Irish Farm Business - Vol 7 Issue 1 Summer 2020

FROM 100 PRODUCTS

COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

STRUCTURES

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

>> SEE PAGE 38

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IRISH

DAIRYING

Volume 67 Issue 2019 Edition Issue11 Spring Summer 2020 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg) Price €4.95 / £4.50 (Stg)

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

AUTUMN CALVING

FARM DESIGN The Big Decision Can it be profitable?

DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

HERRINGBONE | ROTARY| ROBOTIC

GROWTH TARGETS FOR REPLACEMENT HEIFERS PG 48

PG 12

OPTIMUM USAGE OF HOT WATER FOR CLEANING MILKING EQUIPMENT PG 38

TIPS FOR MILKING DURING COVID-19 PG 42

Your local Co-Op Superstores for all your Farm, Home & Garden Needs

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Stores across Munster & Online @

www.coopsuperstores.ie for Nationwide Delivery

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

Foreword/Contents/Credits

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

>> SEE PAGE 38

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IRISH

Features 12 Choosing The Right Milking System For You

DAIRYING

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

Writes Aidan Kelly of Agri Design & Planning Services (ADPS) Molough, Newcastle, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

18 Liming Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions While Improving Grassland Productivity

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS

Emerging research in Johnstown Castle, Ireland has shown that increasing soil pH by liming caused a significant reduction in nitrous oxide emissions and increased grassland productivity.

HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

12

48

22 Can Autumn Calving be Profitable?

Lessons from the Teagasc Johnstown Castle systems project.

32 Pastor Trio The Herbicide Of Choice For Reseeded Pastures

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

Since its arrival on the market a number of years ago, Pastor Trio has become the herbicide of choice for reseeded pastures.

34 Cubicles - A Buyers Guide

38

33

In this edition we have lots of tips from experts on important and relevant topics like how to deal with covid-19 and profitability in Autumn calving…

Tips for milking during Covid-19 Pádraig O Connor outlines the important precautionary measures farmers must now take to stay safe during these challenging times Keeping Replacement Heifers on Target Emer Kennedy and Hazel Costigan identify key elements in ensuring your replacement heifers are on target this summer.

Weed Control for Reseeded Pastures Pastor Trio has become the herbicide of choice in recent years. This article by Chris Maughan discuses its benefits in reseeded pastures.

How best to use hot water for cleaning in a Publisher: Denis Lane Editorial: Clídna Flaherty Advertising: Denis Lane Production: Hugh Lane, Shauna Quinn Email: dlane@dawnmedia.ie

Contributors: David Gleeson, Joe Patton, Donal Patton, Philip O Connor, Aidan Kelly, Richard Walsh, Tom Houlihan, Cara Sheridan, Dave Merrins, Stephen Kelly, Rebecca Dawson, Henry Walsh,

chlorine-free environment - David Gleeson and John Upton give tips on how to optimise the use of hot water for milking machine cleaning without the use of chlorine Choosing the right milking system for you - Aidan Kelly of Agri Design and Planning Services helps you with the difficult decision of choosing the best milking system that will suit you.

Can Autumn calving be profitable? - Joe Patton and Aidan Lawless weigh out the pros and cons of Autumn calving.

If you know of a herd with an interesting back story, please let us know.

Hope you enjoy and gain from this edition…

Until the next time………

The Publisher Irish Farm Business Donal Carey, Paul Lyons, Martina Gormley, Pat Griffin, Emer Kennedy, John Upton, Hazel Costigan.

Distribution: EM News Newspread

Published by: Dawn Media Ltd, 2 Barrack St Clarinbridge Co Galway Tel. + 353 91 777 222 Email. dlane@dawnmedia.ie

All material contained in this edition is copyright of Irish Farm Business 2020 and may not be reproduced or electronically stored without the permission of the publisher. However items may be freely reproduced provided the source is acknowledged. Content and views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the publishers.

Find the cubicle design that best suits your herd, based on animal size, design of shed and yard. By Paul Lyons

38 Making The Optimum Use Of Hot Water For Milking Machine Cleaning In A Chlorine-Free Environment

by David Gleeson and John Upton.

42 Tips For Milking During Covid-19

Milking is one of the essential tasks on a dairy farm. During these extraordinary times of COVID-19, it is essential to keep yourself and your milkers safe at milking time.

46 Keeping your Replacement Heifers on Target this Season

by Emer Kennedy and Hazel Costigan.

54 Animal Behaviour Matters

Know how to manage the behaviour of Bulls… it can be unpredictable IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

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3

News

Irish Survey Data Shows Worrying Rise In Dairy Overheads The results from Ireland’s National Farm Survey (NFS), which show modest gains in farm family incomes, may not be as positive as they initially appear.

Responding to the dairy results in the 2019 National Farm Survey (NFS), IFA National Dairy Chairman Tom Phelan said the results, which suggested a modest dairy farm family income increase, were less positive than one might think, and needed to be examined closely.

He warned the dairy industry could not ignore that low milk price levels and rising overhead costs at farm level were not a sound basis for a sustainable development of the sector.

“The increase of 9 percent reported in the NFS for 2019 actually represents a whopping 25 percent drop compared to 2017. The improvement in 2019 relative to the severe drought year that was 2018 was the result of lower spend on fodder and feed, combined with higher milk volumes produced. Milk prices actually fell by 2.8 percent in 2019 according to the NFS, to levels equivalent to those received by farmers as long ago as 1995 as reported by CSO,” Mr Phelan said.

“Even more worrying for me is the emergence of a long-term trend of higher overhead costs developing on dairy farms. Direct costs will naturally reflect rising cow numbers in expanding herds. However, overhead costs should not. Yet, in the five-year period to 2019, the NFS reveals those have increased by 21.5 percent, which clearly erodes farmers’ profitability and is unsustainable,” he said.

“If farmers are expected to play their full part in environmental and climate sustainability, they must first and foremost be economically sustainable. I therefore urge Teagasc and co-ops to work together to support farmers in addressing this situation,” he concluded.

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FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

Lets

Let’s Talk Dairy Webinar Series A weekly webinar series, Let’s Talk Dairy, provides timely, relevant and technical messages for dairy farmers and dairy industry stakeholders. Webinar host Stuart Childs, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, facilitates the series with guest presenters each week.

Each webinar consists of a different topic most relevant to the audience, along with a guest presenter who is an expert in their field. A key feature of the webinars is the opportunity for the audience to get involved in the discussion with audience questions being answered live.

For more information visit www.teagasc.ie/letstalkdairy or scan the QR code

Open the Camera on your phone and scan the QR Code

Lets Talk Dairy 210x297.indd 1

04/08/2020 15:37:37

Innovation

Microsoft And Land O’lakes Are Tackling One Of Agtech’s Biggest Challenges There’s no shortage of tech tools to help farmers with everything from monitoring crop and pasture health to inventorying products and predicting the weather. But using those tools is all predicated on one very important thing: internet connectivity.

That’s why Microsoft and Land O’Lakes are teaming up to bring the rural US online.

The dairy cooperative recently announced a new multiyear partnership with Seattle-based tech giant to create new agrifoodtech innovations around supply chain logistics, sustainability, and connectivity.

With 150 million acres of productive cropland in its network, Land O’Lakes — based in Minneapolis-St Paul — already boasts a portfolio of farm-focused tech solutions like the WinField United R7 Suite, Data Silo, and Truterra Insights Engine. It’s hoping that Microsoft can bring some tech expertise to the table to help its dairy farmers overcome a variety of challenges on top of the lack of connectivity many face.

Azure Farmbeats marketplace allows users to aggregate different agricultural datasets. Users can build AI or machine learning models using this data while tracing things like farm health, soil moisture, and more.

“We are building a lot of cutting-edge tech, cloud, and AI-based projects like Azure FarmBeat,” Ranveer Chandra, chief scientist of Microsoft Azure Global and partner researcher at Microsoft Research, tells AFN. “But when we think about making an impact in the food and agriculture industry we need to work with a company like Land O’Lakes, which uses a lot of data and works with a lot of growers. This is why we are so excited about the project.”

Specific goals for the partnership include advancing the ability to aggregate multiple data sets through the Data Silo offering, and creating a Digital Dairy solution using edge computing to help farmers manage weather data, feed management, and animal health while improving traceability.

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FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

Microsoft’s Airband Initiative has worked around the country to eliminate the rural broadband gap, and Land O’Lakes’ American Connection Project aims to close the digital one. But the duo sees partnerships as critical to move the agrifoodtech needle forward.

“It is very hard to develop one solution that does everything, especially if you want a good one. This is the question I struggle with: we cannot address everything. You have to partner with companies, you need a tech company really focused on the tech and developing a base platform. The rest of us can build on that,” Bekele says.

“We don’t have that in agriculture today. We have a bunch of point solutions. We are trying to create an ecosystem built on a platform so they all talk to each other.”

The connectivity issue is a prime example. Land O’Lakes found itself developing multiple solutions to work around the lack of connectivity, instead of spending time and money on creating a single, better solution, he says. Although the co-op has embraced innovation in recent years, it’s still not a tech company at heart.

“Ag brings out the hardest tech challenges. When there is no connectivity to the cloud, you have to use technology like edge computing where you bring the cloud to the farm,” Chandra explains.

“Then you need to use AI to fill in the gaps with the limited data you can get to still make intelligent predictions. We are excited to start blending that tech with all the useful data that Land O’Lakes growers have.”

To begin tackling connectivity together, the partners are launching pilots in rural communities that combine Microsoft’s Airband program with specific locations in the Land O’Lakes network. On top of connecting digital tools for the farm, they’re including telehealth, education, and digital skill-building resources.

A long term goal is to create a carbon credit market for Land O’Lakes growers, too. As the duo develops tools, they will keep an eye towards functions like carbon accounting and the ability to predict the carbon benefits of various practices like no-till, precision nutrient management, and cover crops.

DAIRY WIPES

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News

Dairy Breeding Guidelines In Keeping With IFA Policy On Managing Dairy Calves

Verified Grass Fed Standard Must Deliver For Farmers

Commenting on the new dairy herd breeding guidelines being sent to farmers by the Department of Agriculture and ICBF this week, IFA National Dairy Chairman Tom Phelan said they were in keeping with the IFA policy on Managing Dairy Calves published last Autumn.

“In the last year, a great deal of work has been done by stakeholders, including IFA, to optimise dairy calf welfare, quality and value as dairy expansion increases calf numbers. To build upon this work, stakeholders have developed guidelines for the 2020/21 dairy breeding policy, and I would encourage all dairy farmers to consider them,” he said.

“Dairy farmers do not want to sacrifice the milk solids, easy calving, fertility and other positive dairy traits they have been selecting for using the EBI for years. The work carried out by ICBF and Teagasc, and supported by the other stakeholders, gives farmers options to keep those strong dairy traits while using strategies to improve the beef quality of their bull calves,” he concluded.

IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Tom Phelan said that the ‘Grass Fed standard’ developed by Bord Bia should only be considered by processors for certain products, if it’s guaranteed to deliver an extra margin in a particular market place.

Speaking at the launch he said, “To apply this verified standard for no return would be folly. Processors need to be sure it can be leveraged in the market place before applying it to any product lines. They must also ensure that the way in which they apply the standard does not devalue any individual farmer’s milk”.

He said it was important that co-ops would engage fully with their suppliers before deciding on applying the standard to any part of their milk pool.

“Most global customers generally understand that Irish cows are grass fed, but some international customers are looking for an official verified standard as others are making similar claims which are based on far fewer days at grass than we have in Ireland,” he said.

“The processors must not allow this standard to become the norm. It must be used selectively on international markets and it must deliver added value in the chain which can be passed back to all dairy farmers,” he said.

