Making money from dairy bull calves - Teagasc · * Food processors and suppliers of farm inputs * Policy makers, consultants, advisers and researchers * Academics, students and others

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2011 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

Budget 2011 – implications for you 8Cutting electricity bills 11

BETTER beef in Kerry 28Heritage apples 33

Storing spuds 34Forestry – find a group to share costs 37

And Much More….

Making money from dairy bull calves

10756TEAG TODAYS FARM JAN-FEB_Final Cover 13/01/2011 15:58 Page 1

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Today’s

farm

January/February 2011 | Today’s farm | 3

COMMENT

Building fromapositionofstrength

MarkMooreEditor,Today’s farm

In the ‘CelticTiger’ years, agriculturewas caught in a classic price/costsqueeze. Markets were subdued and

inputpriceswere rising, partlydrivenbythe property ‘bubble’. As a result of thispressure, agriculture is now lean andcompetitive, just as prices are improvingacross virtually all sectors.This is a verysatisfactory situation, and agricultureand food can play a significant role in‘rescuing’ the rest of the economy.

But there are no grounds forcomplacency. The economy as a wholestarted the last decade in a similarlycompetitive situation but squanderedthe hard-won progress. Farmersmust becareful to use current profitability toenhance their future competitiveness,perhaps by investing now to reducecosts later. One example is electricity �John Upton outlines on pages 11-13 hownew technologies can dramaticallyreduce electricity costs. Investing ineducation is always a shrewd move (seePaddy Browne’s article on page 34)

Another key step in buildingcompetitiveness is to constantly reviewwhat you are producing and how you areproducing it. Teagasc is working hard tofind the optimal use of bull calves fromthe dairy herd, whose numbers willinevitably grow as the dairy industryexpands to meet market opportunities.See the article by Rob Prendiville andothers starting on page 22.

Constantly focussing on long-termcompetitiveness will offer the bestchance of sustained prosperity. AsGeorge Ramsbottom outlines on page18, that may mean slightly largeraverage herd size. Achieving structuralreform without creating moreunsustainable asset ‘bubbles’ will be amajor challenge in coming years.

Is e Today’s farm an iris do chliaint Teagasc. Bıonn altanna teicniula ann faoi chursaıdeirıochta, faoin eallach, faoi chaoirigh agus faoin gcuradoireacht, agus faoi go leor eile. Isminic altanna faoin timpeallacht agus faoi dheiseanna eagsulaithe feirme san iris freisin.Gne an-tabhachtach den iris is ea na haltanna faoin gcaoi le cursaı gno na feirme alaimhseail. Ar na topaicı eile a chludofar amach anseo beidh tairgeadh fuinnimh ar anbhfeirm, an fhoraoiseacht, an ghairneoireacht, srl. Agus beidh altanna ann o thrath gocheile faoi chursaı feirmeoireachta thar lear freisin.

Today’s farm is a bi-monthly publication produced in a joint venture between Teagasc andthe Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal and The Irish Field.

Editor: Mark Moore | Editorial team: Alison Maloney, Joanne Carroll, Eric DonaldChief sub-editor: Leslie Horgan | Sub-editor: Regina HoranArtwork: Garrett AllenCover design: Design at DBA | Imaging: Owen McGauley, Sean O’FlahertyPrinting: Boylan Print Group, Drogheda, Co Louth | Advertising: Frank McGouranAll Media Matters (01) 4941071 086-8111567 [email protected]

All editorial enquiries to: Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow Tel: (059) 9170200 Fax: (059) 9183498e-mail: [email protected] | web: www.teagasc.ie

The publishers do not accept responsibility for any private and trade advertisements oradvertising insertions included in this publication. Occasional reference in thismagazine totrade names and proprietary products may be inevitable. No endorsement of namedproducts is intended, nor is any criticism implied of similar products which are notmentioned.

contents4 Upcoming events

6/7 Etc

Farm management8 What Budget 2011means for you

Dairy11How dairy farms can slash electricity bills

14 Squeezingwinter meal costs for liquidmilkers

16 Beware hiddenmilk fever

18 Herd size andprofitability

20 Managingmastitis in spring

Drystock22 Makingmoney from dairy bull calves

26 Ewes synchronised with the market

28 BETTER beef sucklers in Farranfore

Environment32 Everyone wins by reducingnutrient loss

33 Heritage apples

Forestry37 Find agroup to share costs

Botanic gardens38 Hard lessons from Jack Frost

COVER | caption:These lucky dairy bull calves are eatingexcellent silage.Research at JohnstownCastle suggests that optimising profitfromsuch animalsmeansmaximising therole of grazed pasture in their lifetime feedintake.

PICTURE:MarkMoore

Bearing fruitHeritage apples 33

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4 | Today’s farm | January/February 2011

Upcoming eventsTo

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TEAGASCNATIONALTILLAGECONFERENCE,27JANUARY2011,SEVENOAKSHOTEL,CARLOW,10.30AMTO4.30PM

This year’s Teagasc tillage conference istaking place after a year of volatile grainprices. Hear a UK farmer’s practical ap-proach to grain marketing. As more farmersin Ireland opt to grow winter barley andoilseed rape this year, get the latestmanagement updates. Gather the lateststrategies to reduce and control machinerycosts. (See page 36 also).

Conference programme9.30 Coffee and registration

10.30 Conference opens

— Prof. Gerry Boyle

Chair — John Spink, Teagasc, Oak Park

10.45 Grain marketing a farmers

approach — Mark Woods,

Farm Manager UK

11.30 The tillage better farms

programme — Tim O’Donovan

12.00 Nitrates & Nitrogen for Cereals

— Richie Hackett

12.30 Machinery: controlling your

largest costs — Dermot Forristal

13.00 Lunch

Chair — Andy Doyle, IFJ

14.30 Septoria sensitivity and disease

control — Steven Kildea

15.00 Oilseed rape management

& disease control — John Spink

15.30 Winter barley: maximising yield

— Michael Hennessey

16.00 Close of conference

— Dr Frank O’Mara

16.15 Tea and depart

Registration & bookingTo register and prepay contact: EleanorButler ([email protected]) Tel: 0599170204 (credit card and laser accepted)

* Conference fee: €55* Teagasc clients: €35* Lunch: €15

TEAGASCECONOMICSCONFERENCE, 20JANUARY,THEHERITAGEHOTEL,PORTLAOISE

Following the difficult year experienced in2009, agricultural incomes increased inIreland in 2010.

A moderation in the cost of production,along with an increase in output prices,particularly in the case of milk and crops,have given rise to improved margins.This year’s conference will address severalquestions:

* Can prices be sustained?* Will cost pressures return?* What options exist to deal with pricevolatility?The outlook for dairy, beef, sheep, pigs,crops and inputs in 2011 will be critical inmaking informed planning decisions for theshort to medium term. The conferenceincludes detailed economic analysis foreach enterprise and will be followed by aspecial session on price volatility.

This conference will be of interest to:

* Farmers and their representative organi-sations* The agribusiness sector and creditinstitutions* Food processors and suppliers of farminputs* Policy makers, consultants, advisers andresearchers* Academics, students and others with aninterest in the agri-food sector.

How to bookEarly registration is advised. By credit cardor Laser, call: 091-845863. By cheque (inadvance): please complete the registrationform and return with payment to MarianMoloney, Agri Economics and Farm Sur-veys Dept., Teagasc, Athenry, Co Galway.e-mail: [email protected] by Fri-

day 14 January 2011. Download registra-tion form and conference programme(1.4MB, PDF format).

Important alertAdvanced Certificate inAgriculture (ACA) OnlineApplications 2011

Application forms and details for theFETAC level 6 Advanced Certificate inAgriculture for non-agricultural awardholders are now available on theTeagasc website www.Teagasc.ie/ecollege

Also available on the site are coursedetails and closing dates.

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ORGANICPRODUCTIONCOURSES

FETACaccreditedcourses

Teagasc will host a series of 25-hourFETAC accredited courses in OrganicProduction.

On completion of the course, parti-cipants will be proficient in:

* Interpretation of organic standards* The principles of organic production* Assessing economic viability andmarket opportunitiesThese courses qualify applicants to theOrganic Farming Scheme.

25 January Macroom Pat

Barry

26 January Ballinasloe Dan

Clavin

26 January Tullamore James

McDonnell

27 January Clonmel Pat

Barry

27 January Mohill Elaine

Leavy

27 January Swinford Dan

Clavin

28 January Ballyhaise Elaine

Leavy

28 January Tinahely James

McDonnell

All courses run from 10 am — 4 pm,one day per week over five consecutiveweeks. Cost €200. Pre booking es-sential.

Further information from courseleaders:* Pat Barry, Moorepark, 087 2138331* Dan Clavin, Athenry, 087 9368506* Elaine Leavy, Grange, 087 9853285* James McDonnell, Oak Park, 0873293820

AGRICULTURALEDUCATION:SUPPORTINGECONOMICRECOVERY,THURSDAY10FEBRUARY2011,DUBLINCASTLE

10.00 Registration / Coffee

10.30 Opening of Conference,

Dr Noel Cawley, Chairman, Teagasc

Session I The Future Challenges for Agricultural

Education in Ireland and Europe

Chairperson: Professor John Coolahan, NUI Maynooth

Direction of EU Agriculture and Implications

for Agricultural Education -

Mairead McGuinness, MEP

Role of Education in Irish Economic

Recovery - Professor John Fitzgerald, ESRI

A New Concept of Irish Agriculture

Implications for Agricultural Education

Dr Liam Downey, Former Director, Teagasc

The Challenges Facing the Teagasc

Education and Training Programme

Paddy Browne, Head of Education, Teagasc

Discussion

12:30 Lunch

1:45 Session II - International and Industry

Perspective

Chairperson: Michael Gowing, President Macra na Feirme

Results of EUROPEA Chavet Research

Project on the Evolving Requirements for

European Agricultural Education

- Elisabeth Honigsberge, EUROPEA

The Northern Ireland Agricultural Education

System — Challenges and Perspectives

- John Fay, Head of CAFRE

The Scottish Agricultural College Experience

- David McKenzie, Vice Principal SAC

Discussion

2.45 Session III — Forum Discussion on

Benchmarking Farms/Discussion Groups

in Action. Chairperson: Dr Tom Kelly,

Head of Knowledge Transfer, Teagasc

3.45 FBD Student of the Year Award

Bookings: Return the booking form by Friday 4 February.

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Irish sweetpotato?

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) is aroot crop well established throughoutthe world’s tropical and sub-tropicalregions. Despite its importance in de-veloping countries, it has only re-cently been gaining popularity withwestern consumers.

Currently, 90% of global sweet po-tato output is harvested and utilised indeveloping countries. However, therehas been a turn recently where wes-tern consumers are demanding super-foods like sweet potato butwithout theair miles.They are a trendy, luxury ve-getable in Japan at present. Sweet po-tatoes are one of the highest rankedvegetables on the nutrition scale.

Sweet potatoes high in fibre,Vita-min A,Vitamin C,Vitamin B6, potas-sium andmanganese. Containingcomplex carbohydrates, they can alsohelp to stabilise blood sugar, whichmeans they’re a good choice for dia-betics.They’re relatively low in cal-ories for all of the nutritional powerthey pack, at about 95 calories each.

Work is underway at Kildalton Col-lege, Kilkenny, between the horticul-tural development department thereand Fitzgerald Nurseries, Co Kilken-ny, to assess production possibilities inan Irish context. Early trials suggestthat potential exists to grow sweet po-tatoes here, as a niche crop, and thatorganic production may be possible,based on the 2010 trial at Kildalton.Further research is planned for 2011.

The Irishmarket for sweet potato issmall but growing strongly in line withmost western markets.

Electronic Herd Register for CattleFarmers with computers now have an opportunity todispense with the requirement to maintain the blue book(on farm herd register).

The Animal Identification and Movement system knownas AIM (formerly called CMMS) can be used as anelectronic herd register by farmers who sign up and usethe Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’swebsite at www.agfood.ie to register calves and recordfarm to farm movement notifications.

This development reduces the burden of maintainingpaper records for farmers as well as reducing the risk offinancial penalties arising at cross compliance inspec-tions.

In 2010, over half a million calves (one in four) wereregistered electronically. About 300,000 calves wereregistered through the Department’s www.agfood.ie web-site, while over 200,000 calves were registered using farmmanagement packages.

Farmers using a farm management package approvedas an electronic herd register by the Department areexempt from maintaining the blue book also.

CollinsTree Guide (Harper Collins),Owen Johnson & David MoreFarmers with an interest in trees need one good reference book on thebookshelf and the Collins Tree Guide, being the most complete fieldguide to the trees of northern Europe, earns this place.

The illustrations are the best of their kind, showing the main leaves,buds and flowers, as well as the tree as a whole. It’s a compact size,robust, and the text is detailed, accurate and geared to providingpractical data while still finding space for interesting background orhistorical information — like the plant-hunter given unfamiliar seeds fordessert in Chile and germinating them on his voyage home in 1792and thereby introducing the Monkey Puzzle tree to Europe.

