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I farm: “170 acres, 140 owned and 30 rented. I’m milking 150 British and Holstein Friesian cows.”
Contract rearing: “My replacement heifers are contract-reared by a farmer 15 miles away in Virginia. He does everything with them including AI and they stay there until just before they calve down.”
Farm transfer: “I took over from my uncle in 2016, which was a very tough year with both the weather and the farm transfer. The process is slow and expensive, especially when you take into account loan transfers and such.”
Help: “My uncle and father are still involved in the farm. My brother helps, where possible, with the machinery side of the farm. I have one full-time employee and I take on a student from Ballyhaise every year for the spring.”
Breeding: “I am constantly selecting for high solids. Last year, the average was 3.45% protein and 4.25% fat.”
Fodder: “Maize has been brought in to subsidise the silage and meal. The problem is the amount of land that has been effectively taken out of production due to environmental schemes and bad European policy. There’s too much land being unproductive and if it was farmed to a reasonable standard, there would be more silage in the country.”
Women in agriculture: “I am hugely positive towards it. We can no longer be ruling out half of a household just because of their gender, it’s madness. It will be a fast way to having no farmers if we don’t change our way of thinking.”
Milk price: “If it doesn’t come down this month, it will stay lower at the other end of the year, but I’m very impressed by Lakeland holding its price this month. It’s a huge positive in a challenging spring. Working sub 30c/l up here is very difficult.”
Calving: “Calving was excellent this year and the use of restricted feed during the day worked well. Less than 10% of the herd calved between 12pm and 4am, which I was delighted with.”
Quotable quote: “It’s extraordinary the way that the milk price cycle and the poor weather cycle seem to run in sequence.”
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