AGRI KNIVES DIRECT Original Cresote Timber “40 yrs”.

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

New Imported Cresote Fencing Material With A 40/50 Yr Lifespan.

Agrihealth

Available from your Local Co-Op, Merchant, and Vet Shop.

For more information call Agrihealth on 047 71800 or email info@agrihealth.ie Distributed in Ireland by Agrihealth. www.agrihealth.ie

New Product Developments

Innovation In Dairy Wipes Is it possible for a milk carton to help in the pre-milking teat disinfection routine?

Disposable dairy wipes are used on farms prior to milking to remove mud and also to reduce the risk of cross infection. The shoulder seasons are when wipes are used most, especially so, from September to April. It is best practice to use water and a paper wipe to clean the teats prior to cluster application. This reduces bacteria count and reduces the risk of the spread of mastitis. Until recently farmers’ options have been limited in their choice of wipe as there has been limited innovative developments to date and there hasn’t been an environmentally driven product. Wipes can vary in quality which sometimes means they can break down prematurely into bits. Quite recently the only paper wipes available were either blue or green. There is now a more environmentally driven option; an Eco Natural dairy wipe made from recycled milk cartons.

Going Natural Ireland is a huge user of beverage cartons via the Dairy Co-ops. Has anyone ever wondered where they go after being used. It is estimated that each year approximately 11,500 tonnes of beverage cartons are used by consumers. To date we have struggled to properly recycle these cartons and a recent estimate highlights that over 55% are still being incinerated or are ending up in landfill. This a terrible shame as unlike plastic, beverage cartons are a renewable resource. A company in Ireland, through a partnership with a paper mill in France, has endeavoured to offer a product to Irish farmers that places a value on milk cartons. This partnership has led to an innovation where the complete carton can be transformed and turned into dairy wipes. Last year alone saw 7.95 billion litres of milk produced in Ireland. Irish dairy production has seen a 50% increase since 2010 and this increase is set to continue with the average dairy herd size estimated to be over 100 cows by 2025. The introduction of such a product onto Irish farms helps promote the idea of a circular economy.

Development The new Eco Natural wipe took four years to come to fruition.

Numerous field trials and mill refinements were undertaken.

Farmer interviews were conducted in order to distil the desired wipe characteristics. The resultant product is a fourth-generation roll.

Cellulose is the raw material used in paper making and the cellulose found in milk cartons is of a very high quality. The challenge was to be able to extract those fibres and give them a second life. Through extracting the long cellulose fibres the Eco Natural dairy wipe incorporates very high wet strength properties in addition to being soft, absorbent and food contact certified. Unlike the current dairy wipe offering there are no unnecessary blue or green dyes added as the wipe retains the natural colour of wood. Products that come in contact with food are better with as little added dyes or plastics as possible.

Irish dairy farmers who use the wipe can rest assured that it satisfies

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

their need for traceability and also aligns with concepts such as Farm to Fork, Quality Assurance and Origen Green.

Positive Environmental Impact Ireland has a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. Today, agriculture accounts for 30% of the greenhouse gases emitted in Ireland. The challenge for farmers is to increase milk production whilst achieving greenhouse gas targets.

Padraig Keane from Kilcormac in County Offaly currently milks 132 cows with his wife Maria and parents John & Gertie. Padraig is a new entrant to dairying and has been milking cows at home since February 2014. He has the benefit of seeing the dairy landscape with a fresh pair of eyes. Padraig has been using the product for the past two years and had this to say about the wipes. “It’s seldom that you come across something that is higher quality and more environmentally friendly at a lower cost than a product that you are already using. However, that is what I found when I used the Eco Natural Dairy Wipes”. Padraig is one of many farmers across Ireland who has switched to this carbon quantifiable dairy wipe.

Noel Conway, sales manager for Agrihealth, the company that distributes the wipe throughout Ireland also had this to say. “Since launching in January 2018 we are delighted with our progress to date.

Not only are we supplying the market with a quality product but we are also offering an environmentally differentiated dairy wipe that is having a substantial positive environmental impact. We were also pleasantly surprised during Covid that our wipe sales doubled due to its’, ‘all-rounder status’, as a wipe suitable for all surfaces on the farm.

As of August 2020 through sales of the wipes in Ireland we have contributed to saving 2,342,277 beverage cartons, the equivalent of 867 trees and 61,251Kg’s of CO2.”

Eco Natural Dairy Wipes are distributed in Ireland by Agrihealth.

For more information contact Agrihealth on Tel: 047 71800 Email: enquiries@agrihealth.ie or visit www.econaturaldairywipes.ie

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Milking Systems

Choosing The Right Milking System For You Writes Aidan Kelly of Agri Design & Planning Services (ADPS) Molough, Newcastle, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

Introduction Milking parlour What needs to be considered 3 main types of milking systems in Ireland • Herringbone milking parlour • Rotary milking parlour • Robotic milking machines Herringbone milking parlour Designed to milk 0 to 300 cows. There are two main types of herringbone parlours: • 2’ 6’’ – 762 mm centres or 50° angle to milker • 2’ 2” – 660 mm centres or 90° angle to milker IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

Rotary milking parlour • Designed to milk 200-1000 cows.

• They come in 40,50,60,70,80,90 and 100unit machines.

Robotic milking machines • Designed to milk 0 to 1000 cows.

• One robot can milk between 50 and 80 cows per machine.

First you must decide which system will suit your farm and your requirements.

Question 1 How many cows are you planning to milk in year 1, year 5 and year 10? Always allow for

some expansion in all designs.

Question 2 What can the farm afford or allow for the new investment?

Question 3 Best practice would tell us that you should be milking no more than 8/9 rows in a milking parlour. You should not be spending more than 2 hour per milking in the milking parlour.

(1) 140 cows in each system • 16-unit Herringbone - 16x 8.7 rows = 140 cows • 40-unit rotary- 36 x 3.8 rows = 140 cows

Milking Systems

•

note: 36 cow milking & 4 exiting 2 - Robot = 140 cow/day

Cost of each system These are estimated cost based on a turn key ready to operate set up.

• 20-unit Herringbone €250,000 + vat • 40-unit rotary €420,000 +vat • 3 Robots €270,000 + vat (2) 200 cows in each system • 24-unit Herringbone 24 x 8.3 rows = 200 cows • 40-unit rotary 36 x 5.5 rows = 200 cows note: 36 cow milking & 4 exiting • 3 - Robot = 200 - 210 cow/day Cost of each system These are estimated cost based on a turn key ready to operate set up.

• 24-unit Herringbone €300,000 + vat • 40-unit rotary €420,000 +vat • 3 Robots €370,000 + vat (2) 250 cows in each system • 30-unit Herringbone 30 x 8.3 rows = 250 cows note this is a 2-labour unit parlour • 40-unit rotary 36 x 7 rows = 252 cows note: 36 cow milking & 4 exiting • 4 - Robot = 250 - 280 cow/day Cost of each system These are estimated cost based on a turn key ready to operate set up.

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

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FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

13

Milking Systems • • •

20-unit Herringbone €350,000 + vat 40-unit rotary €420,000 + vat 4 Robots €450,000 + vat

As you can see from the examples above the rotary is the more expensive option when milking 140 -200 cows but it gives you the option to milk more cows in the future. Once you go past a 24-unit herringbone there will be 2 operators required so this is where the rotary parlour really starts becoming a real option.

Compare a 30-unit herringbone to a 40-point rotary and a robot milking machine.

30-unit herringbone - Two labour units required to milk at all times.

40-point rotary - One labour unit.

4 -Robot - One labour unit.

Note: The one labour unit is just for milking time after spring time (May to November).

Cost of labour

In a 30-unit herringbone you will require an extra labour unit for milking only. 600 milkings per year at €30 per milking = €18,000 x 20 years = €360,000. The biggest issue on farm at present is to find good labour and to keep them.

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

As you can see from the example above Labour over the 20-year investment could have paid for the rotary parlour!

I believe that a rotary parlour has to be really considered once you go to about 240 cows. If there is scope and expansion in the future around the grazing block this would allow for this expansion.

The robot option must also be considered but this may not suit all farm land or farmers. To be a robot farmer you need to be willing to embrace the technology and work with it. You will also need to be measuring grass and making sure grassland management is always right to keep best cow flow to and from the robots.

Each system has different costs and pros and cons. A farmer needs to know future cow numbers before deciding on system type with a 5 to 15-year plan in mind. A milking unit is a 20 to 30-year investment so you need to look at it as a long-term investment and plan accordingly.

Always try and allow for expansion if not for you but the next generation.

The location of the milking unit is critical for best cow flow from farm land and winter accommodation. This will be the most important decision made on the farm and one of the biggest investments for the business.

Contact Details: Agri Design & Planning Services (ADPS) Molough, Newcastle, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

0857466211, Aidan@ADPS.ie, www.adps.ie

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

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FREE FARM VISIT

Environment

Liming Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions While Improving Grassland Productivity Emerging research in Johnstown Castle, Ireland has shown that increasing soil pH by liming caused a significant reduction in nitrous oxide emissions and increased grassland productivity.

Fig 1. Aerial and close-up view of the experimental plots and greenhouse gas measurement chambers

The benefits of liming as an agronomic measure to ameliorate acidic soils and maintain soil pH at the optimum level for high crop productivity have been known for centuries. Lime is a natural and costeffective soil conditioner which neutralises soil acidity and reduces the availability of harmful heavy metals to plants in acidic soils.

Liming increases the activity of soil microbes and the availability of nutrients, most notably phosphorus (P), leading to improved plant growth. Soil samples analysed by Teagasc in 2015 showed that 65 percent and 55 percent of grassland and tillage soils are below the optimum pH, with up to 80 percent of soils in some Irish counties having a lime requirement.

Agriculture in Ireland releases about 90 percent of total nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, which is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Recent studies have indicated that N2O emissions are higher in acidic soils. Researchers Ognjen Zurovec and Karl Richards assessed the effect of liming on N2O emissions and grassland productivity in a long-term lime and phosphorus grassland trial at Johnstown Castle (Figure 1). The experiment was carried out as part of the EU ERA-GAS funded project “Mitigating Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions by

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improved pH management of soils (MAGGEpH)” which investigated the effect of soil pH on N2O emissions across Europe.

The soil at the Johnstown site was classified as acidic, with a pH of 5, but liming over 10 years resulted in soil pH ranging from 5.0 to 6.9. Results showed that increasing soil pH by liming resulted in significant reduction of N2O emissions and increased grassland productivity compared to the un-limed plots under the same management and fertiliser regime. The degree of reduction in N2O emissions mainly depended on the amount of lime applied across the experimental period. When soil pH was increased to 6.9, N2O emissions were reduced by 39 percent compared to control soil pH of 5.0 (Figure 2).

The long-term results in terms of grass yield showed that the highest yields were achieved when liming was combined with regular P application. Plots limed to pH higher than 6 had 0.5 t/ha higher dry-matter yields, while the yields in limed plots with optimal P content (P Index 3) had 1.5 t/ha higher yields on average compared to un-limed soils with P Index 1.

The results clearly show that liming of soil to increase soil pH is a win-win solution for farmers through increasing grass yield and reducing N2O emissions. There is a

potential that N2O emissions could be further reduced if the soil pH is increased above the agronomic optimum for most plants.

However, this needs to be assessed further.

Given that at least half of Irish soils are acidic, this solution has wide application and could contribute significantly to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from Irish agriculture while maintaining or enhancing production.

To read more about soil pH and liming, visit Soil pH & Liming or consult your Teagasc advisor.