There are 14 pages (out of a total of over 460), for example,describing and illustrating pine trees. While it doesn’t tell you that theMonterey Pine (Pinus radiate) is also called the Pinus insignis, it doespoint out the useful fact that it withstands salt spray and grows wellnear coasts.

Most good bookshops should stock this book and, if not, couldeasily order a copy. The list price is €21 but an online purchase fromThe Book Depository (www.bookdepository.co.uk) costs €13.31,and this includes postage to Ireland.

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Stephen Alexander (pictured) of Teagasc Kinsealy has recently pro-ducedan Illustrated Guide toTillageWeeds. It’s aimedat farmers andgrowerswhowant to be able to identify arableweeds.Copies can bedownloaded from theTeagascwebsite under Publications > Publica-

tions By Date.Hard copies arenot available but interested farmers orgrowers can download the publications for free and use themon theirown computers or print out copies. http://www.teagasc.ie/publica-tions/2010/55/55_Guide_to_Identifying_Tillage_Weeds.pdf

Freeweedguide

Newmap of Roscommon

This map is part of a research programme looking at theRural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) with a viewto producing a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)method of the schemes with respect to their effect on land-scape.

In order to look at landscape, a characterisation map,where areas of similar landscape are grouped together, isneeded.The conventional method relies upon the draftermaking judgements on what constitutes an area and label-ling it with a description.

The map shows the output of a successful method, usingstatistical clustering of farming, environmental and topo-graphical data at a townland scale, to generate a landscapecharacterisation of Co Roscommon without any prior hu-man judgement of value.

In other words, while beauty maybe in the eye of the be-holder, an objective method of describing landscape wouldbe beneficial.TheTeagasc researchers believe that theLandscape Character Assessment (LCA) method could beused to generate a national LCAwithout imposing subjec-tive judgements.

‘‘There are potentially very practical benefits,’’ saysJackieWhelan, who carried out the work as part of a PhDthesis funded under theWalsh Fellowship Scheme and di-rected under the supervision of Stuart Green,Teagasc,Kinsealy, and John Fry, UCD. ‘‘For example, it could poten-tially enable tourists to gather information about areasthey intend to visit.’’

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financial management

Budget2011What it means for you

THE budget announced last 7December was one of the mostcloselyfollowedinrecentyears.For most people, the main con-

cern was whether or not there would behigher tax bills coming for 2011. In look-ing at the tax you might have to pay, thefirst area people focus on is the rate oftax. Despite speculation, the two rates ofincome tax were not touched� the lowrate (or standard rate) remains at 20%and the high rate remains at 41%. How-ever, itwas not all goodnewswith regardto income tax.

ChangesSadly, changes to the standard ratebands and the tax credits will generallymean that there are higher tax bills instore for most people.

The standard rate band sets the cut-off point at which people switch frompaying income tax at the low rate (20%)to tax at the higher rate (41%).

Budget 2011 lowered the bands by10%, which means that people will bepaying a higher rate of tax on a biggerproportion of their income.This will beparticularly important to those with an-nual incomesatoraroundthenewcut-offpoint of €32,800 for a single person or€41,800 for a married couple with oneincome.

Under the new bands, a married cou-ple with one incomewill start paying taxat the 41% rate on any income above€41,800 in2011comparedwith€45,400 for

the previous year. Of significance toeverytaxpayer is thatmanyof thekeytaxcredits were also reduced by 10%.Taxcredits are very valuable in that theyareallowed as a direct deduction from thepotential tax payable to arrive at the fi-nal tax payable.The reduction in thesecredits results in an increase in the po-tential tax payable.

The tax credit for a single person isnow €1,650, down from €1,830 in 2010which, in effect, means an additional€180 on the tax bill.

‘Other’ taxesAs mentioned, while the income taxrates are unchanged, the news is not sogood forother ratesof taxesandcharges.

Farmers, like other self-employedpeople, areexpected tomakeannualPayRelated Social Insurance (PRSI) pay-ments. Farmers making Class S PRSIpayments are entitled to the Contribu-tory Old Age Pension when they reach66.TheClassSPRSIratehasbeenraisedfrom 3% to 4% and this rate is applied toall income.

A new tax or charge, the UniversalSocial Charge (USC), has been intro-duced as a replacement for two existinglevies�theHealthLevyand the IncomeLevy.The rules for applying this chargeare slightly different from those for theabolished Health and Income levies andthe net result is a higher levy charge forcertain taxpayers.

Once an individual’s annual income isgreater than €4,004, they become liableto theUSConall their income,startingata rate of 2% up to amaximum rate of 7%.

The top rate of 7% applies to all in-comeinexcessof€16,016.Thoseagedover70 will pay the USC at amaximum of 4%.Contributions paid in to a pension fundwill not escape this charge; this is similarto the way the old levy system operated.

One favourable change made is thatcapital allowances (the tax write-offs al-lowed for spending on buildings andmachinery) will be allowed as a deduc-tion from farm taxable income in calcu-lating the final USC.

Those who are employing their chil-dren on the farmmay be affected as thenewruleswill require thechildrentopaythe charge if their annual income isgreater than €4,004 (€77) per week. Pre-viously, they were exempt from payingany PRSI or Health Levy if their weeklyincome was less than €352.

The net result of these tax band,credit and levy changes for those on an

income which exceeds the standard rateband is that the percentage tax payableon the incomeabove theband isnow52%(Table 1).

Specific farming reliefsThe concession to allow capital allow-ances for the net amount spent on farmpollution control measures (tanks,sheds, roofing, yards, etc) to be claimedover the shortened three-year period is

Kevin ConnollyFinancialManagementSpecialist,Teagasc

While this maybe painful on

the pocket, there is anold saying that is usefulto remember: ‘Neverbeafraid of paying tax. Ifyou’re paying tax,you’re earning profit

Table1 | Impact of the Budget 2011changes on themaximum tax rate

Income Tax (High Rate) 41%

PRSI 4%

Universal Social Charge 7%

Total 52%

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being discontinued for any newapplica-tion since 31 December 2010.

This measure was used widely byfarmers who spent heavily on farmbuildings in the last few years and wasintroduced as a temporary measure togive a tax break on this investment.

Those who have already made an in-itial claim under this acceleratedscheme will still be allowed to continueto claim their remaining allowances.

The existing long-running option ofwriting off spending on farm buildingsover a seven-year period (six years at15% and 10% in year seven) will still beavailable.

Stock relief, a specific farming mea-sure which is useful in offsetting the ef-fectontaxableprofitofanincrease inthevalueof stockheldduring theyear, isalso

being extended until 31 December 2012.This extension applies to the 100% relieffor young, trained, farmers aswell as the25%relief fornormalqualifying farmers.

Capital taxesChanges to capital taxeswhich would beof importance in the transfer or sale ofcapital assets, such as land, buildings,quota or residential houses, were not aswidespread as were expected. Howeverthis is likely to be the calm before thestorm as the Government have flaggedtheir intention tobring inmajor changesto this area.This is a cause of concern forfarmers as there are some agriculture-specific reliefs (tax reducing measures)which could be in line formajor changes.

Budget 2011 made changes to thestamp duty levied on the transfer of re-

sidential property and of interest tofarmers is the scrapping of the stampduty exemption on the transfer of a sitetoachild.Thesesite transferswillnowbesubject to stamp duty at the non-resi-dential rates, which were not changed.

These same non-residential rates ap-ply on lifetime transfers of land andbuildings. Of the two other significanttaxes imposed on farm asset transfers,Capital AcquisitionsTax (CAT) and Ca-pital GainsTax (CGT), only CATwaschanged.The tax-free thresholds ap-plied in the calculation of CATwere re-duced by 20% in respect of gifts orinheritances taken on or after 8 Decem-ber, 2010.This move was expected, giventhat land and other asset values havedeclined in the last few years.

>> Next page

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financial management

This change will increase the likeli-hood that a CAT bill will be levied onlarger value farm transfers as thethresholds are more likely to be ex-ceeded. No change was made to the rateof Capital AcquisitionsTax, which re-mains at 25%.

Changes in the pipelineThemain area of concern with regard toasset transfers is that as part of the Na-tional Recovery Plan 2011-2014, the gov-ernment have indicated that significantchangesareplanned to the taxesappliedto these transactions.These changeswilllikely take the form of a move from asingle CAT tax rate, currently 25%, to abanded rate system where the tax is cal-culatedusingonerateuptoacertaincut-off point and then it is calculated at ahigher rate above this.

Another proposal is to significantlyrestrict or reduce the valuable Agricul-turalRelief thatapplies to thetransferofagricultural assets.These proposals, ifimplemented, could result in much

higher CAT bills on transfer of assets tothe next generation.

To pay the tax, the unthinkable mighthave to be considered� that is sellinglandorstock�orhavingtoborrowfundsto pay the tax.

Although it escaped without anychange in the most recent budget, Capi-tal GainsTax is another asset tax that is

likely to be in the firing line in futurebudgets. CGT is a tax levied on the life-time handover or sale of assets, farmbusiness assets included. Once again,any changes are likely to be targeted atthe very generous relief available forCGT, known as Retirement Relief. Put-ting an upper limit on the total value ofthe assets is one potential route of at-tack; a figure of €3 million has been putforward in the Commission of Taxationreport.

Only way is upThis is only a summary of the measuresintroducedunderBudget2011.Nodoubt,there will be more detail on some ofthese changes when the Finance Bill isreleased in January 2011.

There can be little doubt also thatthere is an upward trend in all our taxcontributions.While this may be painfulon the pocket, there is an old saying thatisuseful to remember:‘Neverbeafraidofpaying tax. If you’re paying tax, you’reearning profit.’

The concession to allow capital allowances for thenet amount spent on farmpollution controlmeasures (tanks, sheds, roofing, yards, etc) to beclaimed over the shortened three-year period is being discontinued foranynewapplication since 31December 2010.

Changes tocapital taxes

werenotaswidespreadas were expected, butthe Government haveflagged their intentionto bring inmajorchanges to this area

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dairying

Table1 | Comparison of electricity and oil for water heating

Heatingmethod Power Time System Useable Cost per Kgof Co2

Consumed (Hrs) Efficiency* Water** (litre) 100 litres (e) Produced(kWh) Night/Day Rate

Electricity 48.24 16.5 79% 411 0.87 / 1.77 25.6

Oil 45.5 (4.4l Kerosene) 1.75 84% 415 0.60 12.7

*System efficiency is the ratio of energy extracted from the system in terms of hot water, to energy consumed by the system (i.e. electricity or oil)

**Useable water is defined as the amount of water drawn from the cylinder between 600C and 80

0C

EnergysavingHow dairy farms can

cut their electricity

bills in half

THE energy research pro-gramme at Moorepark was in-itiatedwith the aimof reducingelectricity consumption/costs

on dairy farms.The first task was to es-tablishhowenergy isusedondairyunits.Detailed energy audits were carried outon threeTeagasc Research Farms fromMarch to November 2009.

Results showed that milk cooling isthe biggest consumer of electricity, fol-lowed by water heating.Vacuum pumps,lighting and other items, such as washpumps, milk pumps, feed augers and aircompressors, make up the balance (Fig-ure 1). Collecting milk production dataallowed electricity cost, in cent per litreof milk, to be calculated. These figuresvaried from 0.47 cent/litre to 0.69 cent/litre and averaged 0.60 cent/litre. Elec-tricity consumption per dairy cowmilked varied from 4.0kWh/cow/weekto 7.3 kWh/cow/week.

Results to date indicate that electri-city usage on dairy farms could be cut byhalf.The first step is to reduce energywastage, i.e. fix hot water leaks, insulatehot water piping and refrigerant gaspiping, use lights only when necessaryand make use of night rate electricity.

Reducing milk production cost is anobvious benefit, and when you considerthat 86% of electricity generated in Ire-land is from fossil fuels, 531g CO2 areproduced for every kWh of electricity

used. Reducing electricity consumptionreduces the industry’s carbon footprint.*Waterheating:electricityusedbywaterheating equipment can add up to twokWhs per cow per week.The most com-mon method of providing hot water ondairy farms is electrical water heating,withoil firedboilersalsobeingapopularchoice, particularly on larger units.

Table1 displays the results of a recentwater heating trial in Moorepark where

500 litres of water were heated from 140Cto 800C with a 3kW element and a 26kWoil fired burner running on kerosene.

The amount of usable water was de-fined as the quantity of water drawn offfrom the cylinder between 600C and800C. A 3kW immersion element takesover 16 hours to heat the 500 litre tanktothe final temperatureof 800C.Thiswouldnot be satisfactory as night rate electri-city should be utilised for electricalwaterheating.Thiselementwouldnotbecapable of heating the water on nightrate alone.

Table 1 shows a comparison of elec-tricity and oil as energy sources to heatwater.Tariffs used for these calculationsare shown inTable 2.

Table 1 shows that the oil boiler canproduce 100 litres of useable water at amuch lowercostthan the3kWelement onnight rate and substantially cheaperthan the electrical element on day rate.

