The Dairy Edge

Latest Episodes:

David Beca on the fundamentals of cost control in grazing systems Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

International dairy consultant, David Beca, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the fundamentals of cost control in grazing systems.

David discusses pasture harvest, as defined as grass utilised on the milk platform, and consequently, the proportion of pasture in the dairy cow diet, as the key driver of low cost, high profit grazing systems.

Furthermore, David compares the relative costs of feedstuffs in Ireland and international competitors. He explains that the relative cost of grazed grass and supplement is much greater than in countries such as USA owing to the ability of Irish farms to grow grass so cheaply. He costs grass at $60 v concentrates at $400, reinforcing the impact of imported feed on the cost structures

For more information go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/events/2023/David-Beca---Key-drivers-of-milk-production-costs-in-dairy-systems.pdf

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Results from the Teagasc Sustainability Report Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

Cathal Buckley, Researcher at the Rural Economy Unit in Teagasc Athenry, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the results from the sustainability report of 2022 that was published in October of this year.

Cathal first outlines the number of dairy farms involved in the survey and some of the figures associated with them such as the average dairy cow number of 92.

Cathal discusses the reasons for the reduction in the per hectare emissions on dairy farms in 2022. The main reason being the reduction in chemical fertiliser applied but also due to the change in the fertiliser type with the switch from CAN to straight urea and protected urea.

However, he explains, due to the switch to straight urea over protected urea, there was an increase in ammonia emissions. The change to urea based fertiliser has been a positive but it needs to change to protected urea to have maximum impact on ammonia.

Cathal says that efficiency gains have been good but have been eroded by the increase in the national herd so we need to continue to adopt the technologies to drive down the overall emissions and then the greenshoots of research in relation to methane emissions from rumination can potentially have a significant impact when they do eventually come to the market.

Cathal finishes by recommending that farmers look to rapidly embrace clover and multispecies which are looking promising in their early research to reduce the reliance on chemical fertiliser which is subject to fluctuation due to the ongoing geo-political climate.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

How Meath's David Hannon uses data for better dairy farming Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

With the level of data available to dairy farmers increasing all the time, David Hannon, a dairy farmer from county Meath, joins James Dunne on the latest Dairy Edge podcast to explain how he uses data to drive better decisions on his farm.

The National Dairy Conference 2023 takes place on November 29th at the Lyrath Hotel, county Kilkenny with the theme of this year’s conference, 'Adapting to a changing dairy farming environment'.
For tickets and more information visit:
https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/dairy-conference/
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

The questions to consider after a decade of expansion Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

Teagasc’s Richie O’Brien and Joe Patton join Emma-Louise Coffey on the latest Dairy Edge podcast to reflect on the progress made after a decade of expansion whilst also discussing concerns in areas such as the economic consequences of overstocking the milking platform.
Richie explains that the advice now is similar to pre-quota: efficiency before scale, getting the simple things right like soil fertility, producing more grass, completing a financial plan to dictate decisions at farm level.

When considering the rise in milk production, Joe explains that for the most part it has been beneficial from an economic and social perspective.
Joe urges farmers to look specifically at their farm’s feed situation. What proportion of the dairy cow diet is coming from grazed grass and how much external feed is being imported onto the platform, be it through concentrate or purchased forage?

There was consensus among Joe and Richie that farmers should budget 5.5 tonnes of grass utilised and 800kg concentrate per cow, meaning a farm stocked at 2.5 cows per ha needs to grow 15 tonnes of grass.

The National Dairy Conference 2023 takes place on November 29th at the Lyrath Hotel, county Kilkenny with the theme of this year’s conference, 'Adapting to a changing dairy farming environment'.

For tickets and more information visit:
https://www.teagasc.ie/corporate-events/dairy-conference/

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

The financial performance of dairy farms in 2023 Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Dairy advisor, Jim Moyles, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss the financial performance of dairy farms in 2023 and potential areas where farmers can focus on to protect profits.
Jim documents farm accounts for 27 farms from January to September and he explains that farm receipts have declined by €800 per cow compared with 2022 resulting from a 15 cent/litre drop in milk price while production remained steady to the end of August.

Farm costs remained relatively steady with variable costs increasing by €8 and fixed costs increasing by €60 year-on-year. Consequently, surplus cash has declined from €1,550 per cow in 2022 to €700 in 2023. Jim reminds us that this surplus cash must cover own labour/drawings, tax and repayments.
Jim advises that all farmers should complete a cost control planner in order to assess their individual farm situation because a group average masks a lot.

While the average surplus cash is €700 per cow, the range across the group was -€17 to +€1,300.

Characteristics of the farms achieving higher surplus cash include good milk and animal sales and a tight control on costs.
For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

The current fodder situation & advice for winter feed Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

With the winter housing period upon us in large parts of the country, Laois-based Teagasc Dairy advisor, Lorcan Dooley joins James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to outline the advice he’s giving to his clients with regards to winter feed, while Kate McCarthy, Co-Ordinator of the Teagasc National Fodder Survey outlines the current fodder situation.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Successfully implementing selective dry cow therapy for the drying off season Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

Pablo Silva Bolona, mastitis researcher at Teagasc Moorepark, is on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss his research and recommendations into successfully implementing selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) on farms for the drying off season in 2023.

Pablo first explains the concept of selective dry cow therapy saying the main risk periods for cows are the two weeks after dry off and the 2 weeks before calving as well as early lactation due to the stress of calving reducing immunity to disease.

Individual cow records will be necessary for vets to prescribe correctly so people should milk record as close to drying off as possible as the research conducted on commercial farms by Pablo and his team have shown that the SCC in the final recording is strongly linked to identifying cows that require antibiotic treatment.

For those that have not milk recorded yet this year, they should look to start recording before the end of lactation and continue to record in 2024. Alternatively, although a far more laborious way, is to take quarter samples from all cows and get these analysed.

Pablo finishes by highlighting that nutritional management of yield is important, with cows dried at <15kg of milk per day having better treatment outcomes under SDCT.

The cleanliness and stocking density of cubicles are also an important factor with twice daily cleaning and liming of cubicles contributing to better outcomes.

A surprisingly high level of infection in 1st lactation animals resulted in a higher threshold or cut point for 1st calvers from the predictive model developed from the research. This was 100,000 for the 1st lactation cows and 65,000 SCC for the 2nd lactation plus cows.

This is not to say that farmers should only apply SDCT to cows at these thresholds as many farmers are successfully using higher thresholds with great success with some farmers successfully using sealer only treatment on 80-90% of their herds.

Seeking advice and making informed decisions on what cows to treat or not and excellent hygiene at post drying and in the run into calving can see SDCT implemented on Irish farms with little or no impact on the SCC of the herds or nationally.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/
The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

How to achieve a greater work-life balance through reduced milking frequency Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Dairy farmer, Aidan Ahearne, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the practical implementation of 10 in 7 milking frequency on his farm and the benefits to work-life balance and animal welfare with minimal impact on milk production.

Aidan explains that he tried 10 in 7 milking frequency from October last year with good success but based on research, he started from mid-July this year.

When considering production, milk solids was the same in August of this year compared to last year but dropped by 8% in the month of September. Aidan speculates that this is partially due to reduced milking frequency but also says that lower meal feeding rates and adverse weather played a part.

Aidan emphasises the impact of reducing milking to 10 in 7 improves work life balance, as you are eliminating 16 milkings per month or 64 milkings from August to November. He explains this is at a time when you can get tired and stale from the tasks of daily milking routines.
Fundamentally, Aidan considers 10 in 7 as a vehicle to support work-life balance and allows him more free time with his young family and for interests outside of farming. He thinks it is a no-brainer for many farms.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

The dairy farmers leading sustainability efforts Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

As part of Sustainability Week, dairy farmers John and Brendan Walsh join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s episode of The Dairy Edge podcast to discuss the evolution in their farming practices in an effort to improve the sustainability of the farm system.

Brendan explains that, while they have always had an environmental focus on the farm, their urgency in the uptake of new practices has escalated in an effort to help combat climate change.

The Walsh’s have begun to test their slurry and John explains that they have slurry tanks associated with different stock groups: dry cows, weanlings, finishers and an uncovered tank. This gives them more knowledge of the nutrient value of the slurry and the ability to target paddocks deficient in nutrients.

Brendan estimates that they have established clover on 62% of the farm. This has allowed them to reduce the quantity of chemical nitrogen spread on the platform. When considering the challenge of bloat, John explains that they lost a cow and had cows blown up last autumn, when there was high growth rate following the drought and an abundance of lush, low fibre grass available. To counteract the risk, the Walsh’s make straw available to cows and estimate they used half a bale per cow last autumn.

John urges farmers to strongly consider the adoption of best practice on farms saying, ‘Try everything but don’t be afraid to fail’.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com.

The options available to farmers impacted by the nitrates derogation reduction Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

With the recent announcement to the changes in the upper derogation limit from 250 to 220 kg of organic nitrogen per hectare, this week’s Dairy Edge podcast is joined by Eddie Burgess, Catchment Specialist from the Agricultural Catchments Programme, who gives the background and sequence of events that led to the decision being made; while Joe Patton, Teagasc’s Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, discusses the options available to affected farmers.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com.

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