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Tirlan Farm Updates 2025

 11th April 2025

Farmer County Litres / Cow Fat % Protein % SCC kg MS/Cow Meal kg Average Farm Cover  Cover /LU Pre Grazing Yield  Demand/Ha Growth Rate/Ha Sustainability Action LESS**
Tom Murphy Kilkenny 26.0 4.66 3.77 92 2.25 4 750 175 1700 69 75 YES
Donal Kavanagh Wicklow 30.0 4.12 3.43 140 2.25 6 696 280 1350 18 37 YES
Francis Nolan Kilkenny 28.4 4.25 3.41 140 2.24 5 775 277 1400 22 40 YES
Jack Kearney Cork 26.0 4.42 3.48 117 2.12 5 704 205 1400 45 54 YES
John Ryan Tipperary 29.5 4.40 3.38 173 2.36 3 764 164 1500 74 37 YES
Kevin Murphy Wexford 28.4 4.47 3.64 73 2.37 4 717 176 1450 65 67 YES
*Mullen Farm Meath 28.0 4.24 3.61 102 2.26 5 829 273 1800 55 63 YES
Shane Fitzgerald Waterford 28.5 4.10 3.52 116 2.24 3 754 195 1400 70 56 YES
Shay Ryan Wexford 27.5 4.01 3.60 122 2.16 3 783 182 1400 64 62 YES
Steven Fitzgerald Waterford 28.9 4.01 3.47 39 2.22 3.5 736 291 1400 40 37 YES
Tom Fennelly Laois             821 245 1900 49 46 YES
Average   28 4.27 3.53 111 2.25 4 757 224 1518 52 52  
Average 11/04/2024   26 4.51 3.33 95 2.08 5.0 875 291 1724 37 22  

*Winter Milk
** LESS - Low Emission Slurry Spreading

Farmer Focus - Tom Murphy, Co. Kilkenny

Tom Murphys cows grazing in co KilkennyOn Tom's farm it was great to see cows very content and grazing well. Tom has only one cow left to calve. Thankfully it was a great calving season with no issues. Tom has looked at his data from the collars and there are only seven anoestrus cows plus any cow calved after St Patricks Day that will be checked by the vet next week. Most of the cows have already cycled twice and that is to be expected with a 93% 6 week calving rate.

All beef calves were sold off the farm at three  weeks of age and all heifers calves are now at grass. The milking platform has received 60 units N in total from either PU plus S and/or with slurry via the umbilical system this spring.

After doing a grass walk on Monday Tom knew there had been significant growth so we walked again today. The growth rate was 75 kgsDM/ha so Tom has pulled 6.82ha's for silage to be cut now. This has given the farm an AFC of 675kgsDM/ha. We did a predicted wedge for next week with a growth rate matching demand and cover to ensure sufficient grass for the cows diet next week.

Main action for this week - walk the farm!

March 28

Farmer County  Average Farm cover Growth Rate % calved % grazed Meal kg Litres/ cow Fat % Protein % MS/Cow SCC
Tom Murphy Kilkenny 987 39 94 75 6 25.5 4.70 3.46 2.22 58
Donal Kavanagh Wicklow 565 18 97 90 6.0 26.6 4.17 3.33 2.05 110
Francis Nolan Kilkenny 650 4 93 65 6.0 27.5 4.47 3.31 2.20 130
Jack Kearney Cork 589 25 98 80 5.0 24.0 4.51 3.42 2.05 84
John Ryan Tipperary     94 76 4.0 26.0 4.67 3.18 2.10 169
Kevin Murphy Wexford 829 12 94 73 6.0 28.0 4.54 3.62 2.35 59
*Mullen Farm Meath 828 18 75 68 6.0 29.0 4.21 3.46 2.29 76
Shane Fitzgerald Waterford 784 33 94 81 3.0 27.5 4.13 3.26 2.09 51
Shay Ryan Wexford 702 28 95 82 5.0 26.5 4.25 3.52 2.12 125
Steven Fitzgerald Waterford 733 33 95 75 4.5 27.7 4.22 3.53 2.20 44
Tom Fennelly Laois 749 20 93 70 7.0 25.0 4.75 3.40 2.10 75
Average 742 23 93 76 5.3 27 4.42 3.41 2.16 89
Average 22nd Mar 24 1017 21 92 53 5 26 4.6 3.3 2.06 115

*Winter milk 

Fortnightly Review

The last 2 weeks have been busy preparing for our 3 Teagasc Breeding week events. As I write this we have had 2 successful events in Dungarvan and Kilkenny. As part of these events we have interviewed a number of the monitor farmers. Shane Fitzgerald & Steven Fitzgerald spoke at the Dungarvan event. They explained their EBI journey to date, their successful use of sexed semen and how they have used DBI and the CBV to their advantage in better dairy beef calves for sale and in Steven's case weanlings. We demonstrated some of Steven's CBV stock & the financial gain in having as many 5 star animals over 1 & 2 star. In Kilkenny Francis Nolan and Tom Murphy spoke. Despite have different cow types, Francis black and white and Tom crossbred, their EBI's are very similar. Francis has an EBI of €232 and Tom's is €229. Again they spoke of their strategies for breeding, both aiming for as high MS/cow off a grass based system with a SR matching the grass growth of their farms. Tirlan vet, Joris Somers outlined the simple steps in regards to looking at your bulk screening reports, looking at lameness & correcting any issues as all positive steps to a better breeding season in 2025. Local dairy advisors at both events spoke about what traits were important to look at for both selecting your team of bulls and what cows to breed from for conventional semen, sexed semen and DBI straws. It is also important to look at your heifers, are they at target pre breeding weights? If unsure advice was to get them weighed & put underweight animals on a rising plane of nutrition to ensure correct weight at breeding time. Well done to all involved & thank you to those who attended our events.