Oil prices fluctuate but would need toincrease substantially from today’s pricetomatchthecostof theelectricalheatingsystem.

>> Next page

Reduce energy costs byeliminating energy wastage.

John Upton,Animal & GrasslandResearch andInnovation Centre,Teagasc Moorepark&Michael Murphy

Table 2 | Tariffs used forcalculatingwaterheatingcosts (Correcton15/10/2010)

Unit type Cost per Unit Tariff(e) ex-VAT

Electricity Day units (kWh) 0.15 ESB Rural night saver

Electricity Night units (kWh) 0.07 ESB Rural night saver

Kerosene (Litre / kWh) 0.57 / 0.06 Based on quote for 1,000l

Figure 1: Results of electricity audit on three Teagasc research farms

Bulk tank 37%

Water heating 31%Vacuum pumps 19%

Lighting 10%

Miscellaneous 3%

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dairyingAnother advantage of the oil fired

system is that recovery time is very low,which means that hot water will beavailable both morning and evening ifrequired.

The amount of CO2 emitted by the oilfired system is much lower than thecomparable electrical system.The capi-tal investment of the oil fired systemwillbe higher than the electrical system but,asTable 1 illustrates, the savings in-volved can be noteworthy, depending onhotwaterusageandwhetherornotnightrate electricity is available.

In any case, serious considerationshould be given not only to initial pur-chase cost but also to running costs andthe environmental impact.* Vacuum pumps: introducing variablespeed drive (VSD) technology for con-trolling vacuum in a milking system canreduce energy use, while still producingequivalent vacuum stability.

Over a two-month period at Moore-park the power usage of the vacuumpumpswasmonitored, pre and postVSDinstallation on a 30-unit herringbonemilking machine.

The milking equipment consists of ahighly automated 30-unit milking ma-chine with two DM 5 vacuum pumps dri-ven by two 4kWmotors.The vacuumpump capacity is 2,600 litres of free airper minute.The plant consumption is1,200 litres per minute during milking.The unit chosen was an Invertek optid-rive E2 AC variable speed drive. In ad-dition to power consumption, cownumbersmilked,milkyields andmilkingtime were recorded.

The annual energy consumption ofthe vacuum pumps before theVSD wasinstalled was over 16,300kWh.With theinstallation of theVSD, the electricalenergyusedroppedto4,700kWh,givingasaving of 11,600kWh.The payback for theVSD installation is 2.85 years, based onan initial cost of e5,000 and an annualcost saving of e1,752. The annual savingof CO2 as a result of the VSD installationis 6.2 tonnes/year.* Milk cooling:milk cooling is vital tomaintain milk quality but it is also thelargest consumer of energy on Irishdairy farms.

Pre-cooling is achievedbypassing thehotmilkthroughaPlateHeatExchanger(PHE) before it enters the bulk tank.Cold water pumped through the oppo-site side of the PHE absorbs a portion oftheheat,pre-coolingthemilk.EachPHEhasa specificmilktowater flowratio and

extra plates can be added to accommo-date very large milk flow rates.

In July 2010,Teagasc Moorepark con-ducted a series of audits on plate heatexchangers currently being used on ac-tive dairy farms.The results from theseaudits concluded that the vast majorityof plate heat exchangers were perform-ing at only a fraction of their full coolingeffectiveness.This was mainly due to theimproper milk towater flow ratios beingemployed, theaverage ofwhichwas 1:1.2.

PHEmanufactures recommend milkto water flow ratios of between 1:2.5 and1:3, depending on the model. If a PHE issizedcorrectly in relation to thepowerofthe milk pump and the correct ratio ofwater is supplied, then the power con-sumedduringtherefrigerationstagecanbe dramatically reduced.

Table 3 shows the results of PHEtesting carried out at Moorepark En-gineering Laboratories. A PHE wasanalysed at varying milk to water flowrates and with an increasing number ofplates. The milk and water entry tem-peratures were set to 350C and 100C,respectively, and the milk exiting tem-perature from each test was recorded.

The most noticeable result from theabovetest is thereduction inmilkexitingtemperature corresponding with the in-creased milk to water ratio. However, ittakes an ever increasing water flow rateto reduce the milk temperature. As theratio increases, the cooling effect per li-tre of water is reduced.

Another observation from the test isthe influence of increased plate capacityon milk temperature.The extra plateshave amild effect on the performance ofthe PHE.The addition of extra plates to

the heat exchanger increases its heattransfer area, but this also increases thenumber of flow channels, thus reducingthemilk andwater flowvelocities at a setflow rate.This reduction in flow veloci-ties retards the heat transfer rate in thePHE.The result is that increasing thenumber of plates on a PHE producesonly a modest increase in cooling per-formance.

Smart meteringTwo types of milk cooling systems areused on Irish dairy farms. Firstly ‘Directexpansion’ (DX) refers to a systemwherethe evaporator plates are incorporatedinthe lowerportionof thestoragetank indirect contact with the milk. Liquid re-frigerant expands inside the evaporator,taking heat out of the milk directly, thusthename ‘direct expansion’.Milkcoolingtakes place within the tank.

Generally, this milk cooling systemcannot cool the milk as fast as the milkenters the tank.The cooling systemmustrunforaperiodduringandaftermilking.DXcoolingsystemsarethemostefficientcooling system in terms of kWhs con-sumed per litre of milked cooled, buttheymustoperateondayrateelectricity.

‘Instant’ cooling is where the milkcooling is completed outside the storagetank and then pumped in. An inter-mediate cooling fluid, such as chilledwater from an ice builder, is used to coolmilk rapidly in a dual phase plate heatexchanger.This cooling system is less ef-ficient in terms of kWh consumed per li-tre of milk cooled. However, ice bankbuilders can generate enough ice atnight to meet the entire milk cooling de-mand the next day.This system takes

Figure 2: Energy consumption of vacuum pumps pre and post VSD insatllation

12/01/10 22/01/10 01/02/2010 11/02/10 21/02/10 03/03/10 13/03/10 23/03/10 02/04/10

Aver

age

Kwh/

cow

/day

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

NO VSDStart of VSD

Table3 |Table3:Milkexit temperatures (0C) foraPHEratioandplatecapacity test

Milk:Water ratioNo.Plates 1:1 1:2 1:3 1:425 20.8 16.8 14.8 13.7

29 20.7 16.6 14.6 13.6

33 20.5 16.3 14.5 13.5

37 20.5 16.1 14.3 13.3

41 20.4 16.0 14.1 13.2

45 20.4 15.9 14.0 12.9

Electricitycontributes, on

average, 0.60 cent/litre tomilk production costs.Consumption perdairy cowmilked ranges from fourkWh/cow/week to 7.3 kWh/cow/week

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advantage of significantly cheaper nightrate electricity.

In2009, theCentralEnergyRegulator(CER) began trialling a new electricitypricing system called Smart Metering,(Figure4). Smart Metering allows for theprice of electricity to reflect the load onthe national grid.

Over the next decade this new struc-turewill be rolled out nationwide. SmartMetering will result in cheaper electri-city during the night and muchmore ex-pensive electricity during the peakperiod.Bearing this inmind,plus the factthat the evening milk cooling load mayland partially or entirely on the ‘peak’tariff, the case for ice builders with in-stant cooling will become stronger.* Lighting: the energy used by lightingequipment in all areas of the milkingoperation is often underestimated andcan add up to one kWhper cowperweek.Moisture-resistant double fluorescents,or high bay metal halide lamps, are themost common types of lights used on Ir-ish dairy farms.

Energyauditshaveshownthat similarsize dairies using metal halide lumin-aries can use over three times moreelectricity on lighting than a farm usingfluorescent type luminaries.This is dueto the high wattage of the metal halidefittings.

Metal halide fittings are typicallysuspended from the dairy roof in a singlerow over the pit, which usually leads toshadows from the milking machine,stallwork, milk meters and automaticcluster removers, and poor light condi-tions in the pit.

The alternative, fluorescent lighting,generally consists of two rows of doubletube luminaries mounted over the edgesof thepit.Theseprovideuniform lightingwith little or no shadow.

During the lighting experiments inMoorepark we noted that modern fluor-escenttube fittings tend to interferewiththe milking parlour’s automatic cowidentification system, reducing the ef-fective distance from the cow’s ear tag tothe antenna.The older switch start ormagnetic ballast fluorescent tubes arestill available and where automaticidentification systems are installedthese lights are the only viable option.

>> Next page

Awell lit parlour with two rowsof double fluorescent fittings.

LED tubesare veryefficientandwouldsave 48%onpowerusage but,at over e85per tube,the pricewill need tocomedownbefore theywill bewidelyadopted

Figure 4: Smart metering plan

11pm

8am5pm

7pm

Midnight

Noon

PEAK

RAT

E

DAY RAT

EDAY

RAT

E

NIGHT RATE

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While not the most efficient solution,they offer substantial savings over thehigh-bay metal halide lamp and willprovide sufficient light at the cow’s ud-der.

Whereautomatic cow identification isnot employed, any type of fluorescentcan be used, and the focus should be onmaximum energy efficiency.

The most commonly used type offluorescent tube found in the dairy is thedouble five foot fluorescent tube.Thesetubeshaveadiameterofone inchandarereferred to as ‘T8’ fittings.

A number of options exist to improvethe efficiency of these fittings.The ‘T5’fitting is an increasingly popular devel-opment in fluorescent lighting. ‘T5’lamps have a diameter equal to 5/8’’.These lamps are approximately 40%smaller than ‘T8’ lamps.

Traditionally, upgrading to ‘T5’ lampsrequired the purchase of a new light fix-ture. ‘T8’ to ‘T5’ converters are nowcommercially available to convert exist-ing ‘T8’ fittings to higher efficiency ‘T5’fittings without the need to change thefixture itself. ‘T8’ LED (Light EmittingDiode) tubesarealso available, althoughthese are quite new to the market. Lu-minous efficiency, power consumptionand a lux value recorded onemetre fromthe light fittings are shown inTable 4.

Using thedouble58watt 5ft ‘T8’as the

benchmark and current industry stan-dard, it is clear that efficiency gains canbe made by upgrading existing lighting.The IES (Illuminating Engineering So-ciety) recommend 500 lux at the cow’sudder for the milking routine.

Onepointto note is thatthe lux valuesfor the ‘T5’ fitting are far higher thanrequired; in fact the number of lumin-aries in the dairy could be halved whilestill meeting the required 500 lux stan-dard.

Moving from double ‘T8’ fittings tohalf the number of ‘T5’ fittings wouldreduce power consumption on lightingby 40% while still providing the 500 luxrecommended.

Simply using a ‘T8’ to ‘T5’ converterwill save 30% on lighting power usage.

LED tubes are very efficient andwould save 48% on power usage but, atover e85 per tube, the price will need tocome down considerably before theywill be widely adopted.

KEY POINTS | energy saving

* Electricity contributes, onaverage, 0.60cent/litre tomilk production costs.* Consumption per dairy cowmilkedranges from4.0kWh/cow/week to 7.3 kWh/cow/week,(e0.60/cow/weektoe1.10/cow/week).* Reduce energy costs byeliminatingen-ergy wastage: fixingall hot water leaks,insulating hot water piping and refrigerantgas piping and using lights only when ne-cessary.* Aleakof just one litre/hourwastes 8,500

litres of hot waterand 3,800 kWh per year.* Optimising plate cooling: increasing themilk towater flow ratios from1:1 to 1:3 canreduce bulk tank power consumption byover 40%.* Switching all water heating to night rateelectricity.* Consideran oil fired boiler.* Install a variable speed drive controllerwhichcansaveover 60%onvacuumpumprunning costs.* Switch to energyefficient lighting.

Table 4 | Results of the lighting experiment carried out in Moorepark

Double Double T8 toT5 Double Double19W 49W converter 58W T8 58W T8LED T5 High Switch Start

Frequency (Magnetic)Luminous Efficiency (%) 16.32 15.15 11.91 10.4 10.6

Energy Use (I) 0.16 0.4 0.23 0.33 0.53

Lux at 1 Metre 653 1516 685 853 1402

Tag read distance* (cm) 31 28 37 55 102

Tag read distance is the functional distance from the antenna to the ear tag with the light fitting

suspended 1 metre above the antenna

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge thesupport of the Dairy Levy ResearchFund and technical assistance from theMechanical Engineering Department inCork Institute of Technology.

Electricity contributes, on average,0.60 cent/litre tomilk production costs.

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Herd sizeandprofitNot surprisingly,

well-managed larger

dairy herds tend to

generate bigger farm

incomes

GOINGbigger is trottedoutasacure for all ills, but will itsimply result in us just run-ning faster tostandstill?This

question often crops up at discussiongroups.

Information on scale efficiency ondairy farms is scant, apart from someanalysis conductedbytheNationalFarmSurvey.Yet, a number of dairy farmersurveys confirm farmers’ intentions toincrease the scale of their dairyherds bybetween 20% and 50%.