Fig 2. N2O emissions expressed as % when un-limed soil is compared with the limed soils (L1, L2, L3). Soil pH values in limed soils differed based in frequency and the amount of lime applied over 10 years

m

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Product News

Cormac Tagging Almost four years since Cormac Tagging broke the anomaly in the Department of Agriculture’s Cattle Tagging System, a family operation based in Tuam, Co. Galway has made serious inroads into the bovine tagging operation.

A high-quality tag with an even more effective helpdesk team saw the Cormac outfit go from strength to strength in becoming new leaders in Animal Identification. Their success and continued growth has been well documented by National Press.

Their German imported tag sets are programmed, printed and packaged on site which allows for greater flexibility in getting their orders to their customers. Cormac Tagging pride themselves on the exceptionally low loss rate on all their high quality cattle tags of less than 1% and in many cases replace lost tags free of charge.

Prior to supplying Cattle tags, the Company would be well known for sheep, pigs and goat tags nationwide. With the introduction of the recent tag threshold which is in compliance with EU legislation, and the impending introduction of compulsory electronic tags, Cormac Tagging have a highly competitive advantage here having the lightest weight EID tag of 4g on the market, of which they currently hold over 50%.

The team at Cormac Tagging are looking forward to the coming season even without the help of the many shows, exhibitions, dairy events and the sadly missed ploughing championship to promote their products.

The Company can be found online at Cormactagging.ie or phoning the helpdesk on 093-52385.

Captal – Controlling the Farm Yard from a Kingswood App Captal Farms are one of the largest multi-farm operations in Ireland with around a thousand cows in over a dozen farms. They’ve been using Kingswood software to manage their calf registrations, cattle movements, animal remedies and breeding and milk records since 2011.

Last year (2019) they undertook a major upgrade of their cow management facilities at their main farm in Cappagh, Co Waterford.

As well as taking advantage of the new electronic tagging technology with the purchase of Agrident EID readers, they upgraded their drafting facilities with the acquisition of a Saber drafting unit.

Kingswood ability to provide software links to both EID readers and the drafting unit was central to these moves. Alan Daly, Farm Manager at Cappagh, comments on the new integrated set up: ‘On a dairy farm, particularly in the calving and breeding seasons, time is money. Being able to quickly identify cows using the reader and control their drafting from my Kingswood phone app is a huge time saver from my point of view. In addition, I can register calves, record animal remedies, put cows in groups and manage our breeding and drying off programs – all from my phone.’

Linda O’Neill, Operations Manager with Captal, adds: ‘We’ve been using Kingswood software in all our units for some years. These latest innovations integrate our farm office software seamlessly with operations in the farm yard. Alan can concentrate on day to day cow management, while we can ensure that movements and registrations are fully up to date.’

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Autumn Calving

Can Autumn Calving be Profitable?

Lessons from the Teagasc Johnstown Castle systems project

by Joe Patton and Aidan Lawless

Cow 2189: 5th lactation 8307kg 4.90% Fat and 3.70% Protein. 714kg milk solids. EBI 199.

‘The farmer who has to keep a herd of cows and who has to supply winter milk for fluid consumption has a tougher job than most men’ ‘Those who go to the trouble of maintaining a constant supply all through the year (should) receive a higher reward for their effort than the man who comes into Cork with grass-produced milk and never presents himself during the difficult winter months’ - Dail Debate on milk market regulation, May 1948 Introduction The debate about the relative profitability in winter milk production is certainly not new. Anyone involved in dairy farming in Ireland has likely at some time trashed out the trade-offs between cash flow, feed costs, labour and output for spring and winter milk. The subject has received some renewed attention in recent years as many winter/liquid milk suppliers reassess their options in the wake of EU milk Milk Solids quota abolition. Feed cost control and streamlining kg/cow labour to manage expanded herd sizes are the common rationale for a switch to spring calving. On Milk kg/cow the other hand, increasing grazing stocking rates and Milk protein the emergence of robotic milking systems have tended % to generate interest in the feasibility of off-season milk.

Calving Defining the issues for winter milk herds There is a core of approximately 1800 registered winter/liquid milk producers nationally. These supply just over 14% of national production (1.1bn litres), of which 45% (490m litres or 6% of total national production) is used for domestic consumption as well IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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>> SEE PAGE 46

Top 10% spring

Avg Winter

Winter top 10%

390

494

427

537

4950

6214

5591

6987

3.50

3.65

3.42

3.57

386

363

413

377

2 yr old calving %

68

100

42

100

Herd EBI

98

133

67

116

EBI AI sires

223

281

215

278

Interval d

>> SEE PAGE 38

IRISH

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

as providing winter volumes for manufacture of specific products. It is estimated that a further 600 to 800 farms produce winter volumes ex-contract under various winter incentive schemes.

Herd performance metrics for winter milk herds (2018-19) is summarised in Table 1 (Source ICBF Herdplus). Though often characterized as high input-high output, milk solids sold per cow for winter milk herds stood at a moderate 427kg; this was approximately 40kg higher than the average spring counterpart. The top 10% of spring calving herds had significantly higher milk output the winter milk average, indicating a large degree of overlap between the respective systems. Fertility metrics (calving interval, age at first

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Table 1. Performance of herds by system 2018-19

Paudie Kerr

Autumn Calving calving) were suboptimal for average herds across the board, however there is strong evidence of more high EBI genetics being used in winter herds. Teagasc eProfit monitor data consistently shows feed cost approximately 2 cent per litre higher for winter milk herds albeit with a large range within each system. The most profitable winter milk herds produced higher milk solids per cow for lower feed costs; herd average milk yield per se did not directly relate to profit.

Clearly then, many aspects of farm management are common to winter and spring production systems i.e. milk solids, animal health and fertility, nutrition, soil fertility etc. The defining feature for winter milk herds though, is the requirement to calve a proportion of the herd in autumn to guarantee contract winter volumes sought by the milk processor. This brings specific questions around feeding management, fertility management and in particular cow type.

The Johnstown Castle winter milk project was established within Teagasc to help address such issues for the sector and has recently focussed on effects of calving pattern on costs and milk supply profiles.

Johnstown Castle winter milk herd The Johnstown Castle herd comprises 155 Holstein milking cows plus followers run on 70 hectares of good quality pasture land in Co. Wexford. Annual pasture growth is 14.8t DM per on 5yr average and grazing is feasible from early February until mid-November. The herd calves around 70% in the autumn and 30% in the spring, depending on the experiments on-going. Autumn calving starts on September 12th and is complete by December 1st, with 80% calved by October 25th.

A similar compact spring block is employed from early February until late May. Herd average milk solids yield in 2019 was 556kg which ranged from 510kg on the spring calving groups to 580kg solids on the block autumn systems. Genetic profiles were identical for the groups so differences were explained by feeding system and calving pattern. This demonstrates that high EBI cows have a good capacity for production within varying systems and are not simply a ‘low input cow’ as they are sometimes characterised to be.

Herd calving interval stands is 376 days. As a rule, less than 5% of the herd are permitted to ‘swing over’ from one season to the next. This

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keeps a good structure on the calving pattern, increases milk yield per day in the herd and reduces metabolic issues with dry cows. Retaining cows from one season to the next is often cited as an benefit to winter milk systems, but we would consider it a disadvantage because it tends to mask poor fertility performance over time.

Breeding for high EBI fertility index has proven advantageous for controlling pattern and empty rate. Average lactations per cow in the herd is 3.9 and culling rate is usually 22% (10-12% for fertility and 8-10% for age, SCC etc.). This compares well with the winter milk sector as a whole where culling rates are 21% and 15% of cows are recycled annually. The positive impact of EBI on lifetime production in a winter milk context has been further underlined by analysis of data from high yielding commercial farms, which showed that the higher EBI cows had better milk revenue compared to herd-mates due to better solids and fewer days spent dry or in extended lactations (Table 2.) This has been as good point for discussion with visiting groups to Johnstown over the years.

Autumn Calving

High EBI

Average

Low EBI

EBI

€137

€42

-€75

Milk Index €

43

23

1

Fert Index €

56

-3

-81

Milk kg PD

65

97

145

Milk Pro % PD

0.06

0

-0.06

Annual Solids kg

586

551

528

Milk yield kg/day

20.8

20.9

20.9

Milk Fat %

4.25

3.93

3.71

Milk Protein %

3.53

3.36

3.23

Milk value €/day

€6.66

€6.31

€6.06

Table 2. Effect of EBI on milk performance in high output herds

Comparing calving pattern options for winter milk A multi-year study on the effect of calving pattern on feed budgets and supply milk supply profiles was recently completed at Johnstown. The systems compared were: • Spring- 100% calving in Feb-Apr • Split- 50% calving in Feb-Apr and 50% in Sep-Nov • Autumn- 100% calving in Sep-Nov All systems were run at 2.9 cows per ha grazing using the high EBI cow type as outlined. Grazing, feed supplements and breeding were managed separately but to an equivalent standard within each system.

AUT produced higher milk solids than SPR, with SPLIT intermediate. This was volume-drive as milk composition was quite similar across herds. However, SPR cows milked for 37 days less on average. Relative to SPR, summer peak (volume) was reduced by 8%

by SPLIT (50% calving in autumn) and by 14% for AUT, a relatively modest effect given scale of change in calving pattern. Notably, AUT and SPLIT reduced volumes by 76% and 31% respectively during the Aug-Sep period. The primary effect of Sep-Dec calving was therefore to shift milk supply primarily from early autumn into winter, to a greater extent than from summer peak. This demonstrates that summer peak and winter supply management should be treated as separate but related issues in terms of processing requirements.

The SPR system had lowest feed cost per cow and per litre with SPLIT intermediate and AUT highest. The systems with autumn calving as expected had increased concentrate cost due to milking on silage diets. Volume and cost of external forage also System increased with autumn calving. This was due to a combination of higher cost per tDM Milk kg (lactating cow forage), greater total forage intake per cow, and interestingly, a reduction Milk Solids kg in annual pasture growth (0.4 to 0.7tDM per ha depending on autumn calving ratio). This Profile analysis may be a consequence of adjusting autumn grass management to account for reduced Summer peak1 milk grass demand in the system. kg Milk margins over feed cost, before winter premiums, were calculated for each system. % total milk Nov-Feb System margin differences across the range of scenarios were €60 per cow at most (Table Winter Days dry 3). There was relatively little difference at 30cpl base milk price and €250/t equivalent Peak : trough month concentrate price. The SPR system had a ratio relatively higher margin where feed cost increased or milk price declined, whereas

AUT had better outcomes at high milk price/lower concentrate price.

The SPLIT system margin did not exceed SPRING any scenario tested.

Collectively, the outcomes indicate that the higher milk revenue of autumn calving systems is essentially offset by higher feed costs at a common stocking rate. Measuring overhead cost differences in a research setting is difficult, however based on cost and labour data collected on farm it is clear that labour and machinery costs are higher for winter milk systems. To exceed SPR margins therefore, autumn calving systems require a price premium that at least meets any differences in overhead costs per system.

Implications for winter milk pricing systems Results from the Johnstown study showed that split/autumn calving requires milk price incentives to at least offset additional overhead costs in order to compete with the spring calving alternative. Various example winter pricing structures were imposed on the AUT and SPLIT milk supply profiles of the study to calculate likely annualised milk premium values (Table 4).

