Shinagh Dairy Farm

Shinagh dairy farm near Bandon in West Cork is a Teagasc-led project demonstrating efficient spring milk production from grass on a farm that was converted from a beef farm in 2010, with the first cows being milked in January 2011.

The milking platform of 84 ha (5 ha leased), is owned by the four west Cork Co-Ops, is stocked at 2.95 cows/ha and winter feed is supplied from a separate leased outblock of 17 ha. The labour on the farm is provided by one full time farm manager, Kevin Aherne, along with part time labour in spring and for relief throughout the year.

Farm Objectives

The original objectives of Shinagh dairy farm were to identify and manage the economic risks and challenges associated with a dairy farm conversion with significant volatility in milk price. The focus of the farm has been to maximise grass production and utilisation and to breed a high EBI crossbred herd that could calve compactly at the start of the grass growing season and efficiently convert grass into milk solids.

However, the farm will also focus on some of the other challenges that the industry faces on environmental and social sustainability in the future. Currently, the farm is focused on strategies to combat these issues, which are being pursued through the Farm Zero C project include: reducing the carbon footprint of the milk produced, reducing the total ammonia emissions from the farm and increasing the nitrogen efficiency and the biodiversity of the farm.

For more on Farm Zero C, watch the below video

This project, which aims to make Shinagh farm carbon neutral, funded by Research Ireland. Most of the funding will be used for trial work on products and methods that may reduce the overall emissions from a dairy farm. The items on the Teagasc MACC curve that reduce the carbon footprint will be implemented on the farm.

Farm improvement Initiatives

• The farm has been using sexed AI dairy straws on both the cows and replacement heifers since 2021. The conception rate to the sexed straws has been on a par with conventional AI at 60%.
• Movement monitors were put on the cows in 2022 prior to breeding and have proved very successful at heat detection.
• Using sexed AI straws has allowed the use of better beef AI bulls to increase the beef merit of all the remaining calves. All beef calves are transferred to the Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm.
• All nitrogen fertiliser used on the farm is in the form of protected urea and all slurry spread on the farm is by low emission slurry equipment.
• Every paddock being reseeded includes 5 kg/ha of clover seed.
• The farm has been surveyed and 7.2% of the total area is biodiverse. The target is to achieve 10%. Achieving 10% will involve replacing an existing sitka plantation with native woodland and planting a further 1 ha of woodland.
• The farm has set a paddock of multi-species pasture consisting of grass, clover, plantain and chicory each year since 2020. The clover content of each of these paddocks is above 20%.
• A plate cooler and variable speed drives on the vacuum and milk pumps have been installed which will reduce the electricity demand.
• Solar panels and battery storage have been installed on the roof of the milking parlour and have reduced energy consumption.

Shinagh dairy farm will continue to provide leadership to Irish dairy farmers by demonstrating the operation and management of an environmentally and economically efficient farm, while at the same time demonstrating how a dairy farm can reduce its climate effect potentially to zero. The Carbon footprint has dropped significantly since 2018 and in 2022 was 0.66 kg CO2 eq./kg FPCM, which is a 21% reduction since 2018.