Recently, we looked at over 2,000Profit Monitor reports from the 2007-2009 financial years for messages onscale efficiency. Cow herd size on springcalving dairy farms ranged from 20 to400 cows over the three years.

The data inTable 1 shows that, onaverage, herd size in the study groupincreased by 12 cows between 2007 and2009. Herd size was approximately 20cows larger than the national average.Approximately half of the farms in thestudy were present for all three finan-

cial years and they increased herd sizeat the same rate as the other herdsincluded in the study.

The association between herd size onmilk production and financial perfor-manceispresentedinTable2. The results

also showed that therewas no differencein milk yield per cow in the larger herdscompared with smaller units. Theaverage milk price tended to be higherin larger herds, suggesting that thecomposition of the milk produced inlarger herds was higher. This wasworthapproximately e1.25 per cow in in-creased milk sales value per 10-cowlarger herd size.

These results inTable 2 show thatprofit per cow declined by only e4 percow for a 10-cow larger herd size. Thereduction in profit per cow was not dueto changes in variable costs. However,fixed costs tended to rise per cow inlarger herds. Every 10-cow larger herdsize was associated with a e5.50 increasein fixed costs. Obviously, farm incomerises as a result of adding the additional10 cows.

Table 2 | The association betweenherd size andproduction and financialperformance of dairy herds

Effect � per 10 cow larger herd sizeProductionMilk yield (litres/cow) No effect

Milk price (c/l) Increased by 0.025c/litre

FinancialVariable costs (e/cow) No effect

Fixed costs (e/cow) Increased by e5.50/cow

Net margin (e/cow) Declined by e4.00/cow

Table1 | Averageandrange inherdsizeofthefarmsincludedinthestudyover the2007 to 2009 period

Year Number Average herd size (cows/farm)2007 647 77.5

2008 776 82.9

2009 778 89.9

Neithermilk yield nor quality was compromised by larger scale.

KEY POINTS | herd size

* Neithermilk yield nor quality wascompromisedbylargerscale, indicatingthat cowhusbandry standards had notdeclined in the bigger herds. Indeed,becausemilk price tended to increase,the indicationwas that milk compositiontended to be better in the larger herds* Larger herds can potentially deliverhigher incomes.The small reduction inprofitability per cowobserved in thisstudy in larger herds ismore than com-pensated for by the larger scale of theenterprise.Careful financial planningand cost control arenecessary if thebenefitsoflargerscalearetoberealised.

The averagemilk price

tended to be higher inlarger herds,suggesting that thecomposition of themilkproducedwas higher

GeorgeRamsbottom,Teagasc Oak Park

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dairying

Bewarehiddenmilkfever

MILK fever � clinical andsubclinical � is the mostimportant metabolic dis-ease in dairy cows around

calving.While a downer cow is the clas-sical signofaclinicalmilk feverproblem,subclinical milk fever is more difficult toidentify as symptoms are less obvious.

Slow and difficult calvings, retainedcleanings and uterine infections can allbe indicators of a subclinical milk feverproblem.

Other consequences of both clinicalor subclinical milk fever include masti-tis, displaced abomasums, reduced feedintake, excessivebodycondition lossandfertility problems.

Retained cleanings are commonlyassumed to be a trace element problem(i.e. iodine and selenium) but, in manyreported cases in recent years, subclini-cal milk fever has been the main cause.

Why does milk fever occur?The cow’s demand for calcium increasesrapidly at the onset of lactation, risingtwofold within a couple of days. Milk fe-

ver arises when blood calcium levels be-come insufficient to maintain normalbody functions.

If the cow has been well set up duringthe dry period, adequate calcium can bemobilised and the risk of milk fever islimited. Awell managed control pro-gramme involves identifying the riskfactors and eliminating these risks asso-ciated with both clinical and subclinicalmilk fever.

Risk factors* Body Condition ScoreCows with a condition score of less than2.5 or greater than 3.5 are at higher riskof milk fever.

In general, silage quality this year isexcellent, with high dry matter and di-gestibility, so keep an eye on cow condi-tion.

Group cows according to conditionand restrict access to good quality silage

for over-conditioned cows. Low digest-ibility forages suchas straworhaycanbeused to dilute the energycontent of goodsilage. Late calving cows are at greaterrisk of being over-conditioned due to thelong dry period.* AgeThe risk of milk fever increases by ap-proximately 9%per lactation.Milk feveris more prevalent in third calvers andolder.Culloldcowsandcowswhichsufferrecurrent cases of milk fever.Milk fever cases tend to recur so thatculling persistent offenders maybe ben-eficial.* Supplementation methodMake sure you are feeding the correctrateofminerals.Checkthepackaging forfeedingrates.Feedingratecanvaryfrom60 to 150 grams per head per day, de-pending on supplier.

It is important that animals haveadequate feeding space (2ft/cow) and

Consequencesofbothclinicalor

subclinical milk feverincludemastitis,displaced abomasums,reduced feed intake,excessive body conditionloss and fertility problems

Siobha¤ nKavanaghTeagasc Kildalton

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minerals are offered twice daily on pitsilage and three to four times daily onbaled silage.

Shake minerals across the silage, notin a line along the silage. Fixed ratefeeding of minerals (e.g. top dressing onsilage) is more accurate than free accessminerals (e.g. buckets or licks).

Minerals may be administered viawater but water intake is low during thewinter months.

If you are using boluses, rememberthat boluses tend to only supply three tofour trace elements.

Major elements such as phosphorous,magnesium and sodium are not suppliedin boluses and magnesium is a key com-ponent in the prevention of subclinicalmilk fever.Donot feedminerals left lyingaround since last year.* Magnesium supplementationInadequate magnesium intake reducesthe ability of the gut to absorb calcium

and also reduces calciummobilisationfrom bone reserves, which predisposesthe cow to milk fever.

Adequate magnesium supplementa-tion is essential for the prevention ofmilk fever.

The requirement of the dry cow is0.4%magnesium per kg dry matter in-take. Supplementation rates of 15 to 25gof magnesium are required in the pre-calver mineral to meet the magnesiumrequirement of the dry cow.

Assuming a feeding rate of:� 100g per day, the percentage on thelabel should be 15% to 25%.� 75g per day, the percentage on the la-bel should be 20% to 33%.* High potassium intake pre-calvingHigh potassium levels in silage, from ex-cessive spreading of slurry on silageground in late spring, can reduce theuptake of magnesium from the gut andincrease the risk of clinical and subcli-

nical milk fever.Without silage analysis,this will be unknown. It can be useful toget a full mineral profile done on silageto identify some of risk factors asso-ciated with milk fever. If you are havingproblems, dilute the silage by feeding1kgto2kgofanalternative forage sourcewith it, such as hay or straw.

The balance of minerals, sodium, po-tassium, chlorine and sulphur (dietarycation anion balance �DCAB) can in-fluence the risk of milk fever.

Anionic salts can be used to counterthe negative effects of this in the dry cowand, while there has been some successwith these salts, care should be taken inusing them.

These salts are unpalatable and canbe difficult to feed.While these salts areeffective, the underlying causes of theproblem need to be diagnosed correctlyas anionic salts are an expensive meansof dealing with the problem.

ThomasO’Meara,Co OffalyIn 2010, Thomas O’Meara, Co Offaly,was having problems around calvingtime. While cows were not showing theclassical signs of milk fever, they werecontinuing to bleed a few days aftercalving and he ran into problems withuterine infections.

In general, there was no problemwith retained cleanings or slow, difficultcalvings. This is classical subclinicalmilk fever — difficult to diagnose.

Investigations by his Teagasc advi-ser Michael Hogan, Nenagh, and thelocal vet suggested that the problemwas a subclinical milk fever problem.

Strategies‘‘We tried a number of strategies to sortout the problem,’’ said Thomas.

‘‘We fed straw to dilute down thesilage. We fed extra magnesium to thedry cows. Cows got a bottle of calciumunder the skin at calving time andanionic salts were used within a fewdays of calving. The problem wasalleviated but it is difficult to say whichstrategy contributed most.’’

In 2011, Thomas will send a grasssilage sample for complete mineralanalysis. Risk factors, such as potas-sium level, will help him to establish astrategy for preventing the problemrather than the costly and laboursomeapproach of treatment.

CASESTUDY

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dairying

Liquidmilk farmsneed totacklefeed coststhis spring

THE first hint of spring offerssome prospect of respite for li-quid milk farmers, who haveendured a winter of plummet-

ing temperatures and rising feed prices.Frozenmilking parlours have creatednoendofdisruptionbut, thankfully, thishasbeen a relatively rare occurrence overthe years.

In contrast, the costofpurchased feedis a silent, perennial problem on manyliquid milk farms.Teagasc analysis forthe last decade has consistently shown a3c to 4c per litre gap in annual feed costbetween the spring and winter milk sec-tors, which means e12,000 to e16,000greater spending for the average sizeliquid herd.

What is the reason for this substantialdifference in feed cost? The direct ex-pense of feeding lactating cows duringthe winter is often cited.This is true to acertain degree, because it costs arounde1.80 (or 5cpl) extra per day to feed theearly lactation cow indoors comparedwith at pasture, despite a higher yield(Table 1). A milk price premium isclearly needed to justify winter pro-duction in this case.

However, the simple comparisonshown is for a given dayduring winter orsummer,whichdoes not tell the full storyonannual feedcostat farmlevel.Tobeginwith, liquid milk herds supply all-year-round so only a percentage of annualoutput is required during the high costmonths (less than 20% for the averagecontract,Table 2). Also, the average sizeof a liquid milk contract is around 55%of total production but this differswidely from farm to farm.

The proportion of winter supplyshould, in theory, vary according to size

of contract. Furthermore, there is largerange (over 5c per litre) in feed costs forherds within the liquid milk sector, evenwith similar milk contracts and supplycurves.

The variation indicates that factorsindependent ofwinter feeding costsmayinfluence the annual feed bill on liquidmilk farms. Identifying these factors isone of themain objectives of theTeagascBETTER liquid milk project, which wasestablished in 2009 to benchmark theproduction, breeding, feedmanagementand economics for liquid milk herds.

Joe Patton,Teagasc

Table 2 | Milk supply in winter months as a proportion ofannual production

Annual Total Milk Litres 500,000

Liquid Milk Contract % 55%

Daily liquid Milk Supply Litres 753

Winter Litres Required* 97,000

Proportion required as winter production 19.5%

*Total litres required to meet liquid contract from 15 October to 1

March

Table1 | Dietcosts for summerandwintermilkproduction

Summer WinterMilk Yield 27 litres 31 litres

Purchased concentrate Cost:

— per litre 2.3cpl 6.2cpl

Total daily* diet cost:

— per cow e1.92 e3.72

*Total diet cost including full forage and purchased concentrate

expenses

Teagasc analysis for the last decade has consistently showna 3c to 4c per litre gap in annual feedcost between the springandwintermilk sectors

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Keymessages for spring feedingmanagementon liquidmilk herds

THE BETTER liquid milk pro-ject consists of 14 farms, se-lected in consultation withTeagasc B&T dairy advisers.

Eachsubmitsamonthlysummaryofmilkyield, feeding rates and grazing man-agement, which builds information onthe pattern of yield and supplementa-tion across the year.This data can thenberelatedbacktoannualcostsandprofitthrough eProfit Monitor data.

OutcomesOpinions on feeding management arevaried across the group, but there aresome interesting outcomeswhich shouldbe considered when planning your ap-proach to spring 2011.*Liquidmilk farmswith the highest feedbills incur extra cost in springThis challenges the view that highercosts are solely the result of winterfeeding.Thepoint is illustrated inFigure1, which charts the monthly feed inputfor the three highest (8.7cpl) and threelowest (3.1cpl) BETTER herds in termsof feed cost per litre.

The graph shows that daily feedingrates per cow are similar during thewinter but high feed cost farms offermuch greater levels of supplement fromFebruary to May.

A practical conclusion is thatmanagement during the earlygrazing season needs to be high-lighted as a priority area on highfeed costs farms. Pasture budget-ing techniques, such as the springrotation planner, are equally asimportant in a liquid milk situa-tion as for spring calving herds.

The spring rotation plan is ea-sily adapted for split calving andhas potential to markedly reducecosts when pasture becomesavailable. It also helps set up pas-ture quality for subsequent rota-tions* Liquid milk farms with lowerfeed cost match supplements toavailable grassConcentrates can be used toachieveatargetyieldpercowortobalance pasture intake and avail-ability.

The BETTER farms with thelowest feed cost (and highest milkoutput per hectare) tend to makefeeding decisions as a combina-tion of both, offering moderateamounts of concentrate in springbut supplementing according to agrass budget in mid-season.

Toomuch focus onmaintaininghigh daily yields of individualcows generally leads to excessivemeal feeding of the herd.This is a

real issue in split calving herdswith highyielding spring calvers.*Liquidmilkherdswithhighest feedcostbuffer feed without budgetingIssues around buffer feeding withmixeddiets have becomemore prevalent in re-cent seasons, especially in relation toincreasing stocking rate on the milkingplatform.

