Tírlán Farmer Updates 2023

End of year review 2023

This is an overview of some of the Teagasc Tirlán Signpost Future Farm monitor group figures for 2023. It is made up of some of the usual KPI's that we are familiar with like MS per cow and empty rate. I have included some of the newer sustainability metrics that have been created from the 2022 Sustainability Signpost reports like NUE%. I have also included the clover score metrics as this was completed twice this year in April and August/September. Most of the clover is on the milking platform but some scores cover the whole farm. It is good to see the progress with clover and we will be looking at how the monitor farms manage their clover again in 2024.

As we look ahead to 2024, I hope to bring you more exciting developments and keep you informed of the progress made throughout the year. Again, there will be opportunities throughout the year to meet with the farmers through farm walks, videos and online communications. Most importantly Thank You to the 10 monitor farmers and their families for all their help and information. Without them the programme would not be as successful as it is.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas look forward to working with you in 2024.

Week of the 24th November 2023

Group Overview

The drier farms in the Future Farm monitor programme are finishing up grazing in the next week or two. Many others finished up grazing with the wet weather in October. Grazing on those farms was limited to 2/3 hours when ground conditions allowed. Some of the herds are now milking OAD and drying off in batches has already started. SDCT is being used using the criteria of no mastitis cases/antibiotics given plus an average SCC under 50. Dry cow tubes purchased are based on results from mastitis cases that were sampled during the year. Also some of the group had the free consultation from their vet via AHI and this gave them a good overview for the dry cow period. Silage samples are being taken and results show good DMD silage ranging from 69 to 74 so far from results in. Crude proteins are also good at 13-14%. Farms are now carrying out their closing farm cover. Today with Francis Nolan in Co. Kilkenny, his closing cover is 722kgs DM/ha and the 1st paddock closed has a cover of 1000kgs DM/ha on it. There has been good drying out of the paddocks in the last few days.

Week of the 10th November 2023

Farmer Focus

Today with Shay Ryan, near New Ross, Co Wexford we completed a grass walk. AFC is lower than Shay would have liked but he is confident that he will have sufficient grass for the spring. Shay has put in over 15% of new reseeds this year and with these and other clover paddocks that is why the farm cover is low as these all have been grazed off in the last few days. With grazing these clover reseeds tighly now it ensures as much light as possible into these swards over the winter time. All the heifers have been housed this week. Cows were out today with only a small area to be grazed. Shay has started drying off the lowest yielding cows. A milk recording was completed in early October to assist in selecting any cows for SDCT and he will carry out another milk recording in November for the balance of the herd. Shays advisor Kay O Connell has organised for the silage to be analysised next week and in December the whole farm is going to be soil sampled. This time of year is ideal to get these jobs done.

Week of the 20th October 2023

October Focus

Over the last few days the weather forecast has affected a number of things on all the farms. Many had been working through closing paddocks and planning what paddocks to graze when and opting to leave this years clover reseeds to graze later on. With over 60-70mm of rain in various farms some herds have been housed at night and allocations of grass have been to 2 to 3 hours grazing by day. Monitor farms have started to supplement with silage from 2 to 6kgs as dry matter of grass has fallen to near 10%. AFC's have fallen as well and good graze outs have been harder to attain. Depending on soil type and the rain fall amounts grass growth has been variable. Milk yields have fallen back by 2 to 3 litres as well. Cull cows have been removed to reduce demand. Also alot of milk recording has been done in the last week to see which cows will be suitable for teat sealer only at dry off. Some herds have been drying off any cows yielding below 10 litres or in poor body condition. Hopefully weather will pick up shortly and remaining parts of the autumn rotation plan can be completed.

Week of the 6th October 2023

Farmer Focus

This week I spent that morning with Janck and Larry Kearney in Rathcormac, Co Cork. We reviewed the farms slurry storage for next year and looked at the animal numbers in relation to the change in nitrates. The Kearneys do not have to make too many changes. We did figures up on what grass the farm is growing and match it to the farms overall stocking rate. I find this a great exercise to complete as it refocuses the mind on the importance of grass grown and what the farm can support without having to pay for huge extra forage bills. We did an outline for closing up of paddocks. The Kearneys graze 80% in October and balance in November. With their soil type this works well plus the demand for grass in the spring is greater with over 85% calving in 6 weeks. We looked at the dry, wet fields, clover fields, this years reseeds etc. There is alot of components to manage to get this balance right of what to graze and when. The main thing is to ensure the plan allows to close at an AFC of 650 at the start of November with the aim of opening in spring at 1000.

