Eamon Cormican farms at Lakeview near Claregalway, Co Galway. Instead of black and white, the colour choice for Eamon’s cows is red and white. For the last two years Eamon has imported purebred Fleckvieh cattle from Austria. Eamon still has some Holstein Friesians in the herd, but is gradually moving towards a 100% Fleckvieh herd using Fleckvieh stock bulls which were also imported. Eamon is the fifth generation farming at Lakeview. His father was a founding member of Midwest Co-op, which later went on to become Arrabawn Co-op.
At the moment Eamon is calving for 12 weeks in the spring and 10 weeks in the autumn. Average yield is close to 7,200 litres, delivering about 463kg of milk solids per cow. Eamon estimates he is feeding about 850kg of meal per cow with grazed grass and quality silage. Total area farmed is 61ha, with 45ha available for grazing. Overall farm stocking rate is 1.7 cows/ha.
Trailing shoe
Eamon purchased a slurry tank with a trailing shoe to better manage nutrients and allow him increase the spreading window without soiling grass. Combining this machine with soil test results, Eamon said he is maximising slurry usage rather than chemical fertilisers.
One interesting device Eamon has in the parlour is the Saber SCC kit that essentially allows him to keep an eye on cows that may be getting mastitis. The Saber technology, which uses a product called SCC Gel, essentially mimics the California milk test mixing reagent (the gel) with milk to highlight milk that may contain high cell count. One of Eamon’s objective with installing this kit is to try and reduce antibiotic usage as he is worried about antibiotic resistance.
The other two products he has good faith in are Supercow teatfoam, which is his teat dip of choice, and Uddermint. Uddermint is 35% peppermint oil and is another favourite of Eamon’s – treat a suspect mastitis case by massaging this into the suspected quarter rather than treat with antibiotics first. Eamon has a footbath in the narrow slatted exit race beside the parlour which he uses regularly. The relatively big dairy holds the electric heater, the plate cooler, the Packo bulk tank and detergent products. From our visit it is clear Eamon has strong faith in the catholic religion and his devotion to good cows and managing them well is also very evident. The overall ethos of the Cormican business is stay on top of any issues and minding the herd is number one before anyone else gets a look in.
Cow numbers 2019: 95Herd EBI: €89Total milk delivered (2019): 594311Total milk solids (2019): 43,400Fat % average: 3.75%Protein % average: 3.34%Milking parlour: 13-unit herringboneWeighted TBC average (2019): 5Weighted SCC average (2019): 89Detergent used in parlour: PuresanDetergent used in bulk tank: PuresanProportion of herd using selective dry cow therapy (SDCT): ?Nitrogen used (kg/ha): ?Proportion protected urea: 0%Measure grass : yes
Read more
Watch: Farm Tech Talk - the Livestock Show
Stricter rules on dairy labelling welcomed
Eamon Cormican farms at Lakeview near Claregalway, Co Galway. Instead of black and white, the colour choice for Eamon’s cows is red and white. For the last two years Eamon has imported purebred Fleckvieh cattle from Austria. Eamon still has some Holstein Friesians in the herd, but is gradually moving towards a 100% Fleckvieh herd using Fleckvieh stock bulls which were also imported. Eamon is the fifth generation farming at Lakeview. His father was a founding member of Midwest Co-op, which later went on to become Arrabawn Co-op.
At the moment Eamon is calving for 12 weeks in the spring and 10 weeks in the autumn. Average yield is close to 7,200 litres, delivering about 463kg of milk solids per cow. Eamon estimates he is feeding about 850kg of meal per cow with grazed grass and quality silage. Total area farmed is 61ha, with 45ha available for grazing. Overall farm stocking rate is 1.7 cows/ha.
Trailing shoe
Eamon purchased a slurry tank with a trailing shoe to better manage nutrients and allow him increase the spreading window without soiling grass. Combining this machine with soil test results, Eamon said he is maximising slurry usage rather than chemical fertilisers.
One interesting device Eamon has in the parlour is the Saber SCC kit that essentially allows him to keep an eye on cows that may be getting mastitis. The Saber technology, which uses a product called SCC Gel, essentially mimics the California milk test mixing reagent (the gel) with milk to highlight milk that may contain high cell count. One of Eamon’s objective with installing this kit is to try and reduce antibiotic usage as he is worried about antibiotic resistance.
The other two products he has good faith in are Supercow teatfoam, which is his teat dip of choice, and Uddermint. Uddermint is 35% peppermint oil and is another favourite of Eamon’s – treat a suspect mastitis case by massaging this into the suspected quarter rather than treat with antibiotics first. Eamon has a footbath in the narrow slatted exit race beside the parlour which he uses regularly. The relatively big dairy holds the electric heater, the plate cooler, the Packo bulk tank and detergent products. From our visit it is clear Eamon has strong faith in the catholic religion and his devotion to good cows and managing them well is also very evident. The overall ethos of the Cormican business is stay on top of any issues and minding the herd is number one before anyone else gets a look in.
Cow numbers 2019: 95Herd EBI: €89Total milk delivered (2019): 594311Total milk solids (2019): 43,400Fat % average: 3.75%Protein % average: 3.34%Milking parlour: 13-unit herringboneWeighted TBC average (2019): 5Weighted SCC average (2019): 89Detergent used in parlour: PuresanDetergent used in bulk tank: PuresanProportion of herd using selective dry cow therapy (SDCT): ?Nitrogen used (kg/ha): ?Proportion protected urea: 0%Measure grass : yes
Read more
Watch: Farm Tech Talk - the Livestock Show
Stricter rules on dairy labelling welcomed
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