Steven Fitzgerald

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Steven is farming with his parents near Aglish in West Waterford. Steven is married with a young family. They are farming 121 Ha of which 52 Ha is leased. The milking platform is 70 Ha. They are milking 145 cows this year and 40 replacement units. All beef calves are brought to stores for sale. The plan is to milk 180 cows and decrease the beef enterprise over time. The highest point of the farm is 600 feet above sea level. In 2019 the cows supplied 524KgMS/Hd. Steven works full time on the farm with help from his father and mother.

Farmyard

The parlour which was built in 2007 has 12 units. The collecting yard can hold 120 cows. There is 145 cubicles in total and slurry storage for all cows and replacements. There is accommodation to calve 12 cows at any one time and we have calf space for 150 calves at peak. Milk is transported to calves by a 50 teat mobile feeder and calvers are all fed milk replacer.

Grazing

There is 36 paddocks on the milking block of which 15 are 24hrs and 21 are 36hrs. We have about 2.5 km of roadways which is pretty much what we need. Water troughs are located in the centre of each field, with 32mm pipe and the farm is serviced quite well for water. There is one group of stock on the milking block.

Machinery work

The contractor does 100 % of slurry and silage. The main tractor work I do is the fertiliser spreading and feeding silage in the winter.

What does labour efficiency mean to Steven?

“Being finished early in the evening is very important. Planning is crucial when you have a big job on to make sure you have extra help to get through the extra work. Otherwise you end up taking on too much work and not having time for anything outside work. Start early and finish early is what I strive to achieve!”

Weekly Updates 2020

July

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
2nd Aug	6:30	3.30	13	62	23	Bales, dairy washing & reseeding
Comment	We had the contractor in a good bit last week. We took out 30 surplus bales from the milking block, emptied the dairy washing tank and reseeded 10 acres. This is the last of the reseeding for this year. When time and the weather is against you the contractor really comes into their own. The amount of work that they can get done in a few hours is unreal. There’s no way I could compete with that and I have no intention of trying either. I also got a young neighbour in to do some tractor work with the reseeded field, this saved me from having to spend a few hours spreading fertiliser and rolling.
Jul 26th	6:30	3.30	12	66	35	Slurry & roadways
Comment	We had the contractor in to spread slurry last week. All tanks are now empty and ready for the winter. We continued with the digger work last week and took the opportunity to put in an extra 150 m of spur roads into larger and wetter paddocks to make spring time grazing easier. Also we bought a bigger mower this week to speed up topping and this gives us the option to mow silage if needs be. Sometimes it suits the contractor and ourselves to do this work, so I think the mower is a good investment.
Jul 19th	6:30	3.30	13	74	40	Bales, pit silage & land development
Comment	We had the contractor in last week in to make 98 bales and 30 acres of pit silage. We now have 100% of our winter feed requirements made. The majority of this work was done by the contractor which is a great service and leaves us to look after the cows and take on some capital work if we wish. Hours of work have increased this week as we are developing 30 acres of new land for the cows.
Jul 12th	6:30	3.30	12	57	28	Bales
Comment	We had the herd test last week. Over 500 animals had to be tested between dairy and beef. All animals were tested in 3 hrs. This highlighted the importance of having good handling facilities that can hold the number of animals in each block and has good cow flow. We brought stock that are on the outblocks near the handling facilities the day before. This took alot of pressure off us on the day of testing. Its pays to have a plan and be organised. The contractor made 170 bales for us, he done all the work and this allowed me to look after the stock and grass.
Jul 5th	6:30	3.30	14	54	24	None
Comment	I worked 54 hrs last week, of which 42 hrs was spent milking. This left 12hrs left for herding and fertiliser. Milking is too long but we have a plan and will continue with what we have for the short term. Last week I booked the contractor for 2nd cut and reseeding for next week. We took out the bulls on Saturday; this should mean that we will finish calving on the 10th April next year.