Week of September 22nd

Farmer Focus

This week with Francis Nolan in Co. Kilkenny our grass walk focused on getting ground grazed so that the last of the dairy washings and small bit of slurry could be spread. He has a combination of both wet and dry ground on the MP. Francis's cows are currently grazing 2000 plus covers of grass so the percentage grazed is low. Francis is hoping to spread  what he has over a very large area as he is conscious that at this time of year the grass does not require the same quantity of nutrients compared to during the summer months. Over the next few days he will graze lower covers to get more ground grazed. We learned of the slurry extension to the 7th of October so this will also help. Francis has started to get some of the hedges side trimmed where ground conditions allow. The recent reseeding of 13 acres 2 weeks ago has struck very well. The wet summer meant reseeding got delayed for Francis. He has grown 12.3 tonnes DM/ha to date on the milking platform. He had a 9% empty rate with the cows for a 12 weeks breeding season so he is happy with that.

Week of September 8th

Farmer Focus

This week in Donal Kavanagh's from Baltinglas, Co Wicklow we carried out the second clover while doing the grass walk. Our first score was completed in April and the farm had no high clover score which is where we would have 20% plus clover in the sward. We use the Teagasc clover score sheet to help us determine what is the score of none, low, medium and high clover in the paddocks. In April Donal had 67% of the milking platform with no clover, 18% low and 15% medium. Through reseeding in April, allowing cows to graze at lower covers of 1200kgDM/ha to encourage clover in the swards and reduced N, Donal has increased his clover % on the platform. Now he has 8% high, 31% medium, 23% with low clover and 38% with no clover. Reduced levels of nitrogen is being applied on the medium and high clover swards via chemical and/or organic manures. This is one of the climate actions Donal has adapted since he started on the monitor programme and one he will continue to work on.

Download the Clover Content Scorecard (pdf) 

Week of August 26th

Farmer Focus

This week on the farm of Shay Ryan's near New Ross, Co. Wexford we concentrated on completing a second clover score for the milking platform. The one completed in April of this year showed that 48% of the milking platform had either a low, medium or high clover content. This figure now rose to 62% on the same area. This has been achieved through reseeding paddocks and grazing management. By getting into paddocks with low clover content at a lower cover, it allows in more light and allows more clover to grow. Also concentrating fertiliser applications of P and K and reducing Nitrogen spread on these paddocks has also helped. After grass measuring this week Shay is taking out a paddock for bales. This is being done this week to ensure that this ground is back in for building autumn covers. A plan was also devised for the last round of fertiliser which will take place by the end of August. Shay knows that the earlier the application the better the responce. He has very little slurry to be spread so that is accounted for plus the dairy washings for the last round of nutrients. Remember all slurry has to be spread by the end of September as the closed period begins 1st of October.

Week of August 11th

Farmer Focus

Teagasc Tirlan Signpost farmer Kevin Murphy, Gorey hosted a local dairy discussion meeting on August 12th. The group was facilitated by Signpost advisor Colm Doran & we had Eddie Burgess & Mark Boland from the Ag Catchments Programme. The meeting focused on the actions that Kevin has taken on his farm to mitigate climate change and also to protect water quality. Two of the main focuses discussed were the use of sexed semen and incorporation of clover.

Kevin is part of the Clover 150 programme with Teagasc & he has 42% of the MP with clover incorporated. He uses the medium leaf varieties & has found a better clover take by going in April rather than later in the year. From May, N spread is cut by 50% on 20% clover content paddocks to 10 kgs/ha either via fertiliser or dirty water. 2 of the best paddocks with over 20% clover content has 12.8 tonnes & 11.7 tonnes with 8 grazings already grown so far this year. These paddocks are sown with 100% Nashota plus Buddy white clover. Kevin had 2 surplus paddocks out with bales made. He has pre mowed some of the MP over the last 4/5 weeks & he is happy where the AFC is & he is ready to build covers for the autumn.

