We have called to this farm previously on our Quality Milk Awards tour of Ireland in 2012. Since then, a lot of investment has taken place. More land, a new calf shed and the silage pits have been covered.
You wouldn’t be a real Donegal farmer unless you had a handful of sheep and Charles has a flock of 350 mountain ewes to run alongside his 110 milking cows.
The flock run on the rougher higher land away from the farmyard. That and outside blocks also carry the 45 heifer calves, 47 in calf heifers and provide winter feed.
Output per cow is high on this farm and average herd yield is 9,500 litres per cow (700kg MS/cow) from grass, grass silage and about 3,000kg of meal fed per cow.
The 12-unit double-up milking parlour.
Supply is pretty level all year round and averages over 75,000 litres per month for each month of the year.
Charles said: “The farm had to grow to help pay for extra staff around the yard. My father Winston still helps out but we have full-time help and that allows me to spend time with my family, get involved in the co-op and representative structures and know the farm is well looked after when I’m not there.”
Some of the new fencing near the farmyard that needs to be sheep proof.
While this might all sound very high-output, the surrounding countryside is a home to numerous birds.
One unusual one is called the Curlew and Charles has an area of the farm dedicated to this bird so he’s not allowed put a machine into this area from mid-March to mid-July.
The new calf shed on the McCandless Farm near Malin Head in Donegal supplying Aurivo Co-op.
Fencing is a big part of land maintenance around here and Charles wasn’t long after finishing a new job on land close to the parlour.
In 2018, 102 cows were milked, which is up to 110 for 2019. A total of 68,000kg of milk solids were delivered in 2018. See key stats.
Twelve-unit double-up
The parlour is a 12-unit double-up (24 units) herringbone so it’s one person milking most of the time.
The spec is high and there is a big wide pit that is matted. Charles has a separate milking unit (cluster and bucket) for cows that are not going into the tank.
Once used, this cluster unit is dipped in peracetic acid after each cow.
Gathering before going on the walk to see the cows near Malin Head, Co Donegal.
The farm is in GLAS, with the environment high on the agenda. A number of intiatives are used to be more environmentally friendly.
An umbilical cord with a trailing shoe is used to get slurry out; there is a variable-speed milk pump and a heat exchanger; night rate energy is used; LED lights are in place in the housing; there is a plate cooler; the silage pit is roofed; hedgerows are maintained; and 150kg/ha of bag nitrogen used on grazing ground.
The Culdaff Holsteins grazing excellent quality grass.
We have called to this farm previously on our Quality Milk Awards tour of Ireland in 2012. Since then, a lot of investment has taken place. More land, a new calf shed and the silage pits have been covered.
You wouldn’t be a real Donegal farmer unless you had a handful of sheep and Charles has a flock of 350 mountain ewes to run alongside his 110 milking cows.
The flock run on the rougher higher land away from the farmyard. That and outside blocks also carry the 45 heifer calves, 47 in calf heifers and provide winter feed.
Output per cow is high on this farm and average herd yield is 9,500 litres per cow (700kg MS/cow) from grass, grass silage and about 3,000kg of meal fed per cow.
The 12-unit double-up milking parlour.
Supply is pretty level all year round and averages over 75,000 litres per month for each month of the year.
Charles said: “The farm had to grow to help pay for extra staff around the yard. My father Winston still helps out but we have full-time help and that allows me to spend time with my family, get involved in the co-op and representative structures and know the farm is well looked after when I’m not there.”
Some of the new fencing near the farmyard that needs to be sheep proof.
While this might all sound very high-output, the surrounding countryside is a home to numerous birds.
One unusual one is called the Curlew and Charles has an area of the farm dedicated to this bird so he’s not allowed put a machine into this area from mid-March to mid-July.
The new calf shed on the McCandless Farm near Malin Head in Donegal supplying Aurivo Co-op.
Fencing is a big part of land maintenance around here and Charles wasn’t long after finishing a new job on land close to the parlour.
In 2018, 102 cows were milked, which is up to 110 for 2019. A total of 68,000kg of milk solids were delivered in 2018. See key stats.
Twelve-unit double-up
The parlour is a 12-unit double-up (24 units) herringbone so it’s one person milking most of the time.
The spec is high and there is a big wide pit that is matted. Charles has a separate milking unit (cluster and bucket) for cows that are not going into the tank.
Once used, this cluster unit is dipped in peracetic acid after each cow.
Gathering before going on the walk to see the cows near Malin Head, Co Donegal.
The farm is in GLAS, with the environment high on the agenda. A number of intiatives are used to be more environmentally friendly.
An umbilical cord with a trailing shoe is used to get slurry out; there is a variable-speed milk pump and a heat exchanger; night rate energy is used; LED lights are in place in the housing; there is a plate cooler; the silage pit is roofed; hedgerows are maintained; and 150kg/ha of bag nitrogen used on grazing ground.
The Culdaff Holsteins grazing excellent quality grass.
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