For winter schemes (payments on all winter litres based on meeting minimum supply criteria), AUT calving had a clear advantage over SPLIT, due to its capacity to supply higher volume in the Nov-Feb period. For example, AUT would receive 2.2cpl annualised bonus at the 5cpl rate, compared to 1.4cpl for SPLIT. For liquid scheme structures (payment on a fixed winter volume

SPRING

SPLIT

AUT

6114

6723

7261

490

520

565

27.1

24.6

23.1

<10.0

29.4

43.2

38

0

0

∞

1.5

4.7

Three year average of production for 3 calving pattern systems

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25

Autumn Calving

SPRING

SPLIT

AUT

Grazing stocking rate

2.90

2.90

2.90

Concentrate kg/cow

536

1050

1380

Concentrate kg/kg milk

0.09

0.16

0.19

Forage deficit tDM/cow

0.26

0.39

0.70

Winter Days dry

38

0

0

Feed cost per litre

3.35

5.68

7.55

Margin over purchased feed €/cow Base Milk Price

€250 concentrate price

26cpl

1560

1518

1521

30cpl

1834

1814

1842

34cpl

2088

2087

2139

€270 concentrate price 26cpl

1546

1492

1486

30cpl

1821

1788

1807

34cpl

2075

2061

2104

Feed budgets and costs for calving pattern treatments

with the remainder paid a manufacturing price), the premium differentials between systems were less – both AUT and SPLIT meet minimum volumes however AUT delivered a greater non-contracted winter surplus. Duration of winter payment has a significant effect– annualised liquid premium was 1.8cpl for a 6-month scheme but 1.2cpl if paid over 4 months. The key point is that structure (eligible volume) as well as rate (price per litre) of winter milk payment determines overall potential value of a scheme.

Conclusions Data from Johnstown castle and commercial farms show that high EBI cows eating good quality forage with correct levels of supplementation can achieve good cash margins in spring and winter milk systems alike.

Individual farm businesses should compare total potential annual winter milk bonuses against the labour, overheads, feed and risk implications of altering calving pattern to achieve winter milk payments. A corollary is that winter milk payment structures should factor in the requirement for individual farms to achieve a ‘critical mass’ in eligible winter milk bonuses, in order to offset the additional costs. If herd fertility is excellent then farms will have a genuine choice of system.

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SPRING

SPLIT

AUT

Nov-Feb @ 7.5cpl

€146

€234

Nov- Feb @ 5cpl

€98

€156

50% 6 months

€133

€137

50% 4 months

€82

€89

Winter Scheme

Liquid Scheme (7.5cpl)

Johnstown Castle Autumn cows in calving paddock

Table 4.

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Commercial Feature COMMERCIAL FEATURE

FLEXIBLE FINANCE FROM FARM TO FORK Understanding the challenges of modern day farming is half the battle, according to Pat O’Neill, Agri Sales Manager at First Citizen Agri Finance.

Ronan Holcroft (First Citizen Agri Finance), Michael Fleming (First Citizen Agri Finance) and David Toolan (Cashels Engineering)

“W

e’re here to assist farmers and help them plan their cash flows throughout the year, providing flexible finance options when they need it most.

Our Asset Finance Agreements have a fixed Interest Rate to help farmers budget and manage their cashflows.”

Pat joined First Citizen Agri Finance in 2016, having worked for many years in the Irish Agri Finance sector and is excited to be engaging again with farmers across all farming sectors in the Republic of Ireland, not least Dairy. The Dairy sector carries its own unique challenges and it’s important that those employed in this area have the necessary supports available not just to survive but to excel.

This, Pat added, is where First Citizen can help.

First Citizen Agri Finance offer flexible finance for Agri asset purchases to Farmers and Agri SMEs. If a farmer is looking to purchase equipment outright, then the Non Consumer Hire Purchase Agreement is the flexible and cost effective alternative solution to overdrafts or term loans. The asset becomes the property of the purchaser when the final instalment and completion fee due under the Agreement is made. Some key features of this product are:

Bernard Wallace (Clarke Machinery) and Pat O’Neill (First Citizen Agri Finance)

Both Hire Purchase and Leasing Agreements are available to finance new and second hand Agri assets. Only assets purchased from a First Citizen Agri Finance approved Agri Dealer or Distributor are eligible for finance – and First Citizen are always on the look out to partner with new Suppliers in the Republic of Ireland. Payment terms vary from two to seven years, depending on the type and age of the asset being financed. A variety of payments terms are available including ‘Seasonal’ whereby payments are from, for example, April to September each year.

“The key to our success is our focus and dedication to the Agri community. At First Citizen Agri Finance we know that our business depends on farming – a unique industry facing constantly changing circumstances. Therefore, we make it our business to understand the needs of farmers and Agri SMEs and we provide financial solutions where possible. We have a presence nationwide and invite farmers and Agri Dealers to get in touch with us.” – Pat O’Neill, Agri Sales Manager at First Citizen Agri Finance.

First Citizen Finance is a dedicated provider of Motor, Agri, CRE (Commercial Real Estate) Finance and recently announced a new

“With a presence nationwide, this young Asset finance company is making new Agri Supplier partnerships on a weekly basis” -

Fixed payments over a fixed term €100m fund for Equipment Finance. So, whether it’s a new or used Payments which can be timed to suit income patterns of the farm vehicle, Agri asset or any other type of equipment you’re looking enterprise or Agri business for, First Citizen Finance may have the solution for you.

The VAT on the purchase price can be re-claimed immediately Visit www.firstcitizen.ie for further details. after the transaction, provided the entity is VAT registered Pat O’Neill (First Citizen Agri Finance) and Terry Interest charges can be offset against taxable profits Reilly (Agri-Spread International) Flexible deposit payable (minimum 10%)

-

Claim back capital allowance costs on the cost of Asset However, let’s say the Farmer is looking to simply pay for the use of equipment over a set period. The asset is leased in this case at a fixed rental for a fixed term at a fixed rate. Put simply, First Citizen owns the asset and charges the farmer for the use of it until the final rental is paid. At the end of the rental period there is the option to purchase the equipment for a nominal fee or trade it in as a deposit against new equipment. Some other benefits of leasing are: - Initial Capital Outlay is minimised, thus preserving cashflow - Leasing rentals may qualify for tax deductions - Farmer gets to use the equipment just as if they owned it - Flexible repayment terms - The VAT element of the rental payment can be reclaimed provided the entity is VAT registered IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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P ( p

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V D (

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L L (

Hire Purchase and Leasing AGRI FINANCE

New and Used Agri Assets Competitive Rates, Premium Service Quick Decisions on your credit application Prompt Payment to Suppliers/Dealers

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Our Agri Finance Team - Contact Details Talk to Celine Griffin, Gabrielle Fee or Margaret Gilchrist in our office. First Citizen Agri Finance, Phone (01) 884 6700, Bloom House, Gloucester Square, Dublin 1.

Pat O’Neill, Agri Sales Manager (086) 252 9309 pat.oneill@firstcitizen.ie

Robert Kidd Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford (087) 258 0824

Owen O’Reilly Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary (087) 258 0851

James Cahill South Dublin and Wicklow (087) 383 3920

Gerry Oakes North Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan (087) 263 3000

Brian Fitzgerald Waterford and South Tipperary (087) 253 6774

Ronan Holcroft North Dublin and South Louth (086) 075 7452

Pat Murphy Cork (087) 260 3163

Michael Fleming Galway and Mayo (087) 252 6403

Vivienne Shannon Dublin West and Leixlip, Celbridge Area (087) 242 0958

Ray O’Connell Cork/South Munster (087) 799 4814

Alma McDermott Galway (087) 121 9535

Ciara Wyer Kildare (085) 704 4097

Jim Hoare Kerry (087) 408 9111

Gerry O’Donnell Sligo and Donegal (087) 258 0769

Liam Daly Laois, Offaly and Westmeath (087) 449 6159

Donal Galvin Kerry and North Cork (087) 683 7586

Eileen Sweeny Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford (087) 629 6457 IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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Lending criteria, terms and conditions apply. Credit facilities are subject to repayment capacity and financial status and are not available to persons under 18 years of age. A minimum deposit of 10% is required. A joint hirer or guarantor maybe required.

Non Consumer Hire Purchase and Leasing facilities are provided by First Citizen Agri Finance DAC. Registered Office: Bloom House, Gloucester Square, Dublin 1.

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ESB Networks

Silage Harvesting and Overhead Electricity Lines A safety message from ESB Networks.

A

major risk at this time of year is working near overhead electricity wires. Coming close to live electricity wires is extremely hazardous and can be fatal because of the risk of electrocution. Very serious electrical accidents have taken place involving silage machinery, both in the silage field and at the silage pit.

The advice from Arthur Byrne, Public Safety Manager at ESB Networks is never work near overhead electricity lines. If you have concerns about overhead wires, poles, or stays, please phone ESB Networks immediately in the interest of your own safety and for others.

Contact, or even near contact, with electricity lines can be fatal.

The minimum safe distance is 3 metres in every direction. It is 6 metres for silage pits. These limits are higher for higher voltage lines. Check with ESB Networks first.

Accidents are preventable with advance planning and safe behaviours.

Put these precautions into practice every time: • Watch out for Overhead Wires, Poles and Stays.

• Steer Clear.

• Identify where Poles and Stays are in the field and avoid coming within 3 metres. You may need to physically ‘Red Flag’ them.

• Avoid crossing beneath Overhead Wires and Work Parallel.

• Poles and Overhead Wires must never be close to a silage pit. If they are closer than 6 metres, you must contact ESB Networks to re-locate. Do not work until ESB Networks advises that it is safe to do so.

If you have concerns about overhead wires, poles, or stays, please phone immediately. In an emergency, the speed of your phone call could make all the difference.

The emergency contact number is 1850 372 999 (24 hour/ 7day service).

Store this number in your mobile phone.

In the event of an accident situation involving any part of the machine coming in contact with the overhead electricity line, then it is vitally important that you follow these steps: • Stay in the cab; • Keep everyone else clear of the scene, at least 5 metres; • Phone ESB Networks immediately; • If possible, reverse out of the contact situation; • If you exit the cab (e.g. because of fire), jump clear and take short steps until you are 5 metres clear; • Do not return to the cab.

Do not, under any circumstances approach or touch electricity wires or anything that may be in contact with them.

Please check out our website for further information: www.esbnetworks/stayingsafe.ie

Serving all electricity customers

LOOK AROUND YOU, IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE Making contact with overhead electricity wires or even coming close puts you at serious risk of injury or death from electrocution.

Avoid serious injury on the farm, or on the road, never take risks near electricity lines behind the wheel.

Silage harvesters • Tractors with front loaders • Trailers with high loads • Tall machinery

In case of emergency, call 1850 372 999 www.esbnetworks.ie

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22180_ESB Safety_Overhead_Lines_Harvesting_A4_LAND.indd 1 IRISH

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31

Weed Control

Pastor Trio The Herbicide Of Choice For Reseeded Pastures Since its arrival on the market a number of years ago, Pastor Trio has become the herbicide of choice for reseeded pastures.

Pic 1: ‘Seedling Dock’

Since its arrival on the market a number of years ago, Pastor Trio has become the herbicide of choice for reseeded pastures.

It contains the powerful active ingredient florasulam as well as the two tried and tested ingredients fluroxypyr and clopyralid. The cocktail of these three chemicals with two different modes of action ensures a very wide spectrum of weed control in reseeded pasture.

Pastor Trio is powerful on a very wide range of weeds including docks, chickweed, thistles, dandelions, buttercups, redshank, plantains, mayweed, charlock and fumitory.

It is highly effective on seedling docks which can be a major problem in new swards. If not controlled at the seedling stage, dock roots can grow up to a metre deep and have a devastating effect on grass output.

Chickweed Chickweed is another serious problem and can smother the new grass, resulting in a very patchy sward. The biggest risk is from common chickweed but mouse-eared chickweed can also be a problem. Pastor Trio is powerful on both.