We completed the 2023/24 fodder budget. Kevin is very happy with a 20% surplus after a comprehensive budget was done up. 

Week of July 14th

Group Focus

This week we had a group discussion meeting on the farm of Shay Ryan, Rochestown, New Ross, Co Wexford. We have about 6 of these meetings a year which is a great way to see how the monitor farm programme is going for the farmers involved. This meeting focused on reviewing the groups 2022 Sustainability figures. We discussed how an increased level of Protected Urea could be bought and spread on farm and what were the challenges for this, like availability and trying to build soil fertility. Another discussion took place on what has worked on farm to reduce chemical N on the farms. Things like knowing the NPK content for their slurries and correct timing of applications was vital and will continue. We had Bridget Lynch Researcher from Teagasc Johnstown Castle give us her expertise on Multi species and their benefits on farm. She also involved in the Agricultural Catchments programme and it was good to hear how farmers are making positive changes to water quality in these areas like the monitor farmers are doing in their areas.

Week of June 30th

Farmer Focus - Shane Fitzgerald, Portlaw, Co. Waterford

On June 29th the cows were grazing the multi species reseeds that were set on the 15th May. This was at a cover of 800kgs DM/ha to encouraging tillering and clover establishment. Shane reseeded 7Ha's of the milking platform this year with multi species. This now means he has 20% of the MP in multi species. This area receives no chemical Nitrogen, only dairy washings and slurry. Fertiliser is being spread on the PRG swards at a rate of 0.8 units/day using Protected Urea with Sulphur.

We completed a fodder budget for 2023/24 and the farm now has over 50% of the requirements for a 4.5 month winter. The 2nd cut plus surplus bales will fill this deficit and allow for a surplus for the farm.

This year there was 100% use of AI. the farm now has the collars for heat detection and this has greatly reduced the amount of labour for this time of year.

The 1st lactation cows got treated with Epizero as they were the only cows coughing. The policy on the farm is to only treat animals that require it and Shane has moved away from broad spectrum herd treatments.

Week of June 16th

Farmer Focus

This Wednesday I was on farm with Steven Fitzgerald, near Aglish, Co. Waterford. We did a grass walk and AFC was 605kgs DM/ha with a growth of 48kgs DM/ha slightly above demand. Cows are getting heavy covers of 2000+ at night and they are premowed and during the day they have 1400 covers. The cows are on 4kgs meal and this system of 1/2 high, 1/2 normal covers is holding the milk solids per cow at 1.95kgs. We made the decison to take out 2.1Ha's for silage as it it too strong for grazing or pre mowing. We also completed a predicted wedge at botha lower and higher groth rate to help plan for the farm's grass for next week. AFC will still be around 630 so no silage is going in as of yet as cover per cow will still be at 200kgs DM/ha. Steven stitched in a paddock with multi species 3 weeks ago to extend the current acreage of multi species. It is just appearing and has received 2 rounds of soiled water at a rate of 2500 gal/acre. 100% of the cows were submitted in the 1st 3 weeks and it looks like 65% held to 1st service. The herd is currently ahead of planned target so this will be reviewed to take bulls out at 9 weeks.

Week of June 2nd

Farmer Focus - Shay Ryan

Shay farming near New Ross Co. Wexford is like many farmers this week with 1st cut silage in the pit. He was also busy baling surplus paddocks over the last 2 weeks. After walking the farm on Wednesday he was hoping to take out more paddocks but we completed a predicted wedge on Pasturebase for the next 7 days and he was too tight on grass. This option allowed us to put in what we thought the growth rate would be keeping in mind the dry weather spell we have at the moment. This predictorn gives the farmer confindence in the grass decisons he makes for this and next week. As the farm had a growth rate of 105kgs Shay will still spread fertiliser either 18-6-12 or Protected Urea plus Sulphur depending on the soil fertility of the paddocks and he will assess with weather and what he sees happening on the ground. Spreading a fertiliser with K & S with the Nitrogen helps to improve efficiency of nutrients. Dairy washings and watery slurry also being used to get nutrients back to the soil. The reseed is now up and even though the weed burden is low Shay will apply post emergence spray shortly.