Teagasc research for winter milk sys-tems at Johnstown Cas-

tle has shown that a buffer feedingsystemmay be profitable but only ifstocking rate is increased, grass utilisa-tion is at maximum andmilk price ishigh.

Data from the BETTER farms isshowing that buffer feeding withoutpasture budgeting in spring leads to in-efficient use of feed and wasted pasture.The simple message for this spring is:don’t buffer without budgeting.* Liquidmilk herds with lower feed costshave better genetics for fertilityUsing dairy AI sires with a high fertilitysub-index is perhaps themost importantlong-termmanagement step for addres-sing feed costs.

This trend can be observed on theBETTER liquid milk farms. Improvingthe herd’s EBI for fertility allows forgreater control of calving pattern andlactation length.This means betterplanning of winter milk supply, moredays inmilk, and fewer carryover cows inthe system.

There is a tendency forherdswith lowEBI for fertility to look for a feeding so-lution to the problem, which is almostalways expensive but seldom successful.

For liquid milk herds, the conclusionfor spring 2011 is: select bulls with atleast e100 fertility in the proof.

Figure 1. Feed supplement profiles for high and low feed cost BETTER liquid milk farms

0

5

10

15

20

25

J F M A M J J A S O N D

HIGH

LOW

Supp

lem

ent k

g/DM

Month

Data fromthe BETTERfarms isshowingthat bufferfeedingwithoutpasturebudgetinginspring leadsto inefficientuse of feedandwastedpasture.Themessage forthisspringis:don’t bufferwithoutbudgeting

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dairying

Make sure allcalvingboxes

have proper watersupply and groovefloors to aid cowsgettingupaftercalving;30%to40%ofmastitisat calving occurs fivedays prior to calving.Vigilance is crucial atthis stage.Onmanyfarms, calvingpensareoverstocked and notcleaned out anddisinfected regularly

MASTITISFocus on thesefive areas tominimisemastitis

CALVING is in full swing onsome farms and gettingstarted on others.With seaso-nal calving, the workload can

be overwhelming, especially when pro-blems arise. Preparation and getting or-ganised are crucial to minimisingproblems and ensuring you can copewith what the spring throws at you.Thefollowing areas should be addressed tomake sure they are not an issue at cal-ving.

ONE: calving pens and cubiclesCalving pens and cubicles play a crucialpart in the control of mastitis and cellcount in cows and in-calf heifers.Theyare often neglected and many sheds areoverstocked.The ideal situation is tohave one cubicle per cow and/or heifer.

Many studies have shown that the fiveto seven-day period prior to calving isthe crucial time for preventing mastitisin the dry period and early lactation. If asealer is used in conjunction with drycow antibiotics, this will help to reducethe incidence of mastitis around calvinggreatly. Place a drum of disinfectant atthe entrance to these pens.

TWO: cubicle managementCubiclemanagement is really importantif you want to prevent mastitis. Cubiclesshould be cleaned and dusted with limetwice per day. It is important to keep cu-bicles as dry as possible.

Fixanyleaks inroofsandrunscrapersevery two to three hours per day.Thismay seema lot; try it and youwill see theimprovement on how clean and dry thecubicles are.

A common issue I see at farm level isturning off scrapers at night, fearful thata cowmay calve in the cubicles. Avoidthis if at all possible; move cows to cal-ving pens if in doubt.

Keep a constant check on the compo-sition of cowdung. If cows are very loose,make some fibre available, e.g. hay orstraw.This will help to dry up dung andcubicles will be a lot cleaner and easierto keep clean.

There are a number of disinfectantproductsonthemarketwhichwillhelptoreduce the incidence of mastitis if usedonaweeklybasis.StalosanForProsonexare just two examples of powder-basedproducts.These should be applied twiceweekly to disinfect cubicles and keepthem dry.These products are provingvery successful at preventing dry cowmastitis and mastitis in early lactation.

THREE: calving box managementThese shouldbecleanedanddisinfectedprior to the calving season.Make sure allcalving boxes have proper water supplyand groove floors to aid cows getting upafter calving; 30% to 40% of mastitis atcalving occurs five days prior to calving.

Vigilance is crucial at this stage. Onmany farms, calving pens are over-stocked and not cleaned out and disin-fected regularly.

This has a serious effect on heifersprior to calving as they have no dry cowor sealer as protection.The floors in cal-

Don Crowley,Teagasc

Cubiclemanagement is really importantif youwant to prevent mastitis.

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ving pens should be grooved to aid cowsgetting up after calving.

Clean out after each calving and dis-infect with Prosonex or Stalosan For asimilar product.These products helpgreatly to prevent mastitis in early lac-tation and help minimise high cellcounts.

Navel infections and associated pro-blems have also been greatly reducedwith the use of these products.

Check all cows for mastitis during thefirst 10 days after calving. Rememberthat 70% of all clinical mastitis occurs inthe first 10 days after calving.

FOUR: mastitis in heifersHeifers can be more prone to mastitis atcalving due to lack of dry cow therapyand sealer. In-calf heifers should not behoused on slats, particularly close tocalving.Train them to lie up, and work on heifersthat don’t lie up on cubicles.Teat sprayheifers for five days prior to calving, or

dip teatswith sealer dips, e.g. Dry flex orMHC teat seal barrier. Avoid feedingmastitismilk to replacements to preventcross infection to future generations.This milk should be discarded or fed tomale calves.

FIVE: prevent mastitis at milkingAt calving, all cows will should bechecked for mastitis.The following pro-cedure to prevent mastitis, cross infec-tionandreducecell count isprovingverysuccessful:* Wear gloves, e.g. nitrile disposablegloves.* Pre-spray all cows, foremilk and drywipe.* Disinfect clusters after removing fromcow in peracetic acid, e.g. Cluster XX orRomit or similar products. Mixing rate20mls to two gallons ofwater and changesolution after 10 to 12 cluster dips.* Post spray all cows after milking. En-sure a drop is formed at the end of eachteat. Ifyouareusingahand-heldsprayer,

one 600ml sprayer will do 50 cows forone1 milking.* A separate group, if feasible, is an ex-cellent control measure.

Early detection and knowing yourhigh cell count cows is very important.Early milk recording is crucial. Manyfarmerswait untilmost cows have calvedbefore first milk recording.

Your firstmilk recording shouldoccurno later than four weeks after calving.

All clusters should be dipped aftermilking until individual SCC results areback. Once you know the high cell countcows, pre-spray and dry wipe these cowswith teat spray prior to milking and dipthe clusters in peracetic acid after thesecows have beenmilked.Thiswill preventcross infection, reduce cell count andstop new cases of mastitis. Spending afew hours with this checklist, and ensur-ing your milking equipment is workingperfectly, will payhuge dividends for theseason. If you require any assistance,contact yourTeagasc dairy adviser.

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What will we dowiththe dairy bull calves?With the national dairy herd expected to expand in

coming years, the additional bull calves are both a

challenge and an opportunity, writesBernard Smyth,

Teagasc Programme Manager, Drystock

IN 2010, up to half the dairy calves(almost 160,000 head) were ex-ported live within the EU, with over80% going to Holland, Spain and

Belgium for veal production. Significantextra value could be added to Irish agri-cultural output if some or all of the maledairy calves could be finished profitablyto beef on Irish farms.

Food Harvest 2020 sets a target of in-creasing the value of agricultural beefoutput by 20% over the next 10 years;profitable finishing systems for dairybeef calves have the potential to delivermuch of this target.

Finishing systemsA sustainable systemmust yield a pro-duct that meets market requirementsand achieves a viable beef price for pro-ducers. Run efficiently, bull and steerfinishing systems can satisfy both re-quirements.

With bull systems, the preferred ageat slaughter is up to 16 months, at carca-seweights of 240kg to 340kgand fat coverof 2+ to 4-. Up to 18 months may also beacceptable. Steer systems should target24-month finishing for early born calveswith carcaseweights of approximately320kg; later born calves can be finishedoff grass at 27 to 30 months.

The importance of grass.Key to achieving profit with all cattlesystems is maximising the proportion oftotal liveweight gain from grass in theanimal’s lifetime; this also holds true fordairy beef finishing. Over 80% of dairycalves areborn in the first fourmonths ofthe year and this seasonal calving pat-tern is likely to continue.

Autumn or January/February-borncalves going to grass in spring can utilise

grass to good effect and achieve cheapweight gain. Later born calves are moresuitable to steer systems or for live ex-port if theycannotbeprofitably finishedin Ireland.

The concentrate input will vary withthe system but can be minimised for allsystems by exploiting gains at grass andincluding excellent quality silage in theindoor finishing period.The recent in-crease in meal prices will militateagainst ad lib meal finishing systems,especially for bull systems that run up to180 days. Dairybeef finishers havemuchhigher intakes and lower feed conver-sion efficiency than continental beeffinishers and it is importanttoavoidverylong indoor finishing periods with dairyprogeny.

At the Johnstown Castle Dairy BeefOpen Day in November, Pearse Kellyoutlined potential profit margins perhead of €47 for 15 month bulls, €107 perheadfor18monthbullsand€118perheadfor 24-month steers from spring-borndairy calves.The indoor finishing periodwasbasedongoodqualitysilageplus6kgconcentrates daily for bull systems and5kg concentrates daily for steers. Con-centrates were included at €220 pertonne and beef price assumedwas €3/kg.

With concentrate price likely to be upbyabout €50 per tonne and beef price up€0.30 per kg, there is little change in bullmargins, and 24-month steer marginswould be up to €40 higher per head. In-creased concentrate prices will placeeven greater emphasis on keeping theindoor finishing period to the minimum.

Potential average daily gain indoorswith bulls on excellent silage plus 6kgmeals is 1.1kg to 1.2kg/day and up to1.35kg/day on ad lib meals. Potentialdaily gain indoors with steers on excel-lent silage plus 5kg meals is 0.9kg/day.Autumn and early spring-born dairycalves have the potential to maximisethe gain from grazed grass and therebyminimise the indoor finishing period re-quired; they offer the best profit poten-tial.

Later born calves maybemore suitedto steer systems finishing off grass at 27to 30 months or possibly bull systems at18 months following two short indoorwinters,100daysat grass followedby100+ days on ad lib meals indoors.

Dairy calfto beef unitRob Prendiville, Johnstown Castle

THE dairy calf to beef trial was es-tablished in Johnstown Castle inApril 2010 � a joint venture be-

tweenTeagascandDawnMeats.Theaimsof the study are to integrate differentbull beef production systems with pro-duct marketing and develop systems ofproduction that are efficient and profit-able for the producer and provide a pro-duct that is marketable by the processor.

The breed types included in the studyrepresent male progeny from both cur-rent and projected future breeding poli-cies of Irish dairy producers.TheHolstein-Friesian (HF) is the dominantbreed in the Irish dairy cow population.Also, due to performance results of theJersey X Holstein-Friesian (JEX) cowsfrom New Zealand and the ‘Ballydague’Research farm, Moorepark, more andmore dairy farmers are going down theroute of Jersey crossbreeding. As a re-sult, the proportion of JEX bull calves isexpected to rise.

The research demonstration farmconsists of 300 spring-born dairy bullcalves; 165 Holstein-Friesian and 108Jersey XHolstein-Friesian and 27 three-way crossbred animals (Norwegian Redbull X Jersey crossbred cow).

Animals arrived on site in late April/earlyMay (10-12 weeks of age). All calveswere weaned at the time of purchase.Calves were randomly assigned to one of10 systems according to breed type, dateof birth and bodyweight on arrival atJohnstown Castle and farm origin.

Three groups (90 calves) were fin-ishedat less thaneightmonths: 30 calveson ad-lib concentrates indoors (AL), 30calves at pasture plus 2kg concentrate(PC) and 30 calves on pasture only (PO)(groups 1, 2 and 3� Figure 1). Theconcentrate mix was 80% barley, 14%soya, 4%molasses and 2%minerals. Ad-lib calves were housed and the remain-ing 240 calves were put out to grass.

Throughout the grazing season, PCcalves were given their 2kg allocation ofconcentrate, with the remaining 120calves staying on PO. In doing so, the ef-fect of lifetime performance of concen-trate supplementation in the firstsummer for calves at pasture can also beevaluated.The remaining 30 animals onAL will be slaughtered at less than 12months of age (group 4). In total, 120 an-imals will be slaughtered at less than 12months of age.

The remaining 180 bulls will beslaughtered under three different sys-tems: 15, 18 and 22 months of age.Thirtybulls from each system (PC and PO) willbe housed at the end of the grazing sea-sonandbuilt upontoanad-libdiet for sixmonths (groups 5 and 6� Figure 1).

