Improving herd fertility and increasing milk butterfat and protein levels are the main aims for Monaghan farmer Frank Goodman over the next few years.

At a Dairylink Ireland event on his farm near Carrickmacross last week, visitors were told that in 2018 his calving index stood at 405 days and average butterfat and protein were 3.76% and 3.30% respectively.

There are 90 Holstein cows milking at present, with 80% calving in the spring and the remaining 20% run as an autumn-calving group. There are six more cows left to calve in the spring group.

Calving interval has crept up in recent years because some cows that were slow to get in calf slipped between the two

Frank told visitors last week that it was generally younger, first- and second-lactation cows he couldn’t get back in calf that he was reluctant to cull out and were let move between groups.

Dairylink Ireland adviser Conail Keown said there is a two-pronged approach to improving herd fertility, namely genetics and management. The longer-term fix is genetics and involves Frank selecting sires with high EBI subindices for fertility.

A gradual move to a spring-calving system appears to be the favoured option for the Goodman farm at present.

The same approach is being taken for lifting butterfat and protein levels.

For example, across all sires selected for the 2019 breeding season on the Goodman farm, average EBI stands at €290, fertility subindex is €124 and combined butterfat and protein is 30kg.

Management is a shorter-term fix for fertility and a key measure here is to let cows which are slow to get in calf leave the herd by no longer allowing them to slip between groups.

This will mean only the most fertile cows remain in the herd and breed replacements.

It will allow the calving spread in the two blocks to tighten, which will make heat detection simpler. “It is easier to get 50 cows in calf than it is to watch heats for just five cows.

Replacement heifers will be more uniform, and the workload in general will be more seasonal and streamlined,” Conail said.

Options

Improving fertility and milk components were two areas everyone at the farm walk agreed on, but there was more discussion around options for the broader strategy for the Goodman farm and the rate of change.

Frank is considering moving to a 100% spring-calving system with a focus put on establishing a 16-week calving block, reducing concentrate feeding and getting more from grass.

A business plan drawn up by Conail for this option suggests reducing milk volume from 8,205 litres in 2018 to 7,000 in 2020 while reducing concentrate feeding from 2.6t (2018) to 1.5t over the same period.

Frank pointed out concentrate feeding was inflated last year as more meal had to be fed during six weeks of drought conditions over the summer.

Host farmer Frank Goodman, Dairylink adviser Conail Keown and Irish Farmers Journal deputy editor Jack Kennedy at last week's farm walk.

Reduced milk volume is partially offset in the business plan by increasing milk components. By 2021, the aim is to have butterfat and protein at 4.25% and 3.50% respectively, meaning milk solids per cow will stand at 558kg, compared to 596kg in 2018.

Conail said replacement stock will need to be bought in to deliver this increase in butterfat and protein within two years as the rate of change by relying on genetic improvement in homebred stock will be too slow.

The plan suggests 20 high-EBI first- and second-lactation cows are bought in both 2019 and 2020, with 10 more bought in 2021.

Reservations

Some visitors to Frank’s farm had reservations about buying in replacement stock. For example, there is a risk of bringing in health problems.

A key issue on the farm is a fragmented layout, with only 22.5ha available for a milking platform and a further 50ha farmed away from the parlour.

The business plan suggests gradually increasing cow numbers and stocking rate to 110 cows and 4.9CE/ha by 2021

Stocking rate is already high and will be 4.27CE/ha when the remaining six dry cows calve down.

The business plan suggests gradually increasing cow numbers and stocking rate to 110 cows and 4.9CE/ha by 2021, although overall stocking rate will stay the same at around 2.00CE/ha as a beef enterprise on an outfarm is wound down.

The high stocking rate will mean grass demand will be higher than growth for most of the year so supplementary feed will be needed.

Zero grazing is not an option being considered by Frank, mainly due to the cost and daily labour requirement.

Autumn

Another option is to move towards a split autumn-spring calving system. This would allow for a tight calving profile to be established, would allow winter bonus payments to be capitalised on.

There would be less need for supplementary feeding during the summer when stocking rate drops as cows are dried off.

Frank also has a relatively dry farm with cows out grazing by day on 4 February this year and out full-time on 15 March

However, with a small autumn-calving group at present, moving more autumn-calving will mean stock movements, and all year round milking.

Frank also has a relatively dry farm with cows out grazing by day on 4 February this year and out full-time on 15 March, so a system based on producing milk from grazed grass is suitable for his land type.

He is already on top of his grazing game, with soil fertility in a good place, high ryegrass content in swards and well-developed grazing infrastructure on the milking platform.

A gradual move to a spring-calving system appears to be the favoured option at present.