Watch: Maximising grazing under an organic dairy farming system
Kevin O’Hanlon, Manager of Pollard’s Organic Farm in Co. Wexford, was crowned the winner of the Organic Category of the Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year in 2023. In recognition of this award, he recently hosted a virtual farm walk.
Stretching to 130ha in total, with a milking platform of 60ha carrying 160 Holstein Friesian, Fleckvieh and Norwegian Red cows, the use of clover-based and multispecies swards was detailed, along with Kevin’s focus on maintaining and improving soil fertility, and the breeding and production of the herd was discussed.
Joined by John Maher, Manager of the Grass10 Campaign in Teagasc, and Joe Kelleher, Organic Specialist at Teagasc, Kevin O’Hanlon detailed key aspects of the organic farming system, including the crops grown, the capacity to achieve 300+ days at grass annually and the important role clover – “the most important thing to an organic farm” – plays on the Wexford holding.
The video below provides those who missed the coverage on the day an opportunity to recap on the key happenings on the farm: