FARM NOTESFARM NOTES

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VOLUME 1 ISSUE 149 AUGUST 2015VOLUME 1 ISSUE 149 AUGUST 2015

FFOORR SSAALLEE6 PBR Friesian Heifers due September/October.

Mountnugent AreaContact: 086-3842056

Friesan Heifer Calves 3 months plusContact: 086 156 3196

Structures for ExpansionFarm Walk

Venue: Tir na Ri Farms Ltd (c/o David Hannon),Derrypatrick, Drumree, Co. MeathTime: 11.00am, Wednesday 26th August

Speakers & Agenda:

Introduction to the host farm– Vincent Treacy, Teagasc &David Hannon, host farmer

Managing labour during expansion – Pat Clarke, Teagasc &Martina Moran, Lakeland/Teagasc Joint Programme

Growing your business through collaboration – Austin Finn,Land Mobility Service Programme Manager & Tom Curran,Teagasc

Planning farm infrastructure for increasing herd size – DonalPatton, Teagasc & Adrian McKeague, Lakeland/Teagasc JointProgramme

Financial Planning and Tax Issues - Declan McEvoy, Head ofTax, National Tax Department, IFAC Accountants & EndaDuffy Lakeland/Teagasc Joint Programme

Animal Health & Welfare in an expanding herd – Mr. FrankO’Sullivan, MVB, MRCVS

Summary session – Mr. Michael Hanley, CEO LakelandDairies, David Hannon & Joint Programme advisors

Everyone welcomeIf you feel any of the issues above are relevant to you please

come along to this worthwhile event

OPEN DAYS at new Global Logistics Centre and FoodserviceManufacturing Site, Newtownards - 2nd, 3rd, 4th September 2015.

We’re looking forward to welcoming milk producers at one of ourTHREE OPEN DAYS in Newtownards on 2nd, 3rd, 4thSeptember next.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to come and see your Co-operative’s impressive new €10m Global Logistics Centre andFoodservice Manufacturing site at Newtownards.

The dates and times for the open days are as follows:

· Wednesday 2nd September 2015 (12.00 pm – 5.00 pm)· Thursday 3rd September 2015 (10.30 am – 5.00 pm)· Friday 4th September 2015 (10.30 am – 5.00 pm)

The Global Logistics Centre is highly automated with newtechnology, robotic systems, over 14,000 individual pallet spacesand a simultaneous loading capacity for up to 11 forty-foot

container vehicles at any one time. It is among the mosttechnically advanced facilities in Europe and it will serve ourmilk producers efficiently and long into the future. TheNewtownards manufacturing site has state-of-the-art technologymaking a wide range of value-added dairy foodservice products -ice cream mixes, UHT milk, milk portions, flavoured milks,added value dairy creams, powdered desserts, cappuccinotoppings , ice cream powder and many more.

We wrote recently to all milk suppliers with details and a replyslip. If you haven’t done so already, please return the reply slipimmediately or CALL 1890 47 47 20 to book in.

Car pooling is encouraged. We look forward to seeing you.

Wednesday 19 August - 10.30 am till 12.00 noon

With Martina Moran, Lakeland/Teagasc Sean O Donnell,Dairy Farmer Co Mayo, Nuffield Scholar, Donagh Berry,B.AgrSc. PhD Moorepark.

Efficiency before expansion Martina Moran is a dairy advisor based in Teagasc BallyhaiseCo Cavan, working with the Lakeland/Teagasc jointprogramme. She has previously worked with the Irish CattleBreeding Federation to improve uptake and knowledge ofthe Economic Breeding Index. Martina has a strong interest in knowledge transfer andtechnology adoption. Working on the ground with Lakelanddairy farmers over the last 2 years Martina will deliver apresentation on why efficiency before expansion is the onlyroute to take.

Milking profit from the EBI Donagh Berry, BAgrSc, MSc, PhD. Principal Investigatorin Quantitative Genetics, Animal & Bioscience ResearchDepartment, Animal & Grassland Research and InnovationCentre, Moorepark.Donagh Berry is a principal investigatorin statistical genetics in Teagasc as well as holdingprofessorships in UCC and SRUC, UK. He is responsible forthe developments in EBI as well as the underlyingcomponents of the EBI including trait definitions, geneticevaluations, breeding schemes and genomic selection.

Farm Fragmentation in Irish Dairying Sean O Donnell, Dairy Farmer from Ballina Co Mayo andFBD Young Farmer of the Year 2014. Sean was awarded aNufffield Scholar in 2013, researching fragmented dairyfarming and options of milking on a number of blocks. Since 2008, Mr O’Donnell has grown the dairy farm from 40 milking cows.

Tim O LearyChairman of the Dairy Conference.Deputy President of IFA. Dairy farmer from Carrigrohane, Co Cork. Farming with wife Catherine, columnist with Country Living Irish Farmers Journal, and son Colm. Has practical experience adopting to changes in farming structures

For further information contact: Owen Brodie 087 2021048or Kathleen Duffy 087 2703618

Don’t forget to visit Cavan Macra Young Farmers – FutureFarm Village in the New Centre

Highlights of 2015 Virginia Show will include €10,000Diageo Baileys Irish Champion Cow in association with Glanbia. Lakeland Dairies Dairy Champion of the Show. 20 Dairy Classes catering for all breeds of Dairy stock.

Grass Seed Mixtures for Autumn 2015Only the “Highest Performing” varieties from the 2015Irish Recommended list have been chosen for inclusion inour grass seed mixtures. Our unique range of grass seed mixtures have been designedto maximise yield, quality and ground cover throughout thegrowing season.For full details of mixtures, please contact your LakelandFeed Sales Representative or call our Farm ServicesCentre on 1890 47 47 20.

Virginia Show 2015 Dairy Conference Prospering in a changing Dairy Environment

_LAKE Notes AUGUST 15 07/08/2015 09:38 Page 1

FARMNOTES FARMNOTES

LAKELAND GRASSWATCH

Time for a change (Liner Change)

ASSUMING YOU started the spring with a new set of liners, then it’s

definitely time to change them now if you haven’t already done so. To

help prevent mastitis, CellCheck recommends that liners are changed

every 2,000 milkings, or every 6 months whichever comes first. For

example, for the average Irish milk recording herd of 79 cows, if the full

herd has been milking since March 1st in a 10 unit swing over parlour,

the milking liners will have clocked up over 2,800 milkings by 31st

August. These liners had completed 2,000 milkings by July 4th!

Cluster liners are designed to flex and squeeze the teat during each

pulsation cycle.

This massages teats and maintains blood supply. While liners are workingthey begin to lose tension, absorb fat and hold bacteria. After too manymilkings this can reduce the speed and completeness of milking,resulting in a loss in milk yield. It also increases teat end damage andincrease the spread of mastitis bacteria. Fatigued rubber can also holdbacteria and this can increase the total bacterial count (TBC) if dirt isbeing trapped.To calculate how many days it takes to reach 2,000 milkings, see page 52of the CellCheck Farm Guidelines for Mastitis Control. Alternatively,estimate how often you should change your liners, based on the numberof rows you’re milking.

For more details, see www.cellcheck.ie or watch our short video online –“When Should I Change My Liners?” http://youtu.be/Z_BflObg-Gc

Cell Check Tip of the Month

A successful open day, attended by over 10,000 dairy farmers and industry

personnel was held in Moorepark on 1st July. The theme of the open day was

Sustainable Expansion.There were five main boards at the outset and these were followed by a

number of themed villages which further developed the messages outlined at

the initial boards. The following is a summary of the messages delivered on

the day.

Padraig French and Laurence Shalloo outlined the Principles of sustainabledairy expansion

• Expansion should only be considered at farm level when the farm

business plan is completed and suggests that expansion is a viable option

• Sustainable expansion can be achieved if the extra milk produced

comes from increased grass production and utilisation using a fertile

herd on a low capital cost infrastructure

• The two key technical performance indicators for pasture based milk

production are 6-week calving rate and grass utilised per hectare

• Managing cost during the expansion process is central to successfully

managing the dairy business in the future

Marion Beecher, Paidi Kelly and Brendan Horan described the

requirements for Building management capabilities for resilient farming businesses

• Farm business expansion must be based on healthy, low stress, profitable

family farming that provides a good standard of living for the farmer and

their family. Every farm business should have a family farm plan that

aligns the families goals with realistic goals for the farm

• To create time specifically for management, dairy farmers will have to

reduce the time spent on operational jobs

• Every dairy farm family should participate in a discussion group.

Together with an excellent support network of professionals (adviser,

accountant, vet etc.) this will bring a much larger pool of experience

and skills to bear on the analysis of the farm business

Michael O’Donovan and Mark Plunkett outlined the importance of and requirements to Utilising 12 tonnes of grass dry matter per hectare

• In 2014, increasing grass utilisation by 1 tonne DM/ha increased net profit/ha by €267

• Only 10% of dairy farms have optimal soil pH, P and K status; this is amajor constraint to grass production

• National grass production data shows that high grass DM production can be achieved on dairy farms irrespective of location, provided soil fertility and grazing management are optimum

• Weekly farm grass cover measurements combined with grazing management decisions arising from these measurements need to be adopted on all farms

Donagh Berry, Frank Buckley and Stephen Butler discussed Reducingreplacement cost on Irish dairy farms

• Cow fertility and longevity are critical components of herd profitability.While there has been improvement, average performance on Irish dairyfarms continues to be substantially below optimum

• The target longevity is, on average, 5.5 lactations per cow culled, or aherd average lactation number of 4.5 for non-expanding herds; this

equates to a replacement rate of 18%• The evidence is overwhelming that both the exploitation of genetic

improvement and application of best reproductive management practices will result in reproductive targets being readily achieve

Riona Sayers and John Mee discussed the topic Healthy herd: healthy profits• Depending on the herd somatic cell count, mastitis is the most costly

infection on Irish dairy farms• The presence of Salmonela, however, is also very costly. Carriers in a

herd can result in losses of over €11,000 in an unvaccinated 100-cow spring-calving dairy herd

• A combination of biosecurity, diagnostic testing, and vaccination will reduce the risk of disease introduction and spread, thereby minimising losses due to infectious disease