Chris Maughan, technical manager with Whelehan Crop Protection, which distributes Pastor Trio on the Irish market, said the risks of

Pic 2: ‘Cows with thistles’

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chickweed were manifested in swards reseeded last autumn and where there was not an opportunity for a post-emergent spray.

“The chickweed flourished over the mild winter and spring, almost smothering the grass. Swards that were sprayed with Pastor Trio in April and May recovered well. I have seen a few that were not sprayed and they are in a very unproductive state now,” said Chris.

Thistles New reseeds are also very prone to infestation with thistles. Even swards that were relatively free of thistles before reseeding can succumb to heavy infestations in the new sward. If not controlled early, they can become a massive problem in the following year.

“With the cost involved in sowing a new sward, it is vital to ensure that the output from the new grass is not hampered by infestations of weeds”.

“Therefore, if chickweed, docks, thistles or other common weeds such as dandelions and buttercups are present in a new sward, it will pay handsomely to spray with Pastor Trio,” said Chris Maughan.

Creeping thistle can be a major problem on some farms if left untreated. The paddock next to this was sprayed off with glyphosate

Pic 3: ‘Thistles from roots’

Pic 4: ‘Seedling thistles’

Weed Control this spring and the field was tilled with a disc harrow and over-seeded in May. As can be seen from Pic 2, the creeping thistles coming from deep roots emerged quickly. Pic 3 show thistles growing from seeds which are smaller. With the dry period following reseeding the grass took several weeks to germinate allowing the weeds to flourish. In these situations, Pastor Trio is the ideal choice. With large infestation of thistles from roots a follow up application with Thistlex the following year may be required to eliminate the thistles completely.

PastorTrio at a glance • Contains three powerful ingredients - florasulam, fluroxypyr and clopyralid.

• Weeds controlled include docks, chickweed, thistles, dandelions, buttercups, redshank, plantains, mayweed, charlock, fumitory and orache.

• Apply to new reseeds at one litre/ha in 200 litres of water from the third leaf visible stage of the grass (about six weeks after sowing).

It can be applied up to the end of August.

• Where weeds are dense, water levels should be increased by 50 per cent.

• The sward can be grazed seven days after spraying.

Envy proven in the field The picture to the right, taken with a drone, is of a field in Carlow which was reseeded in July 2019.

By early-September, the field was heavily infested with chickweed.

Docks and other weeds were also present.

The field was sprayed with Envy in mid-September. A section of the field was left untreated.

The drone picture, which was taken last October, shows that the treated area is completely weed-free while the untreated area is riddled with chickweed.

Inset is a close-up shot, also taken in June 2020, of the untreated area. This shows how the chickweed has smothered out the grass, resulting in large bare patches. These bare patches then allow for the germination and reintroduction of other perennial weeds like docks.

This demonstrates the importance of early post-emergent treatment of chickweed and other weeds in new reseeds.

The technique of over-sowing clover with P and K fertilizer was developed by Teagasc Moorepark. It involves mixing 2kg/acre clover with a bag of PK fertiliser such as 0-7-30 and spreading in two runs at right angles to each other. Another option is to use a slug pellet applicator on a quad bike.

After spreading, around 3,000 gallons/acre of fairly watery slurry should be applied in order to wash in the seed and limit moisture loss.

For best results, the pasture should be tightly grazed before the clover is over-sown. It works best where moisture levels are good.

Where pasture is sprayed with herbicides such as Pastor Trio and Envy, the over-sowing can be done 2-3 months after spraying.

Where clover was included in the original seed mixture, the effects of a heavy infestation of weeds far outweigh the benefits of the clover in the new sward. In such a situation it will make economic sense to spray the weeds with Pastor Trio or Envy and re-introduce the clover into a clean sward.

Envy Fact Sheet • Contains two powerful ingredients - florasulam and fluroxypyr.

• Highly effective on buttercups, dandelions, docks, chickweed, daisies and plantains.

• Apply to reseeded pasture at a rate of 1.5l/ha in a minimum of 200l water.

• Can be applied up to 30 November.

• Sward can be grazed seven days after spraying.

GrazonPro the ideal spot spray GrazonPro is the perfect product for controlling a wide range of weeds around fences, ditches and walls and for clearing out low infestations of weeds across a field.

Docks, nettles, thistles, briars, gorse, buttercups and brushwood/ scrub are among the troublesome weeds it controls.

It contains two powerful root killing ingredients – triclopyr and clopyralid. Triclopyr is very effective on brushwood/scrub and nettles.

No other product on the market for knapsack application has as high a concentration of this powerful chemical.

Apply it at a rate of 60 ml in 10 litres of water using a conventional knapsack sprayer, a quadbike sprayer or a suitable lance on a tractor mounted sprayer.

Technique to over-sow clover As clover is susceptible to both Pastor Trio, Envy and other herbicides that kill broad-leaved weeds, many farmers exclude clover from the mixture at reseeding. This enables the weeds to be effectively controlled in the new sward and the clover then added into a clean sward at a later stage.

Clover

Article by Chris Maughan of TP Whelehan Crop Protection

Nettles under electric wire. Spot spraying with GrazonPro kills nettles and other weeds on fences.

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Cubicle Design CUBICLE DESIGN

CUBICLES – A BUYERS GUIDE Find the cubicle design that best suits your herd, based on animal size, design of shed and yard.

By Paul Lyons.

Figure 3 – Flexible Cubicle

T

he idea of the cubicle bed in animal Table 1 – Cow Cubicle types housing came about to put cows in orderly straight lines and maximise housing space, and after a while as an after– thought, cow comfort. Many years ago the typical setup would have been a tie stall where cows had a halter or chain around their necks to keep them from wandering.

While the vegans might be hopping up and down with the idea of this practice, it actually Galway dairy farmer Padraic Cummins for meant that cows became quiet, docile and his own herd. easy to handle. And they are not gone or a thing of the past. I know of several farmers GOOD CUBICLE DESIGN in Connemara and parts of Donegal that PRINCIPLES swear by tying cows in. The particular shed As I mentioned earlier, there are many designs in Donegal is a few steps away from a road to choose from and then it needs to be and the door to the byre is wide open! But I decided what dimensions of that particular am getting distracted, back to cubicles. The design will suit your breed of cow and earliest form of cubicle was the 3 legged housing design. Figure 5 shows the various

key dimensions that need consideration.

Figure 6 shows an illustration of a cow rising.

Lunging space – This is an area above the brisket board that allows the cow’s head to lunge forward.

Body Space – This is the area where the cow will lie in the cubicle. It is important that there is sufficient space for the body of the cow and that bedding or matting covers the entire area. If the space is too short and

“Thorough research is necessary before a decision is made” Newton Rigg. This design was developed in the Newton Rigg Agricultural College in Cumbria, see Figure 1. For some time this was the only option available. Now there is a large variety of options available to maximise cow comfort. There are many variations in design and dimensions as the breeding of both the dairy and suckler cow varies quite a bit. The bed and cubicle size used for a Holstein Friesian will not be the same for an Angus suckler. In this article I aim to briefly describe the options of cubicles available, cover the key design points and describe a cubicle set up that was custom designed by IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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Figure 1 – Newton Rigg Cubicle

the backside of the cow hangs out over the bed, cows are less likely to use the spaces.Think of your own bed and if your foot was left sticking out of the covers on a cold winter's night!

Other considerations include the choice of bedding. Many farms today go for rubber matting of various thicknesses and designs.

There is also straw, milled peat and I have even come across a water bed. If I could offer one vital piece of advice, that is to do some thorough research on cubicles before you decide what to buy. There is a wealth of material written on cubicles and research carried out. At the end of this article I have listed some of the sources I used for research.

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Cubicle Design CUBICLE DESIGN Table 2 – Cubicle Terminology growing herd but it didn't suit to go adding another extension to his shed and Padraic had done a lot of research and thinking prior to construction. Now a few years down the line, he has no regrets. He now selects cows or heifers that are in good condition for the outdoor cubicles. They have access to a shed for feeding and he finds in bad weather and showers, they will congregate inside but other than that, he finds they are happy and thriving outside.

In terms of design, Padraic chose a sloped bed, his own shape of cubicle which has a sloped concrete brisket board. The lower end of the cubicle goes into this (the lower ends were welded to a length of box section which was incorporated in the concrete works). On top, the other end of the cubicle is welded directly to the head rail, which is then returned to RSJ uprights. to be improved cow comfort, ease of fitting Padraic wanted an all welded design as he yourself and less chance of damage to animal had found bolted joints to be troublesome or cubicle as a result of rough behaviour.Again it would be a case of doing your research and in the past (see Fig 10).The cubicles were asking the manufacturer to see if you can visit a made into roughly 4.8m (15'9'') sections and job they have done and speak to the farmer then transported to site and welded in place. in question to get feedback on performance. RESOURCES Figure 2 – Super Loop

OUTDOOR CUBICLES AND CUSTOMER LED DESIGN

There is a wealth of information from Irish, UK, European and US sources available on line in relation to cubicles and I would highly recommend a thorough read of all information before making a design or product choice.

As part of the preparation for this article, I visited a local dairy farmer, Padraic Cummins as I knew he had outdoor cubicles and that Teagasc – Cow Cubicles, Dr Tom Ryan, March 2004 he had designed the shape of the cubicle Dairy Housing – a best practice guide, AHDB, himself. Outdoor cubicle setups have come https://dairy.ahdb.org.uk/ in for a lot of criticism in recent snowstorms Journal of animal sciences, 2004, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8185450_Cubi so I was interested to see what Padraic had cle_housing_systems_for_cattle_Comfort_of_dairy_cows_ to say. His outdoor set up is shown in Figures depends_on_cubicle_adjustment 8, 9, 10. His choice of outdoor cubicle was Paul Lyons is a Design Engineer with Bó Steel based on a number of criteria. At the time of who specialise in cattle, sheep and equine construction, he needed extra space for his solutions. Email: Paul.lyons@built2last.ie

Figure 5 – Cubicle Dimensions

Figure 6 – Cow Rising Illustration

Figure 8 – Welded cubicle and concrete brisket

Figure 7 – Lunging space

STEEL VS PLASTIC One of the biggest innovations in cubicles in recent years is the use of plastic or flexible cubicles. Easyfix were the first to launch this product and while not every manufacturer has followed suit with complete plastic cubicles, many have incorporated some flexible features to steel cubicles. The main advantage seems Figure 9 – Outdoor cubicles

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Commercial Feature

Less Reliance On Antibiotics As Landmark Herd Find New Ways To Treat Mastitis And High Cell Count Steven Nagle milks 230 Holstein Friesian cows with his brother Ivan near Mitchelstown in Co Cork. His pedigree Landmark herd is currently selling 600kg of milk solids per cow.

Reports Richard Halleron “In volume terms, herd output is in the region of 8,500L,” he explained.

“The cows calve down in two batches: October to December and January through to March.

“We breed for healthy, productive, long lasting and trouble-free cows, with good confirmation with particular focus on health traits.

Steven continued: “I use sexed semen on the heifers. Repeating animals are bred to an Angus bull.”

Reducing his reliance on antibiotics has been a priority for Steven over recent years.

He explained: “Consumers want this and so do I. The most obvious way of tackling this issue is to improve the management practices implemented across the farm. Healthier animals will always be less predisposed to disease.

“But clinical cases of mastitis and problems associated with high cell count cows will still arise.”

Given this background, Steven had been on the lookout for ways of dealing with high cell counts and mastitis in ways that would not require a reliance on antibiotics. However, a visit to the National Dairy Show at Millstreet back in October 2019 provided him with an opportunity to implement such an approach. He takes up the story: “I met up with the AHV team at the event and they explained to me how this new science of Quorum Sensing is helping to reduce antibiotic usage on dairy farms across Europe.