In spring 2011,120 bullswill be turned

Autumn and earlyspring-born dairy

calves have the potential tomaximise the gain fromgrazed grass and therebyminimise the indoor finishingperiod required; they offerthe best profit potential

Bernard Smyth

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1. 30 slaughtered @ < 8 months

7. 30 at grass for 3 months, housed on ad-lib concentrates for 3 months. Slaughtered at 18 months




2. 30 slaughtered @ < 8 months 3. 30 slaughtered @ < 8 months

4. 30 slaughtered @ < 12 months 5. 30 housed on ad-lib concentrates for 6 months. Slaughtered @ <16 months

6. 30 housed on ad-lib concentrates for 6 months. Slaughtered @ <16months

Figure 1: Finishing treatments of the dairy calf to beef system at Johnstown Castle.

60 ad-lib concentrates 120 at grass plus 2 kg concentrates

120 at grass plus 2 kg concentrates 60 on silage + 1.5 kg concentrates for the winter

120 on a grass only diet

out to pasture (60 calves from the PCgroup and 60 PO calves).These havebeen carried over the winter on anad-lib silage diet plus 1.5kg concen-trate. After three months at pasture,30 bulls from each group (groups 7and 8�Figure 1) will be housed andbuilt up onto an ad-lib concentratediet for three months.

The remaining 60 bulls (groups 9and 10) will remain at pasture untilSeptember before being housed onan ad-lib concentrate diet for threemonths.This group will be slaugh-tered at 22 months.

General managementAs Bernard Smyth points out, maxi-mising theproportionofgoodqualitypasture is of utmost importance forprofitable beef production systems.

The calves involved in the trial(120 grass only calves and 120 calvesat pasture plus 2kg concentrate)were the sole stock available on theland area.Therefore, this year pas-ture management was somewhat ar-tificial in that no adult animals wereon the grazing platform and grassdemand was low.

The two groups at grass werefurther subdivided into groups of 60.This ensured that the smaller calveson concentrates received their 2kgallocation. Grass budgeting was car-ried out weekly and target pre-graz-ing herbage yields were established.

>> Next page

FoodHarvest2020 sets atarget ofincreasingthe value ofagriculturalbeef outputby 20% overthe next10years;profitablefinishingsystems fordairy beefcalves havethe potentialto delivermuch of thistarget

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Pre-grazing herbage yields averaged917kgDM/ha (8.4cm) for the summermonths (May to July). Pre-grazing her-bage yields that exceeded 1,400kgDM/ha were not grazed and subsequentlyremoved from the rotation as baled si-lage. Pre-grazing herbage yields in-creased in the autumn.

Average pre-grazing herbage yieldsfor this period was 1,150kgDM/ha.Throughout the grazing season freshpasturewas allocated to the calves everytwo to three days. Post-grazing heightsfor the swards averaged 4.8cm.

A reseeding programme was also putin place.Twelve hectares of the loweryielding paddocks were reseeded in2010: five hectares in April and sevenhectares in August.The grass seed mix-ture used in the spring consisted of 44%Tyrella, 44%Abermagic and 12% clover(Crusader).With the exception of Aston-energy replacing Abermagic, the grassseedmixture used in the autumnwas thesame.

The importance of having a healthycalf to begin with cannot be over em-phasised. On arrival, all calves weretested for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD)and vaccinated for infectious bovinerhinotracheitis (IBR), using an intrana-sal vaccine, and also for Black Leg. Nu-merous incidences of respiratorydiseases were encountered throughout

the experimental period. Isolated inci-dences of Pink eye occurred in the latesummer/autumn. All animals were trea-ted for internal and external parasites.Calf mortality for the year was 5%. Suchlosses were largely attributed to re-spiratory problems.

Animal performanceLiveweight and average daily gain(ADG) of the three feed systems are pre-sented inTable 1. Animals were housedon 12 November. At housing, calves onPO were 52kg lighter than PC and 131kg

lighter than AL. Average daily gainthroughout the first season was highestwith the AL, lowest with the PO and PCintermediate. On the day of housing, allanimals were penned according to theirallocated groups. Animals selected forslaughter less than 16months were builtup onto ad-lib ration over a three-weekperiod. Since housing, ADG of theanimals less than 16 months were 1.53and 1.11kg/d for the PC and PO groups,respectively. Average daily gains weresimilar for the HF and JEX in thesegroups.

Table1 | Production performance of dairy bull calves on three feeding systems on 21December

Indoors 2 kgmeal + pasture 1st season Pasture only for 1st seasonSlaughter dates <12 months <16 months 18 & 22months < 16 months 18 & 22monthsFeed system Ad-libmeal Ad-libmeal 1.5 kgmeal Ad-libmeal 1.5 kgmeal

+ straw + straw + ad-lib + straw + ad-libsilage silage

BODYWEIGHT (KG):Housing (12 November) 320 239 242 188 189

21 December 364 298 275 234 209

*ADG (KG/D):From beginning 1.23 0.93 0.84 0.69 0.54

Since 12 November - 1.53 0.80 1.11 0.40

BREEDGROUPS HF JEX HF JEX HF JEX HF JEX HF JEXBody weight (kg):

Housing (12 November) 338 298 240 241 249 232 189 185 191 190

21 December 375 347 294 294 279 264 235 218 206 208

ADG (KG/D):From beginning 1.27 1.18 0.93 0.93 0.84 0.80 0.65 0.60 0.52 0.55

Since 12 November 1.09 1.21 1.65 1.43 0.81 0.89 1.32 0.90 0.42 0.43

NB: These are raw data that have not been statistically analysed and, therefore, no definite conclusions can be drawn from them.

Rob Prendiville at Teagasc, Johnstown Castle.

Theresearchworkin Johnstown

Castle, funded by DawnMeats, intothemanydifferentpossible systems of finishingdairy bull calves, iscomplemented by sixdemonstration farms

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Calf to beefdemofarmsPearseKelly,TeagascCattle Specialist

THE research work in JohnstownCastle, funded by DawnMeats,into the many different possible

systems of finishing dairy bull calves, iscomplemented by six demonstrationfarms.These are commercial beef farm-ers who are clients of Teagasc and areeither already finishingFriesian bulls orare now starting such a system on theirfarm.The aim is to showhow the systemswork and to examine their profitabilityat farm level so that other farmers canconsider following their lead.

The six farms are spread acrossTip-perary, Laois, Kilkenny, andWexford.Each of these farms will be working clo-sely with Rob Prendiville, their own lo-cal Teagasc advisers and myself. Farmplans have been drawn up for each ofthem,whichhave lookedattheresourcesavailable, the systems that would mostsuittheir farmsandthenumbers thatcanbe finished each year.

All six farms are planning to finishspring-born bulls either out of the shedafter housing in the autumn or lettingthem back to grass as yearlings for ashort period before intensively feedingthem indoors again for 80 to 100 days. Anumber of them are also buying a pro-portion of their calves in the autumn tofinish at less than 16 months.

Three of the farms are buying two tothree-week-old calves and rearing themon their own farmswhile the other threedemo farms are buying reared calves at12 weeks of age. By buying a three-month-old calf, while you are payingmore for him, you are reducing theworkload involved in rearing calves andare also reducing the likelihood ofdeaths. For farmers who do not have thefacilities, or have never artificiallyreared calves, this is an option worth

considering. As part of the project,Tea-gasc also hope to have a small number ofcontract rearing demo farms to show thepotential there is for some farmers toreardairybull calves forother farmers tobuy and finish.

Each of the six demo farms will bepushing their stocking rate as far as thehousing available on their farms allows.This is an important part of their plan ashigh numbers finished per hectare is es-sential in order to maximise the profit-ability of dairy bull beef systems.

Excellent grassland management isalso needed if high stocking rates are tobe maintained and if key performancetargets are to bemet.Rotational grazingwith a paddock system, along with regu-lar measurement of grass covers andherd demand, will take place on each ofthe farms. Reseedingwill be donewherenecessary.

All of the dairybulls on each farmwillbe weighed three to four times beforethey are slaughtered.This will show thelevel of performance achieved at each

stage throughout their life. Regular andaccurate weighings allow us to identifyvery quickly if targets are not being metand to take action.

Aprofitmonitorwill be completed foreach farm at the end of each year.Thiswill showtheoutputandcosts associatedwith it.TheTeagasc/Irish Farmers Jour-nal BETTER farm programme has atarget of €1,000grossmarginperhectarefor each of its suckler farms.The Derry-patrick suckler herd in Grange has a si-milar target.These six dairy calf to beefdemonstration farms will be looking tomatch this gross margin per hectare.

2011 is the first year that these de-monstration farms will be fully part ofthis programme withTeagasc.

Amore detailed profile of each of thefarms will follow in future issues ofToday’s Farm and the progress they aremaking.

Therewill also be farmwalks on theirfarms over the coming years while dis-cussion groups will also be given the op-portunity to visit them.

DawnMeats’ Dairy Beef ClubPaul Nolan,Dawn Meats

As part of its agriculture plan 2010, DawnMeats launched its Dairy Beef Club. Underthis scheme trials were set up withTeagasc in Johnstown Castle to look at anumber of dairy beef production systems.

At the same time, both parties identifiedand have engaged with demonstrationfarms to benchmark these over the yearahead.

One of the key early findings in 2010was that proper calf rearing is crucial

regardless of the finishing system adapted.As a result, Dawn are currently developingpartnerships with a number of rearers thisspring. The aim is to identify ‘best in class’rearing systems that will produce a robust,healthy 12-week-old Holstein bull calf at115kg for beef finishers to finish at 16months of age. Dawn will provide back-up

professional advice with regular visits andreports, and the project will be monitoredwith assistance from Teagasc.

Costs, no doubt, will fluctuate and willbe carefully monitored, but the prime aim ofthis rearing venture is to identify and makeavailable best practice for those interestedin supplying finishers in the future.

It is expected that the calves reared inthis project in 2011 will be placed withfinishers for 13 months for slaughter, atcarcaseweights of 280kg grading O, fatclass 2= in early/mid-2012.

Teagasc EnniscorthyadviserMichael Fitzgerald says thework at Johnstown Castle, and else-where, should generate opportunity for two categoriesof farmer: dairy bull calf rearers and, also,dairy bull calf finishers.

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ThisKerrygroupknew

they must adapt their

lambing dates to meet

market demand

MARKETING lamb has alwaysbeen a difficult task � sodifficult that some of themajor red meat processors

have exited the sheep meat business. Agroup of 27 Kerry sheep farmers havebucked this trend and started their ownbusiness, marketing their own lambsthroughout Ireland.

In July 2009 theRing ofKerryQualityLamb group started marketing theirlambs directly to consumers.

Frommodest beginnings, the groupmanaged to process 70 lambs per monthduring the first six months in business.2010 started slow, but soon, throughputdoubled and then tripled to over 200lambs per month.

Very quickly the group realised thatbecause most of its members were hillsheep farmers, supplying customerswith spring lamb in the months of Aprilto July would be a significant challenge.

Having worked hard to break into thelambmeat market, and having estab-lished a brand, everything was going tobe jeopardised if the group could notmeet the demand of its core customerbase with spring lamb for the months ofApril, May and June.

Producing early lambs on hill sheep

farms is a challenge. Scottish Blackfaceewes do not lend themselves to earlylamb production systems and, even ifthey did, most of the 5,000 ewes in thegroupwould be suckling their lambs intoJuly (when they should be flushing/sponged for early lamb production).

Requiring 200 lambs per monthwouldmean that 500 eweswould have tobe sponged.This figurewas arrived at byassuming that 70% of the ewes wouldconceive to the mating from beingsponged, plus one repeat mating, andachieve a litter size of 1.5.

All members were asked to select asmall proportion of their flock of 10 to 50ewes depending on flock size. Certainmembers opted not to lamb early butover half of the member farms mated al-most 600ewes to lambfromthemiddleofDecember to the middle of January.

Eachmember farmthatopted tomateewes was given a sponging/mating planwith all the key dates relating to spongeinsertion, removal and mating plus ex-

pected lambing dates.Because early synchronised matings

require a much lower ram to ewe ratio(typically one ram for every eight ewes),group members pooled their terminalsire rams.This allowed members to useeven lower ram to ewe ratios in additionto being able to try out different breedsof rams.

Founding memberToma¤ s O’Leary is one of the foundingmembers of the Ring of Kerry QualityLambGroup.He is also the procurementofficer for the group who, together withthe group secretary, manage the group’sweekly lamb kill.

Toma¤ s farms amixed cattle and sheepenterprise and produces approximately200 lambs per year, with lambing start-ing from the middle of February.

This year,Toma¤ s pulled 20 ewes out ofhis normal production system andsponged them in early July � targetlambing date of 15 December.

Ewes identifiedfor sponging

should have beenweaned from theprevious lamb crop atleast fourweeksprior tosponge insertion.Thistakes some planningahead.Ewesmustbe ingoodbody condition

MichaelGottstein,TeagascKillarney

Lambproductionsynch

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The ewes selected were either dryewes (whose lambs had been drafted inlate May/early June) or hogget ewes.Sponges where inserted for 12 days andat the time of sponge removal the eweswere injected with 750 internationalunitsofPMSG.Because thePMSGcomesin 7,500 unit bottles, it makes sense tosponge ewes in lots of 10.