Week of May 19th 

Farmer Focus - Donal Kavanagh

Donal is farming at Carrigeen, Baltinglass on the Wicklow/Kildare border. His milking platform is supported with an outblock that can be zero grazed. After doing a grass walk on Wednesday May 17th Donal can now take out surplus paddocks while 1st cut silage is being made this week. Donal's growth was 101kgs DM/ha and with the surplus taken out cover per cow will drop to 184 per cow and PGY will be back to 1500 kgs DM/ha. Donal is aiming for a high quality first cut for milking cow feed. He has a number of pits and the long narrow one will be filled first.

Slurry is spread back on any of the zero grazed ground at a rate of 3000 gal/acre and then the silage ground will be targeted.

Last week Donal was able to catch up on some small jobs:

• new bank and fence out from an already fenced watercourse to allow for a new hedge
• new paddock entrances to gain better access in wet weather
• spot spraying noxious weeds.

Paddocks are receiving 10-30 kgs N Protected Urea plus S depending on clover content.

Week of May 5th

Comment

This week with the pick up in grass growth alot of the monitor farms are taking the opportunity to reseed, incorporate clover and take out some surplus grass paddocks for bales.

I was with Jack and Larry Kearney, near Rathcormack in Co Cork this week. They had sprayed off 5Ha's on the milking platform, ploughed it last week and on Tuesday it was being levelled and a grass/clover seed mix of 2kgs Aberclyde, 4kgs Glenfield, 4kgs Abergain and 2kgs of Chieftain and Crusader was going in. They also spread 2 tonne of lime per acre before sowing. All was to be rolled and 3 bags of 10-10-20 was to be applied. Jack hopes that this 5Ha's will increase the clover content already present on the milking platform. We scored the paddocks on Tuesday and 14% is a high score with 28% medium and 22% low.

The Kearneys find that the full reseed method is the most successful for them to incorporate clover on the farm. They will start reducing chemical nitrogen on these high and medium paddocks from May onwards. They are feeding 5-6kgs meal as with the reseeding out demand is high and up to this week grass was tight. It is a short term solution for long term gain!

Week of April 21st

Comment

With weather improving alot of decisions regarding surplus grass paddocks being taken out and reseeding plans being put into place this week. For many of the monitor farms growth has allowed them to increase the stocking rate and take paddocks out.

Kevin Murphy

For Kevin Murphy it has meant 5Ha's of paddocks will be taken out for silage. The PGY was above 1700kgsDM/ha and when we did a predicted grass wedge for next week and took these paddocks out the farm still had sufficient grass for the herd for the next 7 days. Kevin has also ear marked a paddock for reseeding, to be sprayed as soon as possible. This will be another 4.5Ha's out from the platform.

Clover Score

We also carried out a clover score on the farm, finding that 44% of the milking platform has clover present. We will re do this excerise in August to monitor clover content on the farm. Kevin is following the cows with fertiliser spreading 30 units of Protected Urea. Breeding will start from the 1st May for cows and heifers. Cows are currently doing 2.27kgs MS/cow on grass and 3kgs meal.

Week of April 7th 

Overall Comment

After 2 weeks of rain, cows on/off grazing things have started to settle down for the monitor farmers. A rise in the protein % has begun now that herds are out grazing day and night. High levels of meal feeding were in as a lot of silage was being fed. This is being reduced this week and most silage has gone from the diet.

Grazing

Most of the group have started the 2nd round, some grazing heavier 1st round covers by night and 1300-1400 2nd round by day. Fertiliser re Pro Urea, 18-6-12 is being spread, 25 units/acre and others have spread 2500 gallons slurry/acre.

Farm Walk

Tom & David Fennelly held a Clover 150 farm walk on their farm on April 7th. 150 farmers got an opportunity to hear speakers on topics of clover nutrient management, best use of the slurry on their farm, reduced N fertiliser, the ability of clover to fix 100-120 kgs N/ha, the importance of best practise on spreading N to improve water quality, the best clover cultivars to use in 2023 and how to incorporate clover into our swards.

Both Tom and David explained the white clover, red clover and multi species swards on their farm and how they are on a journey on how best to work it on their farm and reduce chemical N inputs.

Week of March 24th 

Comment

Tricky grazing situation

Well the last 2 weeks have been tricky when it came to grazing. What has worked well for the monitor farmers is on - off grazing. Once cows have been milked they have no access to silage and are held in the yard/shed if possible before being let out to graze. Good access to paddocks when weather is wet and windy is vital. Cows having multi access points can reduce poaching.

John Ryan 

I was on farm with John Ryan in Gortnahoe, Co Tipperary,  on Thursday March 23rd and I could see how on off grazing was working. John allocated enough grass for the 2-3 hour period and then cows came back into the cubicle shed. Cows had access to silage in the shed and he is feeding 5kgs meal in the parlour. It is an awkward time but with a little bit of work in allocating grass it does work. Another device that is useful for on off grazing is a back latch or one that you can open gaps with your mobile phone. As they say every little helps!

Clover150 Farm Walk

Tom and David Fennelly in Portarlington, Co Laois R32 YA21 will be hosting one of the Clover 150 farm walks on the 6th April at 11am. All are very welcome to attend. We will be covering clover establishment & management, fertiliser strategies to maintain clover and pasture production and a focus on how this works in improving water quality. Get details of all Grass10 / Clover150 farm walks here

Week of March 10th 

Comment

Apart from the last 2 days of snow/rain we have had a great 2 weeks weather. With an average of 50% grazed, all are heading to having 66% grazed by St Patricks Day. In some cases heifers will graze part of the milking platform to increase % grazed.

Managing grazing 

At this stage it is as important to look at paddocks grazed in early Feb as well as what is ahead to graze. The cover on these 1st paddocks grazed will allow you to plan to speed up or slow down the rotation. It is also important to do a farm walk & see where the AFC is. You must ensure not to let the cover drop below 500 kgs DM/ha. If this happens it takes the farm longer to recover & extra supplementary feed will be required.

Kevin Murphy 

I was with Kevin Murphy just outside of Gorey & he has 85% calved plus 59% grazed. The farm on the day was receiving 2500 gallons/acre of slurry on grazed ground via the umbilical system. This was being done by local contractors which allowed Kevin more time for cows & calves and to get a grass walk completed.

It was great to see a cover of over 700kgs DM/ha on the 1st paddocks grazed. Kevin will walk again in a week or so and see how much grass he will have for the 2nd rotation for end of March/early April. Ground is grazed, sufficient nutrients for this time of year is applied so just the weather conditions will dictate how things go.

Week of February 27th

Overall Comment

All monitor farmers will have 30-40% of milking platform grazed by end of February

The monitor farms are making great headway with getting on average 33% of the milking platform grazed over the month of February. All will have 30-40% grazed by end of February. This is important as it is this grass regrowth that will be available to the cows in early April. This ground has received 16-20 units of Protected Urea or 2000/2500 gallons of slurry per acre initially.

As paddocks are being grazed off, the farms have the opportunity to follow up with fertiliser or slurry. Targeted paddocks for grazing has been:

• wet ground
• last years new reseeds
• ones with a large % of clover.

It is also a great chance to graze out heavy covers to allow light back into the base of the sward, get NPK applied ready for the next round.

On our farm visits this last 2 weeks we have been joined by Tirlán ASSAP advisor TJ Phelan who has assessed the dirty water from yards and seen how the farms have put works into place to reduce this waste water. It is a good time of year to re assess this as the yard is at its busiest and its easier to see where the most pressure is coming from. Keeping the front of the silage pit clean is a great help.

Things getting done this week involves booking the 1st milk recording and the Fennelly's are hosting a group of Ag Science secondary school students to their farm.

Week of February 13th

Overall Comment

Pretty much a textbook start to Calving 2023! There was a great drying out of ground at the start of Feruary which meant excellent grazing conditions for calved cows. Opening AFC for the group is behind the target of 950-1000kgs DM/ha but spring grass budgets/rotations are in practise. Most of the group are aiming for 30% grazed particularly in these good conditions. It has also meant that ground has received anything from 2000/2500 gallons slurry per acre via LESS or the umbilical system on lower covers of 700kgs DM/ha or less.

Ground that has not received slurry has got 16-20 units Protected Urea on most farms in the last week. Soil temperatures are above 7 degrees and a response in growth is being seen in grazed out padocks from last week. Many of the group are milking OAD for anything from a week to month of February which is great to help out with the heavy workload at present. Two of the herds had a few cases of milk fever and an adjustments to minerals has helped with this issue.