June

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
Jun 28th	6:30	3.30	12	64	23	None
Comment	I worked 6 days last week. I took Sunday off. We injected 140 cattle in two hours on the out block and 140 calves in 1.5 hrs. They are ran in two separate blocks of which each has handling facilities. I find having a simple handling facility that can hold the number of stock is vital from a time and safety point of view. My father loaded the crush and I vaccinated them. This works really well. We also regrouped the stock. The 140 cattle are in two groups and the calves are also in two groups.
Jun 21st	6:30	3.30	13	60	20	Dairy washings
Comment	I had the contractor in last week to spread some dairy washing. I worked 60 hrs last week. The hours don’t be long adding up. I spent 32.5 hrs in total milking, which includes bringing in the cows to washing up and locking cows into the paddock. I spent 10 hrs spreading fertiliser and topping, another 10 hrs looking after the young stock and 7.5 hrs on maintenance jobs. I am happy enough for now at 60hrs and aim to keep it around that.
June 14th	6:30	3:30	12	58	24	None
Comment	We are just ok for grass. I’m walking the farm twice per week to keep a close eye on it. I will act early if needs be. I’m still spreading fertiliser. Usually spread it three times per week during Monday to Friday. Fertiliser is not spread at the weekends. It’s a week Monday to Friday job.
June 7th	6:30	3.30	12	57	20	None
Comment	My father did two milking’s for me last week. He is happy to do the milking’s when all cows are calved and the milking is straight forward. As we keep all calves we have to be smart to reduce workload with them. They are in two bunches of 85 and 50. There are 10 calves on milk OAD, they will be weaned shortly. The youngest calf was born 8th April. I am very glad that date isn’t the 8th May.

May

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
May 31st	6:30	4:00	13	47	15	None
Comment	Last week was a quiet week. With the 1st cut made and the bulls out with the cows and heifers it was definitely time to reduce my hours of work. There is always work to do on a farm but I made the decision to spend more time at home and put extra jobs off for a while.
May 24th	6:30	4:00	14	55	24	Silage
Comment	There was 56 acres of pit silage made at the weekend. This ground was all grazed once. The timing was perfect. If we left it any longer it would have went to seed. All the contractors’staff stayed around to cover the pit. This is a great help to us. Bulls are out with the cows and heifers. 3 weeks of AI is done. 100% of the heifers and 96% of the cows were served in the first 3 weeks. Cows not served will be scanned next week.
May 17th	6:30	4:00	14	60	30	Pre mowing
Comment	I had the contractor in to pre mow a few paddocks that had got too strong. From looking at the wedge I knew that I couldn’t take them out for silage. We put two groups of calves together to reduce herding. There is now 74 in one group. The last two groups will be grouped similar as soon as all weaned.
May 10th	6:30	4:00	14	58	25	Topping
Comment	The contractor was in to do some topping last week. Normally I do the topping myself but we had a person nearby that does this job and so we took this opportunity. There wouldn’t be a lot of topping on the farm, but still it’s another job that takes time. 36 out of 40 of the synchronised heifers were served over a 24 hr period and the other 4 heifers were served by day 4. This is a massive time saver.
May 3rd	6:30	4:00	14	58	30	Bales, reseeding,& slurry
Comment	We took 160 bales of the milking block last week. The contractor looked after everything including stacking them. If I had to stack the bales it would have added a lot of extra hours to my week. He also spread dairy washing on the paddocks that were cut. Six acres of the lowest performing paddock was also reseeded. I have arranged with a local person to milk every second Sunday from the end of May. This will give a much needed break after calving and 4 weeks of AI.

April

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
Apr 26th	6:30	15:30	14	58	35	None
Comment	Got some spraying and fencing done last week, so that the work load will be reduced during breeding. Synchronising the heifers starts this week so last week I got all materials ready. While the heifers have to be brought in a few times for the protocol it will greatly reduce the time doing heat detection and let us focus on the cows but if it works we will have a few very busy days next spring.
Apr 19th	6:30	15:30	14	60	30	None
Comment	Tail painting has started again. I used to have to stand on a railing in the pit to paint cows. This didn’t do my back any favours. So now I use a small radiator paint roller and paint the cows while milking. It’s much easier and quicker and because of this it means I paint a lot more regularly. I AI myself and this week made a start on organising all the things I need like gloves, lube, scissors, sleeves for the gun, thawing unit, diary and biros.
Apr 12th	6:30	15:30	14	58	40	reseeding
Comment	Our 6 week calving rate is 92% this year. I wouldn’t change this high % as it makes you focus on calving for a short spell and means the calves are all the same size. It does come with a warning though as you can’t afford for anything to go wrong. I find facilities and attention to detail is key for a high 6 week calving rate
April 5th	6.30	15:30	14	62	40	Reseeding
Comment	Work load is becoming more predictable with the improved weather and all stock out and calving almost finished. We can prioritise jobs and keep the main jobs done. Last week I recorded a video of how to start the milking parlour, wash up and turn off the machine. This video will be a good help in the event that we get affected by covid 19 and someone has to come in and milk that isn’t familiar with the parlour.