 

March 8th

Farmer County  Average Farm cover Growth Rate % calved % grazed Meal kg Litres/ cow Fat % Protein % MS/Cow SCC
Tom Murphy Kilkenny 728 13 86 60 6 25.0 5.34 3.79 2.35 70
Donal Kavanagh Wicklow 511 8 85 55 6.0 25.1 4.44 3.32 2.00 141
Francis Nolan Kilkenny     87 35 7.0 26.7 4.78 3.33 2.23 125
Jack Kearney Cork 580 10 91 55 5.0 23.0 4.41 3.47 1.87 77
John Ryan Tipperary 588 10 90 52 5.0 24.5 4.96 3.30 2.08 92
Kevin Murphy Wexford 1051 18 84 33 5.0 26.5 4.57 3.40 2.17 91
*Mullen Farm Meath 1081   70 30 5.5 26.5 4.24 3.40 2.09 96
Shane Fitzgerald Waterford 712 19 83 51 3.0 27.0 4.51 3.34 2.12 83
Shay Ryan Wexford 776 21 84 60 5.0 24.5 4.30 3.45 1.96 170
Steven Fitzgerald Waterford     90 55 4.0 26.0 4.46 3.45 2.10 60
Tom Fennelly Laois 691 4 84 43 6.0 23.9 4.99 3.35 2.05 87
Average   749 13 85 47 5.2 25.4 4.57 3.38 2.1 102
Average 8th March 2024   994 16 81 33 4.7 24.3 4.72 3.34 2.0 109

*Winter milk

Out this week I was with Steven Fitzgerald and his dad Richie and student Jack on placement from 
Kildalton College. Grazing this spring is going really well especially since the weather picked up in March. Steven had a Grass Farm Walk on 4th Feb and we looked at the regrowth on the paddock that the cows were in that day. It has about 200kgs DM/ha back received 40 units N between Pro Urea and slurry. The paddock shown in the main photo is the one with the highest PGC, 1700kgs DM/ha just grazed & cows did an excellent job. All the grass and dead material was grazed. While in here cows got 4kgs meal and no silage. The smaller photo shows the reseed from September 2024 grazed 1.5 weeks ago and about 650 kgsDM/ha back and this paddock has got 1.5 bags 18-6-12 after grazing. Main message is to measure and see where your AFC cover is, do not drop below 600 of a farm cover, divide up the remaining grass per day to ensure grass in the diet every day & get chemical fertiliser out and /or slurry.

Please see the following video for info on our upcoming events for March

Teagasc Tirlan Future Farm Events for Teagasc Breeding Week 2025

Also latest Dairy Edge Podcast featuring monitor farmer, David Fennelly  The Dairy Edge - Future Farmer, David Fennelly, on his calving & grazing management

February 28th

Farmer County  Average Farm cover Growth Rate % calved % grazed Meal kg Litres/ cow Fat % Protein % MS/Cow SCC
Tom Murphy Kilkenny 1095 7 67 30 4 22 5.27 3.71 2.05 171
Donal Kavanagh Wicklow 764 5 75 7 6.0 22 4.67 3.17 1.78 129
Francis Nolan Kilkenny 992 4 73 10 9.0 25 4.53 3.41 2.03 125
Jack Kearney Cork 762 10 81 30 5.0 23 4.94 3.33 1.96 163
John Ryan Tipperary 804 5 79 27 5.0 24 5.02 3.41 2.08 82
Kevin Murphy Wexford 941 4 63 11 5.0 20 4.73 3.63 1.72 83
*Mullen Farm Meath 1247 5 50 5 6.0 23 4.24 3.46 1.82 137
**Shane Fitzgerald Waterford 758 7 70 15 3.0          
Shay Ryan Wexford 795 9 70 20 5.0 22 4.65 3.70 1.89 180
Steven Fitzgerald Waterford 810 5 80 25 4.0 23 4.59 3.66 1.94 49
Tom Fennelly Laois 1019 3 67 24 4.0 21 4.99 3.76 1.90 179
Average   908 6 70 19 5.1 22 4.76 3.52 1.9 130
Average 23rd Feb 24   1091 10.0 64 13 4 23 4.8 3.6 1.9 160

*Winter Milk

**Not milk quality results in last 10 days 

Group review

Teagasc Tirlan Group Sheet Fe 28th 2025The monitor farms have on average 70% calved but with the difficult grazing weather the past 2 weeks, they have 19% grazed and varies from 5 to 30%. All farms are trying to get out to grass. They are using good roadways, plenty of gaps, trying to let cows into paddocks, one way and out another, and using on/off grazing. Having reels and pigtails set up in advance allows a smash and grab situation with showery weather. All farms are aiming to get as much grass into cows following the SRP and a spring feed budget. It is important to have grass in the diet for everyday of the spring that is possible.

Most of the farms have some slurry applied to lower cover paddocks at 2000 gal/ac to 2500gal/ac in January. This is evident when walking the farms giving a great kick to re-growths. Some have 20 units of Pro Urea spread and with settled weather on the way the reminder of group aim to spread next week. Target is to spread 23-25 units/ac where no slurry has been applied. Soil temperatures have been between 5.5-9 degrees over the last two weeks.

Calving has gone very well with an average of over 70% calved for the group. Extra help with students off for the spring mid term was a great bonus in yards.