“I decided to use the AHV product range on the cows, from a mastitis and high cell count perspective, and I have not been disappointed.”

Regular milk recording is an integral part of his management plan for the Landmark herd.

“This allows me to individually identify cows with high cell count pretty quickly,” he continued.

“It is now standard practice on the farm to give these cows an AHV Extra tablet. This is placed into the cow’s rumen with an easy-to-use applicator.

“In cases where physical clots are noticed the cow immediately receives an AHV Extra tablet. She will also receive Aspi. This is an antiinflammatory drench, also produced by AHV.” Steven explained that it takes time to get used to the impact made by the AHV range.

“Patience is required, particularly where cases of clinical mastitis are concerned. The amount of curds coming out of the teat can go up quite substantially after the tablets have been administered as the udder is

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being cleaned out.

“But the results speak for themselves. I have not used an antibiotic to treat a mastitis case in nine months. Our cell count currently sits at 100K. “There is no milk withdrawal or milk tainting associated with the use of the AHV range. This means that all of our milk can go into the bulk tank all of the time.”

AHV’s Adam Robinson was a recent visitor to the Nagle farm.

He commented: “AHV products represent new science and a new way to tackle these on-farm challenges. As these are new concepts to the dairy industry, the farmers need to be educated on this new method enabling them to move away from traditional methods. This is why we offer an on-farm support team to assist farmers with this transition. It takes time for farmers to build up their confidence as the products work in a very different way from what they are used to.”

He continued: “Steven and Ivan are very forward thinking and have a great herd of cows, so they want to look after the cows the best they can to keep the cows in the herd for longer. As in most farms’ udder health, fertility and feet problems are the main reasons for culling good cows.

“We can now help reduce the culling rate by optimising udder health. As each cow receives an AHV Extra tablet, we are cleansing out the udder tissue in all cases. The sooner the udder is cleansed, the less chance she will need to be culled from the herd.”

AHV Contact details: NI 0044 28 855 49600 ROI George Sherlock 087 314 7351 Website: www.ahvint.com

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Milking Machine Cleaning

Making The Optimum Use Of Hot Water For Milking Machine Cleaning In A Chlorine-Free Environment

by David Gleeson and John Upton For chlorine-free cleaning, a minimum of 7 hot washes (75/80°C) per week are required if using a liquid caustic detergent and a minimum of 4 hot washes are required if using a powder detergent.

The preference is to utilize night rate electricity where electric water heating is used; therefore hot washes should be targeted after morning milking. Ideally, the solution temperature at the end of the detergent wash cycle should be at least 45°C. Some companies suggest aiming for a higher end temperature of 50/55C°C, but this is not possible in most cases. A number of factors can influence the end

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temperature of detergent solution, other than the method of water heating. It is vital to have a thermometer if undertaking a review of a farm wash routine.

So what are the factors that influence this end temperature?

Temperature of water entering the wash trough must be at 75-80°C in order to achieve a full trough temperature of 75/77°C 1. A number of water heaters will be refilling with cold water as they disperse the stored hot water; this will result in water of a

Milking Machine Cleaning

2.

3.

4.

lower temperature entering the trough towards the end of the trough filling process. To establish if and when this reduction in water temperature is occurring, the water temperature should be measured throughout the trough filling process. Measuring the temperature of the hot water coming from the tap in the dairy or checking the temperature recorded on the boiler/heater is not sufficient The recommended volume of hot water (75/77°C) required to wash the machine is 9 litres per milking unit; if there is limited availability of hot water, then reducing the volume to 7 /8 litres per unit is preferable to running the detergent wash cycle at lower temperatures To make up the detergent solution, the volume of hot water required is calculated as outlined above (number of milking units x 9 litres/unit), and the amount of detergent to be added will be recommended on the product packaging. But in practice, it is also necessary to know the volume of water available in the water trough. The volume of the water trough may be calculated as follows: measure length of the trough, measure width of top and bottom of trough (if tapered) and average, measure height (to watermark), calculate length x width x height. If measured and calculated in inches, multiply the calculated figure by 0.016 to convert to litres A post-milking rinse with warm water at temperature of

5.

6.

7.

20/30°C would be an advantage if sufficient hot water was available; it would heat the internal stainless steel surface of the milkline and would therefore have a positive impact on the circulation temperature and end temperature of the detergent wash cycle.

Some automatic washers have the ability to ‘dump’ the first 5/10 litres of the circulated water at the start of the main wash cycle, but this facility is often not activated. Its use is recommended, as it would remove any cold water remaining after the postmilking rinse cycle, and it would increase the temperature of the plant for the remaining wash/detergent cycle. This would assist in achieving a higher circulation and end temperature of the detergent wash cycle. In this case, the detergent is automatically added to the wash water only after the initial 5/10 litres water is dumped. These steps could also be adopted in a manual system.

A circulation time of 8 to 10 minutes for the detergent/wash cycle is adequate to correctly wash any size milking plant.

However, the circulation time is often set at considerable longer durations (in both automatic and manual systems) and this has a significant adverse effect on the end temperature of the detergent cycle.

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DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

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39

Milking Machine Cleaning 1.

have to be given to the bulk milk tank; this may require the milking machine hot wash to be conducted after the evening milking. Alternatively, if a scenario arises where a lower water temperature (60/70°C) is recommended by the bulk milk tank manufacturer, separate water heaters for the bulk tank and the milking machine may be required. Therefore achieving the targets for the circulation temperature and end temperature of the detergent wash cycle may not require investment in larger water heaters, just to address of the points raised above.

Options for heating water The most common type of water heating system on Irish dairy farms is electrical water heating. These systems are cost effective to both install and operate. These systems offer the best blend of capital costs and running costs up to the point where daily demand for hot water System type

Cost per 100 litres

CO2 emissions per 100 litres

Day rate electricity

€2.10

4.4 kg

Night rate electricity

€0.94

4.4 kg

Gas (LPG) fired

€0.87

2.1 kg

Oil (Kerosene) fired

€0.45

2.6 kg

Table 1: Cost of heating water with electric, oil and gas water heating systems. Figures are designed to give an indicative estimate for an average system with average efficiency. Prices correct on 08/05/2020, note oil prices are very low at this time.

is below 300 litres (e.g. a farm with a 16 unit milking parlour and a 7,000 litre bulk tank). Where electrical water heating systems are used it is important to time operation of the systems to use night rate electricity to keep running costs low.

Night rate is charged at ~€0.08 per kWh, and day rate is charged at ~€0.16 per kWh; exact costs vary by the electricity supplier.

Checking your pricing and tariff structure against the best available rates can also yield significant savings. The cheapest supplier could cost 20% less than the most expensive supplier. Night rate hours are from 11pm to 8am during winter time and 12 midnight to 9am for summer time. Where daily demand for hot water exceeds 300 litres, it is worth considering oil or gas fired water heating systems as they can offer lower running costs. Oil and gas fired system can also reduce the farms carbon footprint because they offer lower CO2 emissions per litre of hot water supplied. However, they will cost substantially more to purchase and install. The majority of gas fired systems are instant heating installations, while oil systems come in both instant and batch heating options. Instant systems do not require a storage tank which may be convenient in some cases. If opting for an instant water heating system, ensure that it has the ability to fill the wash trough in 10 minutes. See table 1 to compare running costs of electricity, oil and gas fired systems.

Increasing efficiency of water heating systems All of the heating systems mentioned previously are compatible with heat recovery units. The heat recovery unit will capture waste heat from the milk cooling process and use it to preheat the water for the electric, oil or gas system, resulting in a reduction in energy use of 30 to 50%. Heat recovery units are grant-aided under the TAMS grant.

Integrating renewable energy Solar energy can also be harnessed and used to heat water on dairy farms. Solar Photovoltaic cells (solar PV panels that generate electricity from the sun, with zero emissions) are the most feasible means of achieving this. Small PV installations (6 kWp) are grantaided under the TAMS grant and can deliver a good return on investment where the farmer is grant eligible and where the expense is written off against tax in the year of purchase under the accelerated capital allowance scheme.

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Conclusions It is important to assess the quantity of hot water needed on each farm. This information should be used to design a water heating system to deliver the correct quantities of hot water, at the desired temperatures, while keeping running costs low. This will ensure that dairy equipment is kept in a hygienic condition which will promote excellent milk quality.

Summary • A circulation time of 8 to 10 minutes for the detergent/wash cycle is adequate to correctly wash any size milking plant • The recommended volume of hot water (75/77°C) required to wash the machine is 9 litres per milking unit • Ideally, the solution temperature at the end of the detergent wash cycle should be at least 45°C • The average cost of heating water on Irish dairy farms is approximately €600 per 100 cows per year • Aim to have a hot water storage capacity of 9 litres of hot water per milking unit and 2% of the volume of the bulk tank available • Where electric heaters are installed, use night rate electricity.

Night rate hours are from 11pm to 8am during winter time and 12 midnight to 9am for summer time • Use oil or gas heaters for large dairy units where demand exceeds 300 litres of hot water per day • Install heat recovery systems to reduce fossil energy requirements by up to 50%

by David Gleeson and John Upton, Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork

Covid-19 Protocols

Tips For Milking During Covid-19 Milking is one of the essential tasks on a dairy farm. During these extraordinary times of COVID-19, it is essential to keep yourself and your milkers safe at milking time. writes Pádraig O Connor, Teagasc, Grange Before milking • Disinfect your boots in a fresh foot bath before entering the milking parlour or dairy • Wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap for 20 seconds as per HSE guidelines • Use nitrile disposable gloves and a clean parlour apron or parlour suit • Use your own personal protective equipment (PPE) and don’t share with other milkers Milking in Herringbone Parlours • Where possible, milk with one person in the pit • Disinfect your gloves and parlour apron /suit regularly throughout the milking • Where two people are needed, split the parlour into two zones , i.e. in a 30 unit parlour, let one milker look after units 1-15 and the other milker look after units 16-30 to enable physical distancing • Although bunny-hopping is the most efficient way to milk cows in a large herringbone parlour, it is safer to split the parlour into two zones as outlined above for the duration of COVID-19

Getting ready for milking

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

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Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

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Milking in Rotary Parlours • Milk with one person putting on the clusters (where possible) • Where two people normally put on the clusters it is worth considering cutting this back to one person during COVID-19 to ensure milker safety • If two people are needed it is essential that staff keep at least 2 metres apart After Milking • Wash down and disinfect your parlour apron or suit • Remove your gloves correctly, discard and wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap following HSE guidelines • COVID-19 stays on plastic and steel surfaces for 72 hours.

Disinfect shared work areas. Pay particular attention to clusters, bulk tank outlet and door handles etc.

• Minimise staff contact as much as possible • Follow your co-op guidelines regarding the provision of soap, paper towel etc. and the regular disinfection of surfaces • We are living in extraordinary times so please Stay Safe

Herringbone Parlour

Disenfecting after milking

Rotary Parlour

ICE Comfort Slat Mats

07/03/2014

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Commercial Feature COMMERCIAL FEATURE

EXPANSION, LAMENESS & PROFITABILITY slats over slurry tanks is widespread. Studies show cows should lie in cubicles between 12 and 14 hours per day with the balance engaged in feeding, milking, drinking and socialising.That means 10 to 12 hours is standing on hard, wet, dirty and cold concrete slats.This is the primary cause of lameness in modern day dairy farming.

LAMENESS

CHALLENGES The last number of years have been challenging to dairy farmers who have faced considerable hardship due to diminishing returns, poor weather and higher feed costs.The ending of milk quotas in 2015 has led to considerable debate to achieve sustainability and growth particularly with land availability and fragmentation limiting expansion. In this environment, many dairy producers are re– assessing production methods especially with climate change and the necessity for sustainable growth.There is a realisation that increased intensification is required,with a move to some version of confinement systems as inevitable.

CONFINEMENT Much discussion has centred on the use of “confinement” farming as a solution.There are two versions – Total confinement where cows are housed inside year round, milked in parlours and fed mechanically harvested feed and Winter confinement – usually family sized farms with cows milked in parlours but during non–pasture season the cows are housed inside and fed mechanically harvested feed familiar to Irish farms today.

The central benefits of confinement systems stem from the high level of cow management which achieves savings in production costs – labour, higher levels of performance by the herd (increased milk/milk solids yield).Also, adverse weather conditions have minimal impact on the day to day working of the farm especially as the herd cannot degrade the land by poaching.

GROWTH With current weather patterns restricting grazing, farm fragmentation and limited land availability to facilitate an increase in herd size, it is difficult to see how the dairy industry can achieve the 50% increase in milk production through the traditional grazing practices.

There are three possible paths to achieve the significant increases in milk yields envisaged – 1. Increase the herd size, 2. Intensify the farm production through farm consolidation and adopting total confinement practices or 3.A combination of the two.

THE NETHERLANDS The average milk yield in Ireland is 4429 litres/year per cow while in The Netherlands is yield is 8101 litres/year.This near double the output is through the application of total confinement methods. In The Netherlands herds are often housed 24 hour a day as the only means to manage a large herd with limited land resources.This is not without detrimental effects on the animals and the efficiency of the farm if not managed. In Ireland and The Netherlands, use of concrete

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

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>> SEE PAGE 46

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

Lameness reduces the cow’s mobility and causes loss of body condition through reduced feed intake.This affects the cow’s fertility most notably loss of body condition, inability to show sign of heat and increased likelihood of being hurt during bulling activity.The reduction in fertility is related to the severity of the lameness such as cows requiring more services The losses associated with lameness are a significant drain on the profits, with farmers often unaware of the scale of these losses. However, farmers are often of the opinion that large scale lameness “go with the territory” and is something to deal with as it occurs.

PREVENTING LAMENESS – ENABLING GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY How can The Netherlands achieve double the milk production to Ireland? The simple answer is they have recognized and invested in advanced animal health and welfare. Identifying lameness and tackling it has led to enormous productivity gains. One of the most cost effective is the use of specialized Plastic Flooring Systems.There have been great advances achieved on flooring systems since the introduction of a simple black rubber fitted onto concrete slats and still used today in Ireland.

“89% of the cows did not show any clinical sign of lameness” Animal science and innovative manufacturing have moved beyond the limitations of flat black rubber mats. Manufacturers working with the Animal Science Group of Wageningen University (The Netherlands) have developed the next generation of flooring system to meet the challenges ahead.

A study conducted by Dutch Hoof health Centre into lameness in Dairy Herds on such flooring systems show the “percentage of lame cows as low. On average 89% of the cows did not show any clinical signs of lameness”, which contrasts with 95% lameness (mild to severe) in an Northern Ireland (AFBI) study in 2011.

Irish dairy farming has the advantage and disadvantage of low–cost grazing, so sustainable growth and profitability will only occur when we embrace more intensive milk production and innovative solutions to persistent dairy lameness.

For further information contact Comfort Slat Mats Tel: 01 8643494.

Email: sales@comfortslatmat.com or www.slatmats.com

Flogas

Hot Water in an Instant

L-R: Gary Johnson Glanbia Ireland Business manager, David Conroy Flogas Dairy on Site Demonstrator, Darren Healy Glanbia Dairy Farmer - Feb ‘20

The Challenge Darren Healy returned to his family farm 20 years ago, where he, alongside his wife Kalinda and his father Eamonn, run a spring calving dairy farm in Wicklow. Darren’s children will be the fifth generation to farm this land.

Previously, the family farm was using night rate electricity for hot water but was running out of it before the day was done. They were

L-R, David Conroy Flogas Dairy On Site Demonstrator, Tom Phelan Glanbia Quality Manager - Feb ‘20 IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

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>> SEE PAGE 46

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IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

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searching for an efficient and convenient system to meet their demand for a constant supply of hot water. Also, with the move towards chlorine-free detergents becoming more crucial, the availability of hot water throughout the day was becoming more and more of a necessity.

The Flogas Solution David Conroy, Flogas Area Representative, visited the farm with the Flogas dairy demonstration trailer, to show Darren and Eamonn exactly how the Flogas Instant Hot Water system performs.

David was also able to advise them about the best tank location and the necessary siting guidelines for their farm.

The Healy family were very impressed at the ability to provide hot water up to 85 degrees, at any time, night or day. They were also happy with how straightforward the system was to operate, and they decided to make the switch.

The Changeover Process The local fitter did a site walkthrough and advised on the best location to install the heater units and distances from the heaters and water taps.

A Flogas bulk LPG tank was delivered and sited. Two wall mounted water heaters were installed and connected. Since then, they haven’t looked back.

Flogas and Glanbia Partnership Flogas and Glanbia have collaborated to off er the Flogas Instant Hot Water system to Glanbia Dairy Farms. “Moving to chlorinefree, instant hot water is now critical in all wash routines for dairy farmers. We are recommending Flogas Instant Hot Water on Dairy Farms because it provides the hot water necessary in the new wash routines.” - - Tom Phelan, Milk Quality Manager, Glanbia.

Results • On demand hot water delivering temperatures from 37˚C to 85˚C • Consistently low TBC count since installation • No hot water storage costs • Reduced carbon footprint • Reliable and secure source of hot water • The heater is located outside the parlour and noise levels are minimal.

Otterstown, Athboy, Co. Meath.

C15 XH52

T: 01 485 1323 E: info@aneuco.ie W: www.aneuco.ie

Combi-board Zeta Click & Pour PVC Wall System •

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Has the same stable chararistics as concrete combined with the advantage of having a plastic smooth outer surface.

Fire Rating of Bs2d0 & is UV Stable with a Colourfast Warranty makes it suitable for both External & Internal Wall Projects.

Suitable for both large & small projects from complete Building Wall Structures to Single Pods were easy installation & strength is key.

Having the advantages of speedy installation along

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with having a finished wall surface which is anti fungal & moisture resistant.

Available in 2 Panel thicknesses, 100mm & 175mm.

It is produced to the customers specific project requirements Including associated Corners & U Trims allowing for the concrete core to be installed at the same time to give the complete finish.

Environmentally friendly - manufactured from recycled PVC. Saves on water usage due to it’s easily cleaned surface Suitable for a solid concrete core or the beaded concrete mix which results in an insulated wall structure

Heifer Management

Keeping your Replacement Heifers on Target this Rearing Cycle

by Emer Kennedy and Hazel Costigan Rearing replacement heifers is a substantial investment on any dairy farm. It costs €1,545 to rear one replacement heifer from birth to calving at 24 months of age, and it takes 1.63 lactations for the heifer to pay off the investment before she starts returning a profit. If a heifer calves later than 26 months of age this substantially increases the cost associated with rearing and the return on investment is delayed as a result. Thus, the aim of rearing replacement heifers is very clear: get the heifers to calve at 24-months of age and achieve weight targets throughout the first two years of their life to maximise their production potential when they calve down and join the lactating herd. However, recent ICBF statistics show that over the last three years only 68 – 70% of replacement dairy heifers are calving between 22 and 26 months of age. This indicates that there is room for improvement in heifer rearing systems and that costs associated with rearing can be reduced by getting them to calve at the correct age. Achieving this starts from the day the calf is born.

During the first two years of the replacement heifer’s life there are a series of target weights which need to be achieved. This helps to ensure that growth rate is consistent and that heifers reach the correct weight at breeding and at calving.

The key target weights to achieve at different time points are: • 30% mature BW @ 6 months of age • 60% mature BW @ 15 months of age or mating start date

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•

90% mature BW pre-calving (~24 months of age)

Identifying mature weight of the herd The first thing to do is identify the mature weight of your herd.

Target weights are specific to your herd as the composition of everyone’s herd is slightly different so it is important that you know your herds mature weight so that you can calculate target weights for your replacement heifers. The months of May and June are the ideal time to identify the mature weight of your spring-calving herd. At this time cows have recovered from their last pregnancy and if they are pregnant again, the foetus will not account for any additional weight at this stage. Identifying the mature weight of your herd is completed by weighting a sample of mature, well grown cows from the herd. Cows which are in their 3rd or greater lactation should be used as they are fully grown. The cows that you weigh should also represent the future of your herd i.e. what you want your future herd to look like. For example: if you are changing cow type, e.g. moving to Holstein Friesian x Jersey cross, base your target weights/ mature weight on Holstein Friesian x Jersey cross animals rather than Holstein-Friesians. Similarly, if you have animals which have had setbacks during the rearing period and as a result are not well-grown, do not use these animals to calculate your mature herd weight.

Heifer Management

Importance of achieving target weight Achieving target weights at each of the time points outlined above has previously been shown to maximise milk production potential and ensure longevity within the lactating herd. However, this comes with a word of caution. Replacement heifers which are ahead of target weight are at higher risk of having reduced longevity within the lactating herd. Teagasc Moorepark data has shown that heifers that were overweight at mating start date had a later calving date from second lactation onwards and a fewer number of total lactations than those heifers that were at target weight at mating start date.

Having heifers ahead of target results in unnecessary expense as additional feed has been used to put the extra weight on the animals, and as the heifers do not remain in the herd for as long as those that achieved target weight it results in a higher replacement rate and a greater number of heifers need to be reared.

How to achieve target weight At this stage of the year all replacement heifer calves should be weaned and grazing grass. At Teagasc Moorepark calves are offered pre-grazing yields of 1300 – 1400 kg DM/ha (similar to swards offered to lactating cows) and graze these swards to ~4cm postgrazing height. Fresh grass is offered every 2 – 3 days. Concentrate supplementation depends on grass availability and heifer weights.

Calves are weighed regularly (every month) and are grazed in two

separate herds according to their weight. The calves within these herds constantly change as one herd is for lighter calves and the other herd is for heavier calves. The aim is to try and obtain as uniform a herd as possible – the target weights are individual animal targets, not a herd average as within an average there can be a large range and ideally the range should be minimised.

The herd which contains the lighter calves always has less calves so there is reduced competition within the group. These calves are given preferential treatment – they get higher quality grass and more concentrate if necessary. At each weighing a minimum weight is set, calves over this weight go into the larger group with the heavier calves and calves below the weight go into the smaller group. It often happens that calves only need a short time in the lighter group before they move back to the heavier group.

The next target which we are currently working towards with the calves is to achieve 30% of mature bodyweight at six months of age.

For example: • 42 Holstein Friesian calves • Mature weight of herd: 550 kg • Weight on June 14th: 125 kg (range 105 – 145 kg) • Target weight on Aug 5th (6 months old): 165 kg • Need to gain 40 kg between June 14th and August 5th • Daily weight gain: 52 days ÷ 40 kg = 0.78 kg/day IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

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Heifer Management Using the example above achieving a weight gain of 0.78 kg/ day should be achievable from a high quality grass diet, however continuous monitoring of calf weight is required as concentrate supplementation may be required if grass quality declines. Similarly, climatic conditions could have an effect on weight gain. Regular weighing will determine if concentrate supplementation is required to achieve target weights.

This management strategy should be continued for the remainder of the first grazing season. In addition to monitoring weight gain, a dosing regimen, which does not contribute to anthelminthic resistance, needs to be devised with your vet and herd vaccination protocols should also be adhered to.

Managing heifers during their second grazing season Regardless of diet offered over the winter, weight gains achieved post-turnout are higher than those achieved during the winter.