Forty eight hours after sponge re-moval, one ramwas introduced for everyseven ewes sponged.Two days after therams were introduced, they were re-moved, andToma¤ s opted not to allow therams back in 10 days later for the repeatmatings.

Fifty days later the ewes werescanned; 18 showed up in lamb, six sin-gles, 10 twins and two triplets.Thesewere the best results achieved by any ofthe members who sponged ewes. Of the14 members who sponged ewes, the re-sults in terms of conception rate to firstservice ranged from a lowof 25% to 90%.

The results clearly demonstrate the

difficulty in predicting the potentialfrom sponging ewes.

To retain market share in the mar-ketplace, sheep farmers need to be ableto supply a consistent quality product 12months of the year. Failure to achievethis will result in imported product re-placing the locally produced product or

lamb being replaced by other proteinsources such as poultry, pork or beef atretail level.

Sponging ewes is a useful method tobring ewes into season earlier andtherebyfacilitate lambing ‘outof season’.However, it is not a replacement for goodmanagement practices.

KEY | messages

Keymessages that can be taken from theexperience of themembers of the RingofKerry Quality Lamb group:

* Ewesidentified forspongingshouldhavebeenweaned from the previous lamb cropat least four weeks prior to sponge inser-tion.This takes someplanningahead.* Ewesmust be in good body condition�thin eweswon’t go in lamb.* Ewes that are barren from the previousyeararenot ideal candidates for sponging

�manyof these showedup as being bar-ren again at scanning* Ram ratio/fertility is very important.MatinginJuly/earlyAugustisoutofseasonfor theramstoo.Therefore, fertility is lowerthan onewould expect in October/No-vember* Rotatingramsduringthematingperiodisimportant to insure against a dud ram.Change the ramsaroundafter six hours,especially if single siremating is beingused.

chronisingwithdemand

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Allgoingtoplanat thisKerry BETTERFarmAn update on develop-

ments at this superb

suckler unit. John

Carroll and Shane

McHugh report

LEONARD and Liz McEnery farm34 adjusted hectares near Far-ranfore.The farm has a numberof land types from free draining

land on an outside leased block to veryheavy peaty soils around the farmyard.The aim is to produce top qualityweanlings for the export market.

The herd consists of Simmental,Simmental cross Belgian Blue and Li-mousin cross cows. Many cows are nowthree-quarter bred Belgian Blue. AIBelgian Blue sires are mostly used. Cal-ving begins in September.

On joining theTeagasc/Irish FarmersJournal BETTER Farm programme inautumn 2009, the first task for Leonardand Liz was to complete a three-yearfarm plan.

Grassland managementGrassland management was prioritisedin the three-year plan.The leased landwas reseeded in September 2009 and arotational paddock grazing system wasused last year, with greater emphasis

being placed on the use of compoundfertilizer as opposed to straight nitro-gen.

Calves born in autumn 2009/2010were grazed around the farmyard fromJanuary 2010. Paddocks earmarked forfirst cut silage were grazed by calves be-fore closing up in early April. In the pastthiswouldnothavebeenpossibleas landwould have been unable to carry bothcows and calves in the spring.

Spring grazing by the calves has re-sulted in a remarkable improvement inthe quality of the silage. Autumn calvingdemands a silage quality of at least 70%DMD.Earlygrazing in theMcEnery farmresulted in:* Reduction in the meal required forweanlings.* Increased daily liveweight gain fromgrass.* Reduced costs for straw bedding.* Fewer calf respiratory problems.

The first batch of calveswere weanedin April 2010.These performed remark-

ably well, averaging 377kg on 6 May.Leonard and Liz are convinced of thebenefits of early weaning and intend towean all calves frommid-March in 2011.Sale dates for export weanlings in Kerryhave gradually moved earlier over thelast number of years. In 2010, theMcEnery’s first batch of calveswere soldon 17 May at Castleisland mart.

Building adjustmentsIncreasing cow numbers from 33 to 55will require additional housing. Duringthe summer, Leonard and Liz McEnerydecided to convert an old cubicle shedinto a dry bedded area to house thecalves.This shedwassplit in thecentre toallow older and younger calves to bebatched accordingly. Calves are allowedto suckle morning and evening only.

Two rows of blocks were removed andfour sheets of tin on the roof were raisedto improve ventilation.This improvedairflow across the top of the calves with-out causing draughts.

VeterinaryVaccinationprogrammes are in place forBVD, leptospirosis, scour and pneumo-nia in calves. During spring 2010 all pur-chased animals were screened for BVD,using the EnferTag system. No PIs wereABOVE: Tom Shanahan, area manager, Teagasc Kerry, with Leonard and Liz McEnery

MAINPICTURE: John Carroll, Teagasc, Kerry, with Teagasc beef specialist Aidan Murray.

KEY TARGETS | in the Farm Plan

* Increase suckler cows from 38 to 55.* All cows to calve in autumn.* Replacements purchasedas in-calf

heifers or cowswith calves at foot.* All calves to be soldasweanlings.* Increase liveweight output from

improved grasslandmanagement.* Reducevariable costs.

Shane McHugh,BETTERFarmprogrammeadviser

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detected and a full BVD vaccinationprogramme was started in August 2010.Purchased animals are also BVDscreened before entering the farm.

Leonard and Liz purchased addi-tional breeding stock in autumn 2009.New-born suckler calves encounteredE-Coli scour problems.Two calves werelost at sixdays of age andmanymorehadto be treated with intravenous antibio-tics by the vet.

In 2010, to avoid similar problems,Leonard vaccinated all cows five to sixweeks before calving withTrivacton 6.Calf scour was not an issue in 2010.

Calf pneumoniawas also a problem in2009.This drove up the vet bill. In 2010,Bovipast RSPand IBR vaccines wereadministered to all autumn-born calvesprior to housing.

Consequently, pneumonia did notarise in 2010. However, during the coldspell of December last, calves developeda cough.Thiswas quickly cleared byCTCpowder, recommended by the vet.

Thankfully, the pneumonia vaccina-tion programme in 2010 resulted in nosevere infestation developing. No fluketreatments have been administered todate this winter.

However, faecal samples from cowsandcalveswill be collected in thenext 10

days.Treatment will depend on the re-sults from this monitoring.

AI usageTraditionally, a stock bull was used onthe farm. Leonard then moved to a com-bination of AI and stock bull usage.However, for both the 2009 and 2010breeding seasons, 100%AI has beenused. Leonard is aiming for a 10-weekcalvingspread in theautumnof2011witha 365-day calving interval. His 2010 au-tumn-born calves are bred by EDJ, OVO,DEP, FHZ and ELZ.

Leonard said he was disappointed bythe quality of stock out of FHZ and ELZ.These sires have not been used for re-breeding. Sires used over the recentbreeding seasonhavebeenprimarilytheBelgian Blue bull BYU. Some straws byBelgianBlue bull Barbier (S656) and theParthenaise bull Sirex (IRX) have alsobeen used. Leonard completed the DIYAI course in autumn 2009 and has beenputting his skills into practice over therecent breeding season.

Weanling managementTraditionally, cows and newly borncalves had free access to each other.However, in autumn 2010, Leonard re-stricted calf access to the cows. Calves

wereonlyallowed tosuckle twicedaily�morning and late evening. ‘‘We foundthat this led to cows coming back intoheat more quickly,’’ said Leonard. ‘‘Thisshould help to maintain a tight calvingpattern in the herd.’’ Calves have had noproblem in adapting.They also have ac-cess to creep. At Christmas, calves wereeating 2kg daily. Since 10 January 2011,calves have access to a paddock close totheyardduring theday.Meal feedinghasbeen cut to 1kg per head per day.

* John A. Carroll is a Teagasc B&Tadviser based in Tralee. ShaneMcHugh is a Teagasc/Irish FarmersJournal BETTER Farm programmeadviser.

The first batchof calves were

weaned in April 2010.These performedremarkably well,averaging 377kgon 6May

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education

Gearingupforexpansion

ONE of very few upsides to theeconomic collapse has beenthe renewed recognition ofthe importanceof indigenous

sectors like agriculture and their poten-tial to boost exports and fuel economicrecovery.The enhanced image of agri-culture has been underpinned by theFood Harvest 2020 report which chartsan expansionary path for the sector,especially in dairying with the ending ofthe milk quota system.

TrendsThe economic downturn, especially inconstruction, combined with the re-newed confidence in agriculture, has re-sulted in a very significant increase inenrolments at agricultural colleges inrecent years. Enrolments in colleges in-creasedagain in thecurrentyearandarenow up 80% compared with 2006.

The number of new entrants is 1,113with 2,249 students in total. All collegesare at full capacity and were forced toturn away over 200 students this year.Many of these have been catered for onthe part-time Advanced Certificate inAgriculture courses, held at local Tea-gasc centres.

These courses cater for 667 partici-pants with a further 340 completing theonline version of the programme. In

summary, when all of the various pro-grammes for future farmers outlinedabove are combined, the total number ofnew enrolees amounts to 1,673 and thetotal numbers participating in theseprogrammes is 3,256.

DevelopmentsThe information revolution that is driv-ing changes throughout the economy,including advances in science and tech-nology, are transformingagriculture andhorticulture into a more knowledge in-tensive industry.

As the industry becomes moreknowledge-intensive, the range of skillsand competencies required by produ-cers become critical for success.Teagascseek to continuously upgrade pro-grammes to meet these requirements.The followinggivesa flavourof just someof the new innovative elements of ourtraining programmes.* Discussion groups and bench-marking farms: theclassroomhasbeenbrought out onto the farm through theintroduction of the discussion groupmethodology in recent years.

Secondyear students nowparticipatein a discussion group on benchmarkingfarms.These are leading edge farmerswho co-facilitate the groups with theteacher or adviser.The groups meetthroughouttheyear andaregivenaccessto the technical and financial data on thefarms, which means they can track realprogress on the farms.This, in turn, en-ables the students to complete a majorproject relating to their home farm,usually the ICBFHerdPlus programme.* Financial management training:there ismajor emphasis nowon financialmanagement training.This reflects thefact that farming must increasingly berun as a business. All the recognisedTeagasc tools are employed, with stu-dents completing an e-profit monitorand a six-year computerised farm plan.Students also receive training in cost/benefitanalysis, investmentappraisalaswell as all aspects of taxation.* Grassland technology: Teagasc arelucky to have, in one organisation, edu-cation, advisory and research functions.As new technology is developed, it isimmediately packaged and made avail-able to students. A good example of thisis the state-of-the-art grassland tech-nology developed at Moorepark.

Students, especially those on ad-

vanced specialised courses, are fully ex-posed to measurement of grass coversand grass budgeting. Students are alsorequired to complete a wide range ofprojects relating to their home farms,including fertilizer plans, risk assess-ments and ration formulations.* Online learning: to meet the needs ofpart-time farmers,Teagasc deliver theAdvanced Certificate in Agriculture on-line to some 300 participants each year.Because of the applied nature of agri-cultural education, a portion of the pro-gramme is delivered face to face,particularly the skills training elementof the programme.

This type of approach is known as‘blended learning’ and is becoming re-cognised as an excellent teaching meth-odology.* Higher education: Teagasc are in-volved with six Institutes of Technology,UCD and DCU in the joint delivery of 12higher level programmes right up to Le-vel 8 honours degree level.These linkshelp to raise the standing of all our pro-grammes and provide vital progressionroutes for those who want to progress tohigher level education.

The economicdownturn,

especially inconstruction,combinedwith therenewed confidence inagriculture, hasresulted in a verysignificant increase inenrolments atagricultural colleges

Paddy Browne,Head of Education,Teagasc

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AGRICULTURALEDUCATIONCONFERENCE,10FEBRUARY,DUBLINCASTLE

Agriculturaleducation:supportingeconomic recovery

Teagasc is holding an important agri-cultural education conference onThursday 10 February at Dublin Castle.The purpose of the conference is to takestock of the current situation in Irelandand internationally in terms of theprovision of agricultural education andto look ahead at future requirements/developments in this area as well as thedrivers and trends which will set thescene for these developments.

We have put together a panel of Irishand international experts on this subjectand our objective is to raise the profile ofagricultural education as well asbenchmarking where we are at andseeking to determine the best wayforward.

The event will be opened by Dr NoelCawley, chairman of Teagasc, and thefirst session, which will be chaired byProfessor John Coolahan, will look atthe challenges facing agricultural edu-cation from a European as well as anIrish perspective. Mairead McGuinnessMEP will outline her vision of how policydevelopments at EU level will affectagricultural education while ProfessorJohn Fitzgerald of the ESRI will discussthe role of education in Irish economicrecovery.

This will be followed by Dr LiamDowney, former director of Teagasc,who will present a new model of Irishagriculture and its agricultural educa-tion requirements, while Paddy Browne,Head of Education in Teagasc, willpresent the challenges facing Tea-gasc’s education programme.

