cows have a very high EBI, at €224, on average. It's a labour-efficient farm.
The Troy family farm in Newtownshandrum in north Cork is an impressive place.
Not only are Robert and Mary breeding good cows and growing lots of high-quality grass, they are doing so at scale.
The farm has grown in size over the last decade with the Troys now milking 450 cows on a 136ha milking block, which is a stocking rate of 3.3 cows/ha but with 2.6 cows/ha as the overall stocking rate.
Robert explains that keeping the overall stocking rate at 2.6 cows/ha is important as it means that the farm can produce all of its winter feed requirements and keep bought-in concentrates to a minimum.
At a typical growth rate of 14t DM/ha from an average of 220kg N/ha last year, it’s a high-performing farm.
The herd of Holstein Friesian cows delivered 465kg MS/cow to Kerry Agribusiness last year and all whole milk was fed to calves from around 850kg of meal fed last year, which is higher than the target of 600kg of meal.
The farm is part of the Deel River European Innovation Programme (EIP) and a new farm pond has been created, which will act as a settlement pond for water running off the land before it enters the watercourse. Fields nearest to the watercourse have been reseeded with red and white clover and will not receive any additional nitrogen. Other fields have been oversown with white clover and clover is used in all reseeds.
Labour efficiency is a key part of the Troy farming philosophy and Robert and Mary have a really efficient system of calf rearing. They use contractors for most machinery related tasks and have a very efficient rotary milking parlour.
The Troys have nine cattle grids installed across the farm to enable easy access of machinery and to prevent cows from escaping.
The Troys have always been breeding good cows and have had 10 or more bulls progress to AI sires. The herd EBI is €224 with €65 for milk and €101 for fertility. This year’s crop of calves have an EBI of over €300.
Beef AI bulls are used on cows that they don’t want to breed heifers from.
Replacement heifers and silage are kept on the outfarm, which was the main milking block up to 2011 when they moved the dairy herd two miles down the road to the current milking block.
Robert and Mary manage the farm with help from their own children, plus the equivalent of two full-time employees between temporary students and part-time employees.
Troy family are milking 450 cows at Newtownshandrum, Co Cork. The farm grows 14t of grass per hectare. Cows have a very high EBI, at €224, on average. It's a labour-efficient farm.
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