Heifers should be turned out to grass as soon as possible in spring, as they can gain up to 1 kg/day at grass compared to <0.70 kg/day while on their winter diet. Consequently heifers have a greater chance of attaining their target weight with early turnout.

During the main grazing season heifers should graze covers of 1400 – 1500 kg DM/ha and achieve a post-grazing height of 4cm, this will train them for efficient grazing when they join the lactating herd. While a number of people use leader follower systems, i.e. the younger calves graze ahead of the older heifers, which is beneficial for parasite control, caution should be exercised as both groups of animals are growing and require sufficient nutrients to attain their target weights. If the group of in-calf heifers are below target weight

they should not be grazed in a leader follower system.

An exercise similar to the one above should be completed when maiden heifer are turned out to grass for their second grazing.

Knowing the number of days between turnout and breeding start date and the amount of weight heifers need to put on is critical to devise a management plan to ensure they achieve target weight.

New research Currently, there is a new study being undertaken at Teagasc Moorepark which is examining the effect of the length of the milk feeding period (8-weeks or 12-weeks) and offering either a high or a low plane of nutrition in the post weaning period on weight gain, fertility and subsequent milk production. Preliminary results show that post-weaning nutrition is having a greater effect on weight gain than pre-weaning nutrition which indicates that if heifers are behind target at weaning offering a high plane of nutrition during the first (higher concentrate and grazing high quality grass to 4 – 4.5cm) and second (grazing high quality grass to 4 – 4.5cm) grazing seasons can ensure high growth rates and the attainment of target weight. However, the study needs to be completed and the effects on milk production investigated as previous international research indicates that milk feeding strategy may have a positive effect on milk production potential when heifers join the lactating herd.

Article by Emer Kennedy and Hazel Costigan of Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

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SOBAC Your Natural Fertilisation Partner

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BACTERIOSOL® - BACTERIOLIT® Natural fertilisation process Unlock the potential of your soil Increase micro-organisms’activity Increase your farm gross margin

Farmers’testimonies videos on : www.bacteriosol-sobac.com Tom Stapleton 087-2328051

Huesker

Huesker:

A Trusted brand since 1861

Working with ventilation in Agriculture for more than 30 Years for any farm building old or new

H

UESKER was founded in 1861 and for the past 30 years has been creating products for the agriculture market. Known predominantly for the manufacture of technical textiles the decision to start using some of its own technology in ventilation systems and doors for farm buildings has led it expanding the range year on year. From side ventilation curtains to doors, fans and tubes, HUESKER has the product range to assist with ventilation in any farm building, old or new.

The Light and Air segment of HUESKER‘s portfolio features products designed to optimise the indoor environment of livestock houses. This includes the intelligent Lubratec® wind protection and side ventilation curtains and a range of doors and fronts to suit many agricultural applications. Our range also includes Skytex® light ridge for efficient daylighting, Vetsmarttubes® Smart Ventilation Tubes for venting and cooling as well as the Ventitec® high-volume fans for air distribution and cooling.

Intelligent constructions that guarantee adequately sized ventilation openings, efficient air extraction systems and systematic air distribution are now fundamental to professional dairy farming operations. Yet, these criteria are not always considered in basic design requirements. Factors such as dust, ammonia, heat stress, darkness, lack of oxygen and humidity affect the well-being of livestock. Undue exposure will severely diminish the vitality of cows and their resistance to diseases. To maximise performance, the animals need plenty of light, fresh air and rest. Daylight, cooling, a plentiful supply of oxygen and the constant extraction of humidity make a positive contribution by enhancing the vitality, resistance to diseases and productivity of livestock. An ideal indoor environment can only be created through

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FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

>> SEE PAGE 46

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the expert co-ordination of all components. As a full-service provider of natural ventilation systems, HUESKER can vouch for optimum indoor conditions in housings for dairy cow, pig and poultry.

Ingenious climate control solutions for livestock houses The HUESKER side ventilation curtains mainly feature “top opening” and “bottom opening” roll-up systems. Variants with a central roller are also available for larger opening heights. The greatest flexibility in terms of opening position is offered by the “top and bottom opening - central roller” model, for which a shading setting is also available on request. All systems can be either manual, electric or fitted with a climate control and sensors to give you piece of mind when it is fully controlled by the weather conditions set to optimise the temperature and air quality in the barn.

Housing your precious livestock in stress-free conditions is essential for maximising milk yield. Heat is the prime stress factor for cows: their metabolism is such that, depending on yield, they give off between 20 and 60 MJ of thermal energy per day. To prevent longterm exposure to heat stress in summer, fans must be kept running permanently for several months. Ventitec® wide-area fans ensuring continuous air circulation offer the most energy-efficient solution.

Respiratory tract diseases are often the result of poor environmental conditions in livestock buildings and remain a common cause of pulmonary illness. Active ventilation is a crucial preventive measure.

The cutting-edge Vetsmarttubes® ventilation system improves both the health and productivity of farm animals. As studies show, installation of the ventilation tubes brings about significant cuts in treatment costs. The support of Vetsmarttubes experts, in conjunction with

Huesker on-site veterinary advice and the relevant expertise in physics, enables HUESKER to custom-design ventilation tubes for barns.

Working in conjunction with experienced vets and farmers, HUESKER has developed the healthy calf barn – a concept for an optimised climate in calf barns. A healthy combination of natural and active ventilation, continuous air extraction and ample daylight characterise the barn. The micro-climate is defined by an optimised calf cubicle. A simplified building structure lowers the construction expenses.

Doors and Fronts Though extremely light, fabric doors make no compromises in terms of stability. Through the appropriate choice of fabric, these doors can also provide a ventilating function. The doors open from the bottom upwards and are available in various models: with manual drive/ electric drive, with/without lateral guide rails, with/without horizontal stiffening sections. Our smaller doors go up to 6m x 6m

Once you go above the 6m threshold we then move into fronts and large doors. Here we can close off the side of a building up to 50m long and make a large door to cover 20m x 10m. Apart from providing wind protection, these systems serve to seal off vehicle entrances that are larger than standard doors. In the closed position, they are tensioned by ratchets to create an effective barrier against wind and weather. In terms of opening action, a distinction is drawn between rolling and folding, and between upward and side-opening systems.

The use of robust, durable materials - e.g. polyester (PES) and polyethylene (PE) - ensures that all HUESKER door models offer extra-high weather and UV resistance. A choice of different widths, heights and drive options is available as standard. In some cases, customers can also select from a range of colours. If required, bespoke solutions can be developed, manufactured and customised directly at the factory.

To discuss any requirements you may have or to get any more information then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Huesker Ltd Huesker LtdHarvard Court, Calver Road 3 Quay Business Centre,

3 Quay Business Warrington WA2 8LTCentre, Harvard Court, Calver Road Warrington WA2 8LT

Tel: 01925 629393 Tel: 01925 629393 Email: info@huesker.co.uk Email: info@huesker.co.uk

Northern Farm Supplies 54B Roguery Road, Toombridge, County Antrim BT41 3TJ Northern Farm Supplies

54B Roguery Road, Toombridge, County Antrim

Tel: 07927 905150 BT41 3TJ Email: nfsuppliesni@gmail.com Tel: 07927 905150 Email: nfsuppliesni@gmail.com

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

Farm Business IRISH

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

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Farm Safety

Animal Behaviour Matters Know how to manage the behaviour of Bulls… it can be unpredictable As I reach for the old faded blue edition, I pleasantly observe a familiar name penciled inside the cover of ‘The Herdsman’s Book’, 1956. What better book to inspire another article destined for viewing in the Irish Dairy Business. A lot has changed in dairying since 1956. Yet much information remains as valid and relevant today. For example, the suggestion that the more mechanical feeding, management and milking techniques become, the more there is need to treat the animal as an animal. Of course, who wouldn’t agree? I only have to recall a close encounter on a nearby farm recently when a child was thrown over a ditch by the father because the dog barked and startled the herd who immediately took off in the direction of same two.

Yes behavior matters and it is how we plan and manage our behavior at work that keeps everyone safe and sound. Sadly, too often the near misses are the teachers that reform behaviour. Yet if I stop and consider that nearby incident and ponder if it was preventable-the answer is a resounding yes. It was seconds away from being a lifechanging event. Over one third of all farm deaths last year in 2019 involved livestock.

As the breeding season is almost upon us and bulls visible in fields alongside cows. Remember take heed of the safety tips below as the milking herd is brought in twice a day so that is twice a day that bulls interact with people. Farm workers will engage in separating the bull form the cows and do well to remember that animals react unpredictably when they are separated from a familiar group. Bulls often draw upon experiences when reacting to a situation. A welldesigned bullpen is needed for managing a bull when it is away from the herd. The design of this pen aught allow the worker feed and bed the bull without entering the pen. It is wise to locate the bullpen where the bull can see other animals. A strong chain, which touches the ground, should be fitted in case an issue arose -the bull would trip on the chain and thereby be forced to slow down.

Safety Tips with bulls: • Placid bulls are unpredictable, so care is essential at all times.

• Bull handlers should be fit, agile, properly trained and aged 18 and 65 • Bulls should learn to associate the presence of people with pleasant things such as feeding, grooming and exercise • All bulls should be ringed when 10 months old, and the ring should be examined regularly • Aggressive bulls should be slaughtered • On dairy farms the pen should be located where the bull can see cows going to and from the parlour or paddocks • When grazing a bull with the herd, make maximum use of fields where the public do not have access • Any field in which a bull is kept should be securely fenced and gates safely secured and maintained • A tractor or suitable farm vehicle should always be provided as a mobile sanctuary • Young children should not be allowed into a field where a bull is running

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CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

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Farm Business >> SEE PAGE 22

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Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM

•

A safety sign warning of a bull’s presence should be displayed adjacent to public places, particularly at access points

Planning our work is vital in an industry that unfortunately experiences such high levels of workplace deaths. During the past ten years from 2010-2019 Irish farms encountered 214 work-related deaths. As many perceive other industries are more dangerous the reality is that farming accounts for forty-four percent of all workplace deaths in Ireland. Construction accounts for twenty-seven percent.

However, looking at construction related deaths on farms there were 25 lives extinguished between 2010-2019. Please ensure to make written appointments of contractors carrying out construction work on your farm.

There are many children seen frolicking and jumping around the fields this year and contractors flat out busy. No one is replaceable and no one wants to outlive his or her children. Take a look at the table, which shows the triggers of farms deaths and which months they have occurred.

The key message must remain that priority is given to: 1. Advance planning 2. Trained operators (not children) 3. Manage and control machinery operation 4. Maintenance programmes 5. Physical and mental health.

Moreover, as The Herdsman Book states, “a good herdsman is born not made. But to make a good herdsman better, training is invaluable”.

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Each new ARION 400 is also delivered with 3 years / 1,500 hours Warranty. Terms and Conditions apply.

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Lo-call number

1890 321 321 Email

info@gainanimalnutrition.com Order In-store, In-yard or IFB0219 ISSUE 1.qxp_Layout 1 07/03/2019 13:30 Page 1

TEAT DISINFECTANT HOW TO SELECT FROM 100 PRODUCTS

CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS COW TOILET: FACT OR FANTASY?

FINANCE CHANGING FARM STRUCTURES

>> SEE PAGE 22

>> SEE PAGE 46

>> SEE PAGE 38

Farm Business glanbiaconnect.com 56

IRISH

Volume 6 Issue 1 Spring 2019 Edition Price 3.95 £2.95 (Stg)

DAIRYING

PARLOUR PROTOCOLS HELP THE COW & THE MILKING PERSONNEL

FARM DESIGN DEVELOP A LONG-TERM PLAN FORYOUR FARM