Teagasc/Kerry Agribusiness Joint Industry Programme

Farm updates

Updates on grass and milk solids production on each of the Signpost and Demonstration farms.

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• View 2022 updates here
• View 2021 updates here

‘Farming for a new decade’ is the ninth phase of the Teagasc / Kerry Agribusiness knowledge transfer programme that commenced in 1994. The programme will promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable dairy farm systems to Kerry Agribusiness suppliers. It will provide a tailored range of activities to engage with Kerry Agribusiness suppliers that are focussed on supporting farmers via advancements in best practice and technology adoption. This new phase of the Teagasc / Kerry Agribusiness joint programme will focus on economic and environmental sustainability of our dairy farm systems.

Objective

The key aim of this programme is to support farmers in implementing changes to deliver on environmental requirements; water quality, agricultural emissions and biodiversity, while also enhancing the financial and social viability of Kerry agribusiness suppliers.

Strong focus will also be placed on nutrient management planning, utilising high yields of grazed pasture, effective use of nitrogen and Economic Breeding Index (EBI) of the herds to optimise productivity.

Overview of Demonstration Farms

Thirty demonstration farms will be geographically spread across the Kerry Agribusiness catchment to represent all Kerry Agribusiness suppliers. The demonstration farms will be subdivided into three groups consisting of 7 ‘Signpost focus’, 8 ‘Demonstration’ and 15 ‘Support’ farms. The programme will run until December 2023. Support farms will champion demand driven events which will require a shorter time commitment of one or two years.  The farms in the Heavy Soils Programme will also continue under the Joint Programme. The programme will run until December 2023.

Geographical spread of Signpost and Demonstration farmers across the Kerry Agribusiness catchment.  

Farmer Update: John Casey

There are currently 2.8ha of reseed to come back into the milking platform. My cows are currently milking 20l/cow/day at 5.49% Butterfat and 4.07% Protein giving 1.97kgs of Milk solids per cow per day which I’m very happy with. However I’m behind target on my autumn average farm cover (AFC), we have been behind all month and haven’t been able to build cover sufficiently despite feeding heavily since mid-July. We are currently feeding 2kg’s of Dairy nut in the parlour, we are feeding PKE and 2 bales of silage a day along the head rail of the cubicle house to reduce demand to allow AFC build. The rain of the past two weeks has greened the farm but growth is still behind what I had hoped for.

We scanned the cows the week before last and had 10 of the 134 empty (7.5% empty) which I was very happy with, the in calf heifers was not as good but overall empty rate was 8% which I’m happy with after a 10 week breeding season. We will sell the empty cows over the next two weeks to try to preserve grass for the in calf cows. Hopefully reducing the stocking rate by selling the culls and getting the reseeds back into grazing platform will help get me closer to my target cover and hopefully I can stop feeding silage in a week or so to preserve my winter stocks. 

I took the opportunity when we were dosing calves two weeks ago to weight my weanling heifers. My Maintenance figure from the ICBF EBI Report for my weanlings is €19 which would suggest that these animals would have an average weight of 550kgs in July of their 3rd lactation. The target weight for these animals in mid-August is 174Kgs and my heifers averaged 175kgs, I separated out the 9 heifers that were below target weight and these will get preferential treatment and be reweighted at housing. These heifers will get the best of the grass on the outside block and they will get 2kgs of ration per head per day while at grass. The heavier bunch are getting 1 kg per head per day. 

I'm following the cows with a bag/acre of 29-0-14 now that we have gotten some rain i find this a very good fertiliser as it allows me to get some K onto my farm as well.

I have some third cut silage growing at the moment on another out block and I hope to harvest this mid-September and the in calf heifers will graze this ground before they are housed.

Advisor Update: Denis Brassil

As discussed last week ground conditions across the catchment vary greatly from east Limerick where growth is still restricted from the dry weather to parts of west Kerry and west Clare where cows had to be housed by night last weekend due to over 70mm of rain in 4 days. This brings home the importance of tailoring your plan to your farm conditions over the next few months.

The data required on farm when making this plan are a winter fodder budget, an in calf scan complete and a recent milk recording can help to give a complete picture. There may be no silver bullet solution but several steps may be taken to help the farm. High SCC or problem cows removed now can have a big influence on keeping scc under control heading into the Autumn and aid cashflow. Poor performing or empty cows removed can give all the other cows in the herd more grass in the paddock and minimise the drop in the bulk tank. Talk to your advisor and make a plan, this can help to reduce the stress for the months ahead.

Fertiliser allowances need to be reviewed and where allowances allow 30 units spread now can have a much bigger influence on total growth than waiting for the 14th of September to blanket spread the farm.

Following the cows with some slurry now gives some extra P and K for growth and helps to have tanks empty in advance of closed period (1st of October).  The longer rotation makes a good opportunity to lime or spread some muriate of potash if required.