Session 2, which will be chaired byMichael Gowing, president of Macra naFeirme, will have an international fla-vour, with a look at the Scottish andNorthern Ireland agricultural educationsystems. The results of a Europeanproject called ‘Chavet’, which hasstudied the evolving requirements forEuropean agricultural education, will bepresented.

Session 3 will consist of a discussionforum facilitated by Dr Tom Kelly, Headof Knowledge Transfer in Teagasc. It willfocus on the use of the discussiongroup methodology in agriculturaleducation.

Professor Gerry Boyle, Director ofTeagasc, will close the conference andwill call on Brendan Smith, Minister forAgriculture, to announce the 2010 FBDTeagasc ‘Student of the Year’ as thefinal part of the conference.

ABOVE:Minister Brendan Smith,Tony Pettit,Teagasc director Professor Gerry Boyle and Teagascchairman Dr Noel Cawleyat the openingof state of the art facilities at Teagasc Kildalton in 2009.MAINPICTURE:Equinehusbandry lecturer CreaWarnerat Teagasc Kildalton.

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environment

EveryonewinsbyreducingnutrientlossAlice Melland &Per-Erik Mellander,Teagasc AgriculturalCatchments Programme (ACP)

WITHIN the AgriculturalCatchments Programme(ACP),Teagasc staff aremeasuring how plant nu-

trients such as nitrogen and phosphorusare moving through the landscape in arange of agricultural catchments acrossIreland.

The six catchments differ in terms oftheir nutrient loss potential; for exam-ple, poorly drained soil versus welldrained soils and permeable versus lesspermeable underlying bedrock. All thecatchments are atthehigher endof land-use intensity, with stocking rates of up to2.3LU/ha.Two catchments include win-ter wheat and spring barley cropping.

Why is nutrient lossfrom soils a problem?Apart from the financial cost, nutrientloss (whetherartificial or releasedbythesoil) can have an environmental effect.Nutrients moving from land into watercan boost the growth of algae and otherorganisms. Excess growth of algae clogs

pumps, is unattractive to bathers andchokes out less competitive aquatic life,such as salmon and trout. Some algaeproduce substances toxic to humans andanimals.

When the algal blooms die, oxygen inthewater is depleted, possibly leading tofish kills.There are also limits set by theEUandWorld Health Organisation onnitrates in human drinking water. Im-proving and sustaining water quality isthe ultimate goal of the EUWater Fra-mework and Nitrates Directives and Ir-eland’s Good Agricultural Practice(GAP) regulations.

How does nutrient loss occur?When nutrients find their way into run-off or drainage water that is not recap-tured on a farm (such as by plant roots),the nutrients can reach rivers, lakes andgroundwater.

Nutrients are usually applied in fer-tilizers or manures or deposited by ani-mals at or near the soil surface.Nitrogen(N) and Phosphorus (P) behave differ-ently in soil; P forms that are readilyavailable for plant growth are generallyfixed to soil particles so P tends to accu-mulate at the soil surface. Both availableforms (loosely bound to soil particles ordissolved in the soil solution) and una-vailable formsofP(stronglyboundtosoilparticles) can then be washed off theland by rainwater, floods, and erosion.

In contrast, plant-available N formsarenot readily fixed to soil particles and,therefore, tend to drain down throughthe soil.

What are the main factorscausing nutrient loss?Ireland’s rainfall � ranging from 750 to1,200mm� is similar, for example, toNew Zealand’s, but wetter than the Eur-opean average. Also, our climate is cool-er thancontinentalEuropewhichmeans

that less water is lost to evaporation andnet run-off is high.

Where run-off and drainage watercome into contact with high levels of nu-trients they can be lost to waterbodies.This is why keeping clean water sepa-rated frommanure and other nutrientsources in farmyards is critical.

There is little a farmer can do to re-duce theamountof surpluswater leavinga farm. One farmer at an ACP farm walktold of frustration that the (GAP) regu-lations don’t account for flooding of hisfarm� over which he has no control.

The ACP is working with farmers todetermine how the GAP regulations canimprove the situation to benefit boththem and the environment. For examplethe ACP will test whether the GAP reg-ulationswillminimise the riskof soil andnutrient loss during storm floods.

The ACP will also study whetherchanges in farm practice are likely to in-fluence the quality of water during thedrier months �when water quality pro-blems such as algal blooms tend to occur.

More information can be found onwww.teagasc.ie/agcatchments

Agroup of Louth farmers at an ACP farmwalk.

Where run-offand drainage

water come intocontact with high levelsofnutrients they canbelost to waterbodies.This is why keepingcleanwater separatedfrommanure and othernutrient sources infarmyards is critical

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Plantinga traditional orchardMaeve O’Hair, Rocker, Loughmore, Tem-plemore, Co Tipperary, is one of manyfarmers planting a traditional orchard atpresent under the Agri-Environment Op-tions Scheme (AEOS).

Having discussed the options withSandra Hayes, her local Teagasc adviser,she opted for a traditional orchard and acrop of wild bird cover which provides seedfood for birds in winter.

Maeve purchased her trees from FutureForests in Kealkill, Bantry, Co Cork. Shesaid: ‘‘I wanted a mix of early, mid and lateflowering and fruiting trees, including

eating and cooking varieties, of traditionalapple trees, and got eight varieties —Kilkenny Pearmain, Kerry Pippin, GibbonsRusset, Scarlet Croften, Ballyvaughan,Lough Tree of Wexford, Dick Davies andArd Cairn Russet.’’

Her trees are on MM 106 rootstocks,which are better on exposed windy sites.They grow to between 15ft and 18ft andfruit in four to six years.

Maeve hopes to make use of the applesin the future and is interested in recom-mended planting and maintenance pro-cedures.

CASESTUDY

Maeve,Be¤ ibhinn and Rory O’Hair,Rocker,Loughmore,Templemore,CoTipperary, withamixof early, midand late floweringandfruiting trees, includingeating and cookingvarieties, of traditional apple trees.

Bucking theMc-world trendApples, like much else in our busy lives can be a little predictable. Traditional

varietiesoffernewexperiencesofaroma, tasteandtexture,writesCatherineKeena

WE live in a McDonald’s-in-fluenced world where mul-ti-national companiesensure you have exactly

the same experience whether you’re inWickloworWarsaw,LimerickorLondon.Low prices and reliable, if average,quality have hugely benefited consu-mers, butwe’ve lost something along theway.

A similar process happened with theapple crop in the 1950s. New varietiesbroughtadvantages in termsof yieldanddisease control but they squeezed outtypeswhich had useful characteristics offlavour, texture and colour.

Fortunately, Dr JGD Lamb, who wasChief Horticultural Officer in KinsealyResearch Centre at that time, togetherwithothers, cataloguedandchampionedmany varieties which were being grownin Ireland.Today, landowners can carryon this valuable work by choosing tradi-tional varieties, when establishing orch-ards under agri-environment schemes,thus preserving them for our enjoymentand ensuring a gene pool for future de-velopment.

The range of shape, size, texture, fla-vour and colour in these traditionaltypes is immense. Dermot Callaghan,Teagasc Horticultural Officer, suggestsadding a fewextra commercial varieties,such as Bramley, to boost overall yield,but these additional trees will not beeligible for AEOS payments.

How to do it‘‘Plant apple trees after St. Patrick’s Day

as soon as ground conditions allow, asthey do not like to sit in wet soil,’’ saysDermot.‘‘Alsoavoidplanting inwetareaswhere possible. If you are holding bare-rooted trees foranylengthof timebeforeplanting, dig or heel them into soil.Youmustnot lettherootsdryout.Takecare toprotect unplanted trees from rabbitsand hares.

‘‘Get8’apple treestakes (circa2.2m), ifpossible, which are made from treatedwood. Drive the stakes 18’’ into theground at seven-metre centres, usingthem to mark out the locations for thetrees.With the stake next to the prevail-ing wind (normally south west), dig thehole on the leeward side, so that the treewill not be blown into the stake causingdamage.

‘‘Plant the tree to the depth originallyplanted in the nursery. Keep the rootcollar and not the graft line at soil level.Do not create a dip around the tree for

water to lie. Get a roll of tree-tie tubing(www.dekerhort.ie) to make ties. Tiearound the stake first and then aroundthe tree, with the knot in betweenpreventing friction. Check the tiesperiodically to ensure growth of the treehas not caused them to become too tight.

‘‘An area of at least one metre in dia-meter must be kept weed free. Use a cir-cle of plastic, or biodegradable mulchmats, including pegs, to hold themdown,such as those available from KestralForestry (www.kestrelforestry.ie). Theseshould be put in place underneath thetree guard, which is essential to protectfrom rabbits. Guards can be cut from aroll of chicken wire, placing the cut sideup to prevent hares putting their pawson the top, and stapling the overlappingedges to the stake.’’

AEOSTraditional varieties of apple treesmustbeusedunderAEOS.There is no limit onthe number of apple trees within anAEOS orchard.

The capital cost allowed for each treeis €75. Allowing 50% of this for labour,farmers can submit receipts of €37.50 forthe tree, stake and other planting costs.

If the full capital amount is claimed,farmers receive an annual payment of€20 per tree, each year for five years.

The AEOS scheme is available againin 2011. Contact your local Teagasc officefor details.Teagasc and the Irish SeedSavers Association are planning fourregional Traditional Orchard events inOctober 2011.

Ard Cairn Russet� an eating/cider varietyfrom Cork which flowersmid-seasonand pro-duces fruit in October/November.

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tillage

With any crop costing

over e2,000 per acre to

grow, attention to de-

tail is vital to protect

and improve profit-

ability. These County

Dublin growers hit all

the targets, writes

ShayPhelan, Teagasc

JOHN and David Rodgers farmnear Ballyboughal, northDublin, along with brothersRichard and Thomas and their

father Joe. In total, they grow over 2,000acres of crops including wheat, barley,oats, maize, potatoes and onions. Likemosttillage farmers, they relyheavilyonrentedgroundwhich further reduces themargin for error.Wherever feasible, theytest ground for disease such as eelwormand fertilizer status. Such attention todetail is central to the entire operationas smallmistakes canquickly cost a lot ofmoney.

All crops are evaluated using theTeagasc e-crops programme. ‘‘It’s an in-valuable tool inmaking decisions for thefarm,’’saysJohn. In total, about 350acresof potatoes are grown each year for thesupermarket trade by the family.

The Rodgers supply potatoes all yearround which was made possible by in-vestment in refrigerated stores over thelast 10 years.These stores allow the farmto supply a consistent product to thesupermarket buyers all year round.However, the cycle begins a year in ad-vance of the potatoes hitting the shelf -with the seed.

All the seed is carefully selected asclean seed, imperative in producingwashing quality potatoes which thesupermarkets demand.When the seedenters the farm, it is carefully inspectedto check for rots and diseases. It is thentreated, if needed, and trayed up into

sprouting trays. In years where there isvariation in seed size, the seed is splitgraded according to size to ensure evenplanting.

Here, the seed is carefully monitoredover the winter months to ensure thatthere are good sprouts on the seed thatwill survive planting so as to ensure ear-lier emergence and hopefully increaseyield.The Rodgers’ plan their plantingmeticulously and ensure the tubers getat least 28oC days. In weather like thelast two winters, this has meant actuallyhaving to heat the sprouting houses on aregular basis to avoid frost damage.

Adedicated shed has been erected tohardenoff the sprouts closer to planting,whichgivesadequate lighttoall thetraysand reduces the need for artificial lightor for moving the trays outside.This hasreduced the electrical costs associatedwith the sprouting process, while alsoreducing the labour input.

Good quality land and good rotationsare also vital to the production of goodpotatoes which is why the Rodgers will

Attentiontodetail is vital top

Table1 | variety � British Queens

Seed count/ 50kgs Population/ha Tonnes/ha Spacing cm1.8mwheelings

500 30,000 3 37

700 35,500 2.53 31

900 40,000 2.22 28

1100 45,000 2.04 25

1300 49,500 1.90 22

1500 54,000 1.80 21

Depending onseedsize, there

could be significantvariations in rate perhectare and,consequently, cost

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profitablepotatoproduction

always try to rent relatively fresh land.David Hudson, one of the leading potatoagronomists in Britain, showed how im-portant rotation was to clean potatoproduction at a recent Teagasc event inOakpark.

David suggested that five years, andpreferably more, between crops is as ef-fective at reducing problems like blackscurf as chemical treatments.

While the crop is in the ground, bothJohn and David pay great attention topesticide use to ensure that there is aslittle waste as possible.

Good field records are vital at thistimeas theycan identifyanyproblemsaswell as keeping on the right side of theauthorities. ‘‘We have found the Eurob-light comparison of blight fungicidesvery useful,’’ says David.

‘‘This gives a good insight into thestrengths and weaknesses of each pro-duct and where they might best fit intoour programme.’’

When it comes to harvesting andstoring the crop, the brothers are ex-

ceptionally careful to ensure as littledamage as possible is done to the pota-toes going into store. In the field, dropsare reduced as much as possible andcushioned trailers are used to fