The Dairy Edge

Latest Episodes:

The liming protocol to achieve €6 for every €1 invested Oct 07, 2019

Show notes

Dairy adviser Ger Courtney joins Emma-Louise Coffey to discuss liming protocol to optimise lime pH on farm.

Ger explains that there is a positive trend from 2014 when 36% of soils were at optimum pH compared with 60% in 2017. Target soil pH is 6.3 and 5.5-5.8 in peaty soils.

Optimum pH leads to greater biological activity, microorganism activity, nitrogen fixation and root structure. Research has shown an increase in grass growth in the region of 1.5-2 tonnes while palatability and utilisation also increases.

Return on investment is considerable and increases over time. In the initial years, a return on investment of €3 for every €1 invested in a liming protocol. Once soils reach optimum pH, a consistent return of €6 for a €1 invested in maintenance liming.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2016/Advice-on-Liming-Leaflet.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Key tips to maximise the health of your herd Sep 30, 2019

Show notes

Vet Niamh Field joins Emma-Louise Coffey to take a look at the health status of the national dairy herd and gives key tips to maximise the health of your herd.

Niamh looks to the metabolic diseases that occur on dairy farms, commonly occurring during the spring and she emphasises the importance of dry cow management to prevent incidence of disease.

Management steps include optimum BCS at dry off (2.75 to 3.25) and BCS at calving (3.00 to 3.50) and good dry cow minerals with Magnesium inclusion of 20g per day.

Niamh explains there is a multidimensional approach to herds protecting themselves against infectious diseases. These include immunity, the cows environment and exposure to disease.

One of the most important steps to maintaining a health, disease-free herd is biosecurity.

Beyond this, disease screening such as bulk milk sampling and blood sampling will identify the prevalence of individual diseases. Vaccinations can be affective to control or eliminate disease.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2019/19.-Vaccination-Calendar.pdf

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/staff-directory/animals/dairy/HerdHealth.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The plan for Irish agriculture to tackle greenhouse gas emissions Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

Trevor Donnellan joins Emma-Louise Coffey to review the comprehensive climate action plan (Teagasc Greenhouse Gas Marginal Abatement Cost Curve) compiled by Teagasc to reduce the emissions from Agriculture.

Trevor speculates that the dairy herd will continue to grow, albeit at a lesser rate to that in the last 5 years. Conversely, it is suspected that suckler numbers will remain at similar numbers or contract.

The action plan also discusses 25 mitigating strategies including change of fertiliser product type, change of slurry spreading methods, improved fertility, healthier animals and planting of forestry.

Trevor explains that emissions from the agricultural sector is to the fore in Ireland as they create 33% of total greenhouse emissions compared with 10% in other EU countries.

To read the plan in full:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/An-Analysis-of-Abatement-Potential-of-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-in-Irish-Agriculture-2021-2030.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Importance of a Good Milking Routine with Padraig O’Connor Pt 2 Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

In the second part of a two-part interview with dairy specialist Padraig O’Connor on the importance of a good milking routine, Padraig takes us through teat preparation and cluster attachment ahead of milking.

Best practice includes each quarter prior to cluster attachment. This helps with early detection of mastitis. Padraig recommends that mastitis or high SCC cows should be treated at the end of milking when the operator has sufficient time to treat them and eliminate the chance of cross contamination.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/Improve-your-Milking-Skills-19.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Top Tips for a Good Milking Routine with Padraig O’Connor Pt 1 Sep 09, 2019

Show notes

Dairy specialist Padraig O’Connor joins Emma-Louise Coffey for the first of a two-part interview to discuss the importance of a good milking routine.

Padraig explains that a good milking routine ensurse quality produce, safety for the operator and time efficiency in completing the task.

He advises all farmers to make sure their milking machine is in working order, getting at least one major service annually.

Additionally, Padraig emphasises the importance of a clean environment for cows, placing particular emphasis on entry/exit points to the yard and paddocks, roadways and water troughs.

Another effective way to keeps cows clean is clipping tails 3-4 times per year.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/Improve-your-Milking-Skills-19.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The key traits that drive profitable winter milk systems Sep 02, 2019

Show notes

Dairy specialist Joe Patton joins Emma-Louise Coffey to identify the key traits that drive profitable winter milk systems.

Joe compares top winter milk herds with average. Top herds have higher output from the same concentrate input as average. The difference is top farmers are achieving greater grass utilisation and feeding higher quality grass silage during the housed period.

The second driver is fertile cows. Joe targets 375 day calving interval, meaning there are greater days at peak milk production, lower number of days dry and reduced number of cows recycled.

Here more from Joe at the Winter Milk event at Teagasc Johnstown Castle on September 4th:

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/winter-milk-event.php

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

An Update on the Performance of the Spring & Winter Milking Herds Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

Johnstown Castle farm manager Aidan Lawless joins Emma-Louise Coffey to discuss full lactation performance for the winter milk herd and current milk and grass production.

The winter milk herd have produced 620 kg MS approximately 20 kg ahead of 2017 and 2018 lactations. Aidan credits increased milk yield, rising milk solids and getting out to grass in early January as factors that have driven high milk output.

40% of the winter herd are still milking and will be dried off this week, currently on a restricted diet with the view to depress milk yield. Aidan is extremely happy with fertility performance recording just 8% empty this year. The spring herd are currently milking 23 litres or 1.8 kg MS, declining from peak of 32 litres.

Grass production was a challenge in July with a substantial soil moisture deficit and growth rates half of projected growth based on the Johnstown Castle average. Heavy rainfall in late July/early August has helped recovery to normal growth.

Finally, Aidan highlights the upcoming Winter Milk event at Johnstown Castle on the 4th September, covering a range of topics from feed management, genetics, fertility to soil fertility.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/national-events/events/winter-milk-event.php

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Autumn grazing management guidelines Aug 19, 2019

Show notes

Grassland researcher, Mike Egan, summarises the autumn grazing management guidelines to maximise the amount of grazed grass in the diet of dairy cows in the autumn period.

Right now, farmers should be extending rotation length by 2 days per week and building cover.

Mike gives an insight into a grazing experiment looking at altering grazing management practices in autumn and examining the effects on animal performance and grassland in both the autumn and spring.

Mike explains that where herds are carrying high stocking rates on the milking platform and calving more compactly (reflected in higher 6 week calving rates), they need to consider closing the farm earlier and at a higher cover.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/grassland/grass10/grazing-management/autumn-grazing-management/

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2019/Strategies-to-increase-spring-grass-availability.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Creating a fodder reserve to reduce risk to farm business Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

Dairy specialist Joe Patton has advice on creating a fodder reserve to reduce the risk to farm businesses in the event of future adverse weather events.

Firstly, farmers need to quantify the total grass production on their farm. Following this, stocking rate should be calculated allowing 5.5 tonnes of grass should be allowed per cow.

Optimal stocking rate does not account for ay surplus or reserve within systems and therefore, a reserve must be purchased. An average reserve of 400 kg DM/cow (2 bales) in areas of low grass growth variability and 600 kg DM/cow (3 bales) in areas of high grass growth.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2019/Securing-a-fodder-reserve.pdf

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

Insights and key learnings from the New Zealand dairy sector Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

Kevin McDonald is a retired scientist from Dairy NZ with over 50 years’ experience in systems research and he joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to give his insights and analysis of the New Zealand dairy sector along with key learnings for Irish farmers.

Kevin traces the evolution of the New Zealand dairy sector back to the 1930s and 1940s but says the big change came in the mid 1990s when big dairy farms expanded into the South Island.

Smaller farms were traditionally in the North Island while the South Island farms that have come into dairying in the last 20 years were traditionally from much bigger sheep farms. Cow numbers increased from 3 million to 5 million cows, though irrigation has been the main challenge, for farmers in the South Island especially.

Kevin also discusses other issues and challenges for farmers in New Zealand from labour to farm size and points out that, in contrast to Ireland’s more traditional farmers, they are more willing to change, buy new farms and move on.

For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/