Jimmy Cotter, Coachford, Co Cork

Jimmy Cotter is milking 110 cows on a 35ha milking block near the village of Coachford in Cork. The stocking rate on the milking platform is 3.2 cows/ha, the heifers are contract reared and there is an outblock of 12ha away from the farm that is being used for silage. Most of this was reseeded with red clover silage last year.

Over the last three years, Jimmy grew an average of 13.3t DM/ha and when the judges visited in late November last year, the farm had grown 12.9t DM/ha. Jimmy is putting down the reduction in grass growth rates this year to the dry spell that hit in late summer.

He is a big fan of clover and at this stage has over 50% of the farm with good clover content.

The Cotter farm in mid-Cork has a high percentage of white clover.

Jimmy ranks each field on a score of one to five, depending on both clover content and clover distribution across the paddock. At this stage, 20% of the milking platform is classed by Jimmy as being at level five and some of these paddocks only got as little as 23 units/ac of chemical nitrogen in 2022. Jimmy says he would like to be at 60% of the farm in time.

Across the whole farm, an average of 173kg N/ha was spread in 2022, excluding the nitrogen supplied in slurry. In terms of preventing bloat, Jimmy uses the strip wire to allocate grass on 12 hour breaks and when cows are in high risk paddocks on high risk days, he will give a small allocation of grass first and then give them access to the whole field. Closing cover this year was 650kg/ha and Jimmy hopes to open with a cover of 1,100kg/ha.

Seamus Ahern, Dungourney, Co Cork

Seamus Ahern, Dungourney, Co Cork, is a contestant in the Grassland Farmer of the Year awards.

Milking 120 cows on a 37ha milking platform with zero chemical nitrogen, the Ahern farm at Dungourney in east Cork is doing remarkable things regarding clover. The farm has been in organic production since 1999 and the Aherns converted to dairy when quotas went in 2015.

Over the last three years, the farm has grown an average of 10.3t DM/ha, but the farm actually grew more in 2022, with 11.4t DM/ha grown. Seamus reckons the farm fared better than others because it got more regular rainfall than other areas.

A small amount of chemical potash is permitted and a total of 6t of sulphate of potash was applied in 2022. In addition, a lot of lime has been applied over the last few years.

The herd of Jersey cows is split calving, with about 50% calving in autumn and the rest calving in spring. The herd produced an average of 420kg MS/cow from an average of 650kg of meal per cow.

A recently reseeded field of red and white clover and perennial ryegrass on the Ahern farm in east Cork.

The Aherns are farming a total of 64ha, with a number of outside blocks used for three or four cuts of red clover silage. These fields are usually grazed by dry cows in either autumn or spring.

Unsurprisingly, clover makes up a huge part of the organic farming system, alongside using organic fertilisers such as slurry and farmyard manure. The entire farm has been reseeded in the last seven or eight years. They used to reseed 20% of the farm per year, but are now doing 12%-15% annually using primarily perennial ryegrass and white clover.

A combi-crop of barley and peas was purchased off the combine this year, which was rolled and treated with acid as a preservative. All the heifers are contract reared and Seamus completes over 37 grass walks per year.

Other finalists

The eight other finalists in the competition will be profiled over the coming weeks.