Delivering SustainableFeeding Solutions

MANAGEMENT TIPS FOR AUGUST• Building covers – A very important factor contributing to the

efficient production of good yields of high protein milk is a good supply of high quality autumn grass, properly supplemented. Throughout summer, cover per cow and pre grazing yields are the main drivers of grass management. However, average farm cover per Ha is the main measure for autumn management, with last rotation length and closing farm cover the main drivers. Target closing farm cover of 550kgDM/Ha. Achieving the correct farm cover in September will set up the farmfor late autumn grazing. The ideal peak farm cover will vary from farm to farm depending on farm stocking rate, soil type and grass growth in autumn. Grazing rotations should be gradually lengthened from mid-August reaching 30 days in early Septemberand about 45 days in October. If farm grass supply is such that a much longer rotation is necessary, some paddocks should be takenout for bales rather than damage pastures and pasture quality. To help build covers remove non milking stock from the milking platform, supplement if needed and apply the appropriate fertiliser

• Fertiliser – With the closing dates for spreading nitrogen on the 15th September applying the correct level of fertiliser will be essential to build covers this autumn. Check how much fertiliser has been spread already this year and apply the remainder as allowed under the nitrates regulations:

Cows/Ha Units/Acre2.0 – 2.4 142.4 – 2.9 192.9 – 3.2 233.2 – 3.9 253.9+ 28

*At all times applications must adhere to Nitrates regulations

Preparing for reseeding – 10 point planAugust is the best month for autumn reseeding, so if you are planningon carrying out reseeding this autumn, get prepared well in advance:• Spray off the old sward with glyphosate• Soil test and apply lime, phosphorus and potassium as necessary• Good ploughing ensures a level field for silage cutting later on and

buries the existing vegetation. If ploughing is not possible, two or three runs with a disc followed by one or two runs of a power harrow ensures good soil to seed contact

• A fine, firm seed bed is the objective of seed bed preparation, a seedbed which is too deep is not desirable.

• Select a grass seed mixture based on intended field use, duration ofthe ley, according to the type of livestock and management and sows at a rate of 14kg of grass seed per acre

• Sow into warm, moist soil no deeper than 15mm• Roll well afterwards to ensure good soil to seed contact• Monitor closely for frit fly, leatherjacket, wireworm and other pest

attack and take immediate action where necessary• Post emergence spray is essential, particularly after minimum

cultivation. Post emergence spray should be applied approx. 6 weeks after establishment just before the first grazing

• Graze the new reseeds a couple of times before the winter. This ensures adequate tiller numbers and helps persistency

P & K rates for grass establishment (kg/Ha)Soil Index 1 2 3 4

P 60 40 30 0K 110 75 50 30

Nitrogen – Apply approx. 40-75kg N/Ha at sowing time to maximisegrass growth. Apply 30-40kg N/Ha 4 to 6 weeks after reseeding

For any help with interpreting the grass monitoring data or advice onany of the issues in this month’s Grasswatch notes please contacteither Adrian on (087)4138584 or Enda on (087)6647022

Grass growth has been good on our monitor farms over the past month, and most of our farms have seen a grass surplus build up.The table below shows the on farm data for the week beginning 6th July:

Farmer Ltr/Cow Fat % Prot % kgMS/Cow SR¹ Meal kg Average Cover/ Demand Growthfarm cow² (kgDM/Ha)ᶟ Ratecover (kgDM/Ha)4

Cavan 23.2 3.82 3.53 1.76 2.86 3 589 206 47 62Monaghan 26.3 3.89 3.42 1.98 3.91 4.5 809 207 65 86Longford 18.3 4.21 3.63 1.47 2.48 1 649 262 44 61Westmeath 20.2 4.38 3.59 1.65 4.34 1 746 172 74 114Offaly 21 3.80 3.52 1.58 2.91 1 747 257 47 63

Definitions: 11SR - Stocking Rate; cow numbers divided by area of land on the milking platform in Ha ²cover/cow - the amountof available grass per cow on the milking platform 3Demand (kg DM/Ha) – the daily allowance per cow in kg DM multiplied by the stocking rate 44Growth Rate (kg DM/Ha) – the amount of grass growing daily per Ha expressed in kg DM

Grass growth rates for July ranged from 62kg DM/Ha to a high of 114kg DM/Ha. Cover/cow ranges from 172kg DM to 257kg DM.Grass quality has improved in the last couple of weeks and milk solids are beginning to rise on all the farms.

MILK SAMPLINGSome confusion arises when milk sample bottles arriving at iML labs are not clearly labelled, to avoid this and ensure appropriate testing, please follow this procedure,

(1) Place your bar code label on sample bottle, or on the plastic bag where a number of samples are being returned(2) Write cow number on bottle with waterproof marker (3) If tank sample, ensure tank is sufficiently agitated

(4) Place bottle in plastic bag with details of test required (5) Give sample to your milk carter

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Moorepark Open Day 2015by Trevor Dunwoody, Teagasc Monaghan

_LAKE Notes AUGUST 15 07/08/2015 09:38 Page 2