The last time I was on the Liston farm near Croom in Co Limerick was for the Irish Grassland Association summer dairy tour in 2010. At the time, the Listons were milking around 160 cows. Fast forward to today and Fiachra and his father, Aidan, are milking 320 cows and farming a total of 144ha.
Sean McCarthy from Kerry Agribusiness, Fiachra Liston, Eilish Broderick from MTU and James O'Connell from Kerry Agribusiness
The high quality of farming evident in 2010 is still present today. The herd of Holstein Friesian cows have an average EBI of €186 and produced 506kg MS/cow in 2020 from around 900kg of meal, excluding meal fed to dry cows pre-calving. After 10 weeks of breeding last year, the empty rate was 12%, and 91% of cows calved in the first six weeks this spring.
This year, Fiachra has done six weeks of dairy artificial insemination (AI), followed by six weeks of beef AI. Automated heat detection collars on the cows are facilitating more AI to be used. All cows and calves are genotyped. On the day the judges visited, the herd was producing 23l at 3.66% protein and 4.08% fat or 1.83kg MS/cow.
The herd is milk-recorded five times a year and selective dry cow therapy will be done this year. A new cubicle shed and feed passage will increase cow accommodation on the farm. With just 15% of the herd having a somatic cell count (SCC) of greater than 100,000, selective drying off is something that Fiachra could have done earlier, but he was concerned about the risk of an outbreak due to being tight for cubicles.
Fences have been moved hedges on the Liston farm
All slurry is spread by a contractor using a trailing shoe and Fiachra spreads the fertiliser himself. Protected urea has been used instead of CAN for the last two years. Paddocks that are at index 3 and 4 for phosphorus and potash get straight nitrogen, while lower-index fields get additional nutrients through parlour washing and slurry. In addition, different compound fertilisers are used depending on soil sample results.
Fiachra believes he can save 10% on nitrogen use by shutting off the spreader near gaps and water troughs, and by keeping the required distance away from streams and watercourses. There is good clover on parts of the farm and clover is always sown when reseeding, but Fiachra acknowledges that it’s a difficult plant to manage and that there are risks around bloat.
The Liston herd grazing near Croom in Co Limerick
The farm grew almost 16t DM/ha in 2020, supporting an overall stocking rate of just over 2.7 livestock units/ha. Fiachra and Aidan are helped out on the farm by one full-time employee who does five days per week, plus relief milkers at the weekend.
The last time I was on the Liston farm near Croom in Co Limerick was for the Irish Grassland Association summer dairy tour in 2010. At the time, the Listons were milking around 160 cows. Fast forward to today and Fiachra and his father, Aidan, are milking 320 cows and farming a total of 144ha.
Sean McCarthy from Kerry Agribusiness, Fiachra Liston, Eilish Broderick from MTU and James O'Connell from Kerry Agribusiness
The high quality of farming evident in 2010 is still present today. The herd of Holstein Friesian cows have an average EBI of €186 and produced 506kg MS/cow in 2020 from around 900kg of meal, excluding meal fed to dry cows pre-calving. After 10 weeks of breeding last year, the empty rate was 12%, and 91% of cows calved in the first six weeks this spring.
This year, Fiachra has done six weeks of dairy artificial insemination (AI), followed by six weeks of beef AI. Automated heat detection collars on the cows are facilitating more AI to be used. All cows and calves are genotyped. On the day the judges visited, the herd was producing 23l at 3.66% protein and 4.08% fat or 1.83kg MS/cow.
The herd is milk-recorded five times a year and selective dry cow therapy will be done this year. A new cubicle shed and feed passage will increase cow accommodation on the farm. With just 15% of the herd having a somatic cell count (SCC) of greater than 100,000, selective drying off is something that Fiachra could have done earlier, but he was concerned about the risk of an outbreak due to being tight for cubicles.
Fences have been moved hedges on the Liston farm
All slurry is spread by a contractor using a trailing shoe and Fiachra spreads the fertiliser himself. Protected urea has been used instead of CAN for the last two years. Paddocks that are at index 3 and 4 for phosphorus and potash get straight nitrogen, while lower-index fields get additional nutrients through parlour washing and slurry. In addition, different compound fertilisers are used depending on soil sample results.
Fiachra believes he can save 10% on nitrogen use by shutting off the spreader near gaps and water troughs, and by keeping the required distance away from streams and watercourses. There is good clover on parts of the farm and clover is always sown when reseeding, but Fiachra acknowledges that it’s a difficult plant to manage and that there are risks around bloat.
The Liston herd grazing near Croom in Co Limerick
The farm grew almost 16t DM/ha in 2020, supporting an overall stocking rate of just over 2.7 livestock units/ha. Fiachra and Aidan are helped out on the farm by one full-time employee who does five days per week, plus relief milkers at the weekend.
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