DEAR SIR: There is no doubt that there is a lot of uncertainty out there at the moment with Brexit, CAP reform, global warming, etc, but adopting good farm practices inside the farm gate will put us in a stronger position when we are confronted with these challenges. Milk recording is one such practice.

The farmers who have been milk recording for years, maybe decades, make sure that it’s carried out when it’s due, as they view it as a necessity, as it gives them a picture of how each individual cow in the herd is performing as regards SCC, solids and yield, and removes the guess work from culling decisions and breeding.

Their view, and rightly so, is that without milk-recording you are driving blind.

Dairygold, who have recently launched a sustainability bonus scheme where they are paying 0.15c/l to suppliers who milk-record and take up herd health, have said that milk-recorded herds produce on average 50kg more milk solids per cow per year than non-milk-recorded herds.

In money terms for a 100-cow herd, this equates to €23,650. Another way to look at this is a herd of 88 cows that is being milk recorded could produce as much milk solids as a herd of 100 cows that is not – it doesn’t make much sense having a dozen extra cows eating expensive and perhaps scarce fodder, belching out methane and adding nothing to your bottom line.

The milk-recording service providers provide a great service where, depending on your setup, they can provide a milk recorder to sample or provide meters for you to use yourself and there’s practically no situation they cannot cater for, so the biggest issue for many is to make the decision and go for it.

If Dairygold’s figures are anything to go by it’s a no-brainer. We need to up our game here big time. Our level of milk recording in this country at the moment is the same as it was in the Netherlands back in the 1950s.

Also due to the very real threat of anti-microbial resistance, we urgently need to look at the whole area of selective dry cow treatment.

The current situation where all cows in the herd are routinely given dry cow tubes will no longer be accepted or allowed. We will be forced to use selective dry cow therapy and only cows in need of antibiotic dry cow tubes will be given them – another good reason to give milk recording serious consideration I would think.

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