March

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
March 29th	6:30	15.30	14	65	40	None
Comment	The student has finished working with us due to covid 19 restrictions. This is a big loss. A fresh set of eyes and hands around the farm was brilliant. The restrictions are forcing us to be more organised and plan what we need from suppliers better by looking more long term. All stock are currently out which is a huge relief on labour.
March 22nd	6:30	15:30	14	52	60	None
Comment	Cows are out full time from last Wednesday. Calves are still out by day to a paddock near the shed. We got white boards for the dairy. We are only really using them since last week. Monday morning we wrote up the priority jobs and divide them into the days of the week. It has always been just ourselves working on the farm. But now we have other help and it’s great that now the student doesn’t have to be waiting for me and he can see the full plan for the week ahead.
March 15th	6.30	15:30	14	65	65	Hoof pairing
Comment	Got in someone to pair four cows feet this week, normally do this work ourselves but trying to focus on the priority jobs while we are busy. Last week calves were turned out to paddocks beside the sheds during the day to reduce bedding and give them exercise and fresh air. Mornings are still the busiest part of the day on the farm and we believe it’s very important that everyone starts early. It definitely takes the pressure off everyone if there is plenty of help around.
March 8th	6.30	15.30	14	62	87	Slurry
Comment	We had the contractor in last week. 100,000gals of slurry was piped. Took 8hrs in total. Calves starting to transition to once aday feeding. I find this reduces work load. The student is starting to get a feel for the farm and will be a great asset over the next number of weeks. We are just showing him where everything is and how things work before he will be working on his own doing certain jobs. I think it is very important to have the time to train people in properly. After all people can be a great asset.
March 1st	6.30	15.30	14	62	48	None
Comment	We went back to twice a day milking last week and there have been no extra hours worked. We finish between 5.30 and 6 pm every day. We found that by getting the lime and peat for the cow cubicles ready the day before and having them ready to use straight as cows leave the shed in the mornings saves us time. All calves are on milk replacer and this makes it easier to feed calves outside of milking times.

February

Week Ending Sunday	Milking AM (cups on)	Milking PM (cups on)	No. of milkings by farmer	Farmers hours per week	Employee/family hours/week	Contractor used this week
February 23rd	6.30	OAD	7	60	50	None
Comment	Cows will shortly return to TAD milking. I am conscious this could impact on evening finishing time. To avoid this I have made sure to use the time saved on OAD wisely. This time was used to repair fences and complete maintenance work around the yard. I will not hesitate to pay for extra help when workload gets too heavy. I will also use the contractor more to protect evening finish time.
February 16th	6:30	OAD	7	74	70	None
Comment	By having all feeding done in the evenings it reduces work in the morning’s and allows more attention to cow and calf care. All beef stock are fed silage every second day. Hours of work during the week are long this time of the year. To reduce weekend hours all sheds are bedded and cleaned on Fridays to ensure only essential work on weekends.
February 9th	7.00	OAD	7	56	10	None
Comment	Calving going well, busy but well organised. Everyone knows their job so there is no duplication or jobs being forgotten. The first of the calves moved to a larger groups on an outside yard this week. I got help in this week to do fertiliser spreading , clean the yard and calving sheds. This definitely has helped to reduced my workload.
February 2nd	7:00	OAD	7	56	10	None
Comment	We have decided to milk OAD until the 20th of February. This is to give the cows a chance to get over calving and ourselves time to adjust to the increased workload. To simplify milking all fresh calved cows are separated from the main herd for 3 days.