Why is it unsuitable?
I believe its the only system that suits poorer land.
Give us a time and a place …..I like Galway and nominate the quays on shop street ……
Haha you should have sold a few heifers off her. But you're right, if I was buying replacements I'd want to see milk delivered to co-op divided by cow numbers, very few high yielding herds in the country when you measure it like that.
What qualifies as a high yielding herd in your mind how much meal per cow would qualify as efficient in a high yielding herd
Elite breeding stock still making big money on the continent. Was watching on online sale last night from southern Germany. Had my eye on a polled Brown Swiss. She made 17000. Didn't buy her.
Poor trade obviously!! 😆
Still waiting on an elite Brune bull from you. Polled would be nice also.
I can’t understand the drawing of lines regarding high or low input herds. Bought ration is more a reflection on the farm, not the farmer. There’s farms like Gingers where they produce higher quality forage than others. Is it possible to be low input whilst feeding home grown maize, wholecrop etc etc?
Cows here getting a mix of maize silage, high protein silage (vetch, clover, peas), Lucerne and Fava beans. Minerals and additives are the only bought-in ingredients. Is the herd high input?
Cows producing 31.33L delivered on average with 4.8bf and 3.7pr.
While I always have an open mind I have yet to see a system that suits me better than grass fed.i have put maize, beet, wholecrop wheat and barley and home grown rolled barley through my hands and nothing delivers a better profit for work than grass
All that expensive home forage comes at a serious cost. Same as meal.
Next year.
Well I suppose it depends on the cows you have. Grass is best option for high EBI cows. We have never chased EBI. Have big milky cows here. We find that cows milk better indoors on top quality silage. The thing with grazed grass is the big cows just cant get enough DM in. High quality silage like our first cut 81 DMD and 18.5 protein cows can eat loads in a short time. Its like the lads zero grazing always get a lift but the advantage with silage is the cows don't have the risk of eating fresh badger ****.
put up a picture of those silage samples
Also be sure to deduct 4 points if its an AgriKing analysis. Their ivdmd result doesn't translate directly.
78 is 73 to 74 in 'old money'.
AgriKing analysis always makes an intervention look better than it is.
How did grazed grass go this year ……or in 2018 ….or shite springs …prolonged wet spells …..it’s super but limited in what it’ll do when it grows well ….not so when stars don’t allign ……top quality forages like grass silage ..maize ….wholecrop …are far more consistent and deliever more bang for your buck …..imo grazed grass and it’s role is totally overplayed in this country by advisors …..and they regard high quality silage as surplus paddocks from milk block and 74/75 dmd silage
It suits the narrative that we are low cost producers.
God help any new entrants who followed the advice blindly and got in too deep…
A big interest bill in a high cost year, would try anyone out. Not to mind potentially having to slash numbers for derogation regs coming down the line.
I Put an estimated 5kg dm wholecrop +6kg in the parlour into the cows since 1stSeptember and it didn't hold them.i don't know lads but if we can't figure something out we re goosed in West cork as the typical set up started off as a 40 or fifty acre block with land leased in already to sustain a reasonable sized herd to generate enough turnover to justify being at it.alot of farms would bring a digger in regularly to do a hill or bog here and there and make every scrap available to feed the cows.most farms would have very little land thats really suitable to tillage and the other big problem is the work of getting those crops in in the busy spring period.the other thing is the many have a degree of handling grass equip in house whereas tillage would require a whole other set of gear.as far as I can see 170 kilos is going to decimate these family farms that everyone proclaims to want but I think there is a number of agendas conspiring to attack them and as I've said before I don't think water qaulity will improve or less carbon will result from this
High yields and high solids are definitely a myth
whats even more of a myth is that these type of cows could all be classified ex90 plus cows
Found a few more decent cows!
will do 3.72% protein on co op report this year
A few of the young second calvers
Well gouging out every bit of peatland and scrub isn't exactly Carbon/biodiversity friendly either, not to mention increased issues with nutrient and water runoff by such activities impacting water quality etc.. Probably also played a role in the Commissions views when cutting the derogation
Currently have 26 % of the land we farm classified as nature zones or biodiversity areas or what ever you call it so I wouldn't be worried about my contribution to the birds and the bees just yet.which is more likely to be more biodynamic or whatever word there is for it,a pasture based grazed system or a system based on high yielding cows supported by a large amount of tillage.grass based dairy in ireland may not be perfect but I'd wager its a hell of alot better for the environment than much of the dairy production pratices that are prevalent throughout the world
Fair enough - I was just pointing out the well studied and documented issues with removing excessive amounts of natural vegetation from hilly areas with high annual rainfall totals around the world. Indeed even Teagasc now gives similar guidance on the matter in terms of land management techniques to slow down nutrient loss, soil erosion and protect water quality in such areas.
It's about trocaire and oxfam on the beet industry closure in Ireland.
But read what Padraig Walshe said about the nitrates directive in 2006.
So,
A farmer reducing N spread by 65% and meal reduced by x% (not quantified) can’t be called low-input?
Does one have to have an enviable ebi rating to qualify as a low input producer?
I already did a few days ago
I stopped using them for forage analysis a few years ago, their test results where always over estimated, especially if it was a sample where you used their additives on wouldn't matter what sh**te was in the pit it would test good if their additives where used
What would you ballpark say a kilo of dm is costing you, would you be well under 20 cent a kilo fully costed, the biggest issue I see here unless you own the land and in the case of forage maize where plastic is needed the two combined at a figure of 500 a acre which is modest on a 6 ton of dm a acre crop of maize in the pit, its costing a irish farmer circa 10 cent a kilo of dm more from a standing start versus yourself,
Maybe we ve been looking this all wrong,maybe we just need a new paper solution to a paper problem
It's amazing how all these farms pay the same amount, 30k, for workers - https://www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/agri-jobs-manager-sought-for-180-cow-cork-farm-797609
Agreed Jay. Then again class1 grain maize is €158.5/t here today…what price is class 3-4 maize with ye today?
Ration costs seem unquestioned with ye..other than how little is used?? I can get 23-28tDM per hectare per year with zero N used ( bar the 18%N included in starter) of high protein and high energy forages. This is seen as high input whereas a guy firing out lashings of slurry and N every 21days is seen as low input because it’s grazed grass?
Weird.
