In June, the average milk solids content supplied to each co-op was 3.44% protein and 3.94% fat.

These averages are very poor and while they may be better than they were a decade ago, they are very far behind where the top 10% or 20% of farmers are on fat and protein per cent.

The weather was very poor in May and grass quality did suffer in June, but to think that almost half of the suppliers in each co-op supplied milk with fat and protein lower than this is extremely disappointing, particularly during the peak months.

It’s disappointing because there is such a gulf between what the top farmers are achieving in terms of milk price and the average farmer, let alone those at the bottom.

Many factors have an influence on solids content in milk. But when comparing performance across farms, grass quality and breeding are the main factors, with breeding probably the biggest factor.

The predicted transmitting abilities predicted transmitting ability (PTA) for milk fat and protein percent on the first page of the ICBF EBI report usually tells you all you need to know about a herd’s genetic potential to deliver a high milk price.

That and the fertility sub-index are two of the most important figures on the report.

High fertility will give you a high number of days in milk per lactation and longevity to survive multiple lactations.

High PTA for milk and protein percent means every litre of milk produced will be high-solids milk.

The herd produced milk with an average protein content of 3.94% in 2020.

The two together give you high milk solids per cow in a low-cost, efficient and very profitable manner.

Clearly, farmers or the people they employ to pick bulls for them are not paying close enough attention to these figures. As a result, too many farmers are getting too low a milk price.

Look at the milk price the top 10% of farmers are getting in each co-op. There is usually a 2c/l to 3c/l difference between them and the average, which is worth over €12,000 per year for a farmer with 100 cows.

Some will argue they make up the difference in higher volume, but this is not the case, as that volume costs a lot of money to produce and has a negative value in the milk payment scheme. While higher volume will inflate total kilos of milk solids, it’s a very inefficient way of increasing output.

The Clarke farm is good quality and all reseeded in last few years.

Perversely, the PTA for milk fat and protein percent is lowest in the border and western regions where rainfall levels are highest, soil type is wettest and days at grass is lowest. This calls into question the advice farmers have been getting in these regions. Increasing milk solids through improving fat and protein percent is a slow burner, but the advantages from a farmer profit, milk processing and environmental perspective are massive.

Case study: Andrew Clarke, Roscommon

Andrew Clarke.

Andrew Clarke only milked cows seven times before becoming a full-time dairy farmer.

The 23-year-old was the driving force behind converting the family farm on the outskirts of Roscommon town to dairy in 2020.

The Clarkes were steeped in beef farming, with Andrew’s father Charles well known to many through his involvement in the ICSA.

With 175 acres of dry, free-draining land in one block, plus ample support ground, the decision to go into dairy seems straightforward, but Andrew says it was never part of his plan.

He studied beef and sheep in Gurteen and when he went to New Zealand in 2018, he worked on beef farms and drove tractors.

He says: “Dairying was something we had discussed before, but I suppose it wasn’t until we were looking at building a new shed for the beef cattle and what that would cost and what we could get instead of it in terms of dairy infrastructure that our heads were turned.

Cows coming in for evening milking on the Clarke farm in Roscommon.

“We decided in March 2019 that we’d go for it and went about buying stock, reseeding and fencing the place before starting the building work in November.”

Animals were sourced as maiden or in-calf heifers from a number of herds, mostly in Waterford and Cork.

Andrew got advice from his relations and fellow dairy farmers Ed and John Payne about the importance of buying quality stock on day one and the long-term benefits that this will bring to the herd and to the farm.

As a result, he was extremely picky, but this is now standing to him in abundance.

Last year was his first year milking cows and the herd, all first-lactation cows, delivered 385kg MS/cow to Aurivo Co-op from an average of 690kg meal per cow.

The herd averaged 4.69% fat and a staggering 3.95% protein for the year. This is 0.11% fat and 0.19% protein higher than the top 10% of farmers in Aurivo. Andrew’s milk price for the year averaged 40.4c/l, which is over 5c/l higher than the average Aurivo supplier and 2.5c/l higher than the top 10% of farmers in Aurivo.

The herd is on track to deliver 450kg MS/cow this year and that’s with 50% of the herd as heifers. It’s a remarkable performance for a young herd and a young farm manager.

Yet, when you look at the herd EBI report, they are really only delivering what they are bred to do. The PTA for milk fat is 0.2% and the PTA for milk protein is 0.13%.

These figures are between 2.6 and 2.8 times higher than the national average herd.

Now, the Clarkes will have an advantage in that they have a very young herd which tends to have higher genetic merit compared with a standard aged herd.

The EBI of the Clarke herd is €170, with €66 for milk, €61 for fertility and €25 for maintenance.

The 26-unit parlour on the Clarke farm.

Andrew can take no credit for breeding a good herd of cows, but he can take credit for buying good cows.

The majority of the cows he purchased happen to be Jersey crossbred, but a fair share of Holstein Friesian cows that had good EBIs were purchased also. Andrew is now using a combination of Jersey and Jersey crossbred bulls back on these cows.

“I’m buying everything off LIC and I look at BW [New Zealand Breeding Worth] when picking bulls. All the bulls I’m using are daughter proven and I’m not using any genomics,” he says.

They’re milking 240 cows this year which is a stocking rate of 3.4 cows/ha on the milking block.

The farm grew 14.5t DM/ha in 2020 from 220kg N/ha and has 8.5t DM/ha grown so far this year. There’s very little clover on the farm, but all new reseeds are getting clover included and Andrew says it’ll be looked after to ensure it lasts in the sward.

Andrew is helped on the farm by his parents Pauline and Charles, brother Robert, niece Ella and two part-time employees who between them do the work of one full-time person.

Automated heat detection collars were installed this year and all AI is used. Andrew did 12 weeks of dairy AI and will decide next year whether to sell or keep the resulting dairy heifer calves. Based on bulling activity, he expects the empty rate to be 8% this year.

In terms of farmyard development, a new 26-unit Waikato milking parlour was built along with a cubicle shed for 252 cows.

Comment

To achieve genetic progress for any trait, you must pick bulls that have a higher PTA in that trait than the cows they are being bred with.

Focusing on kilos of milk solids instead of percentages can be costly, because total kilos is influenced by the PTA for milk volume.

The bulls with the highest PTA for fat and protein percent tend to be Jersey, but if farmers want to avoid crossbreeding, they can do so by selecting high-EBI Holstein Friesian bulls with good solids.

I was in a nearly all Holstein Friesian herd last week that had the exact same PTA for fat and protein as the Clarkes, so it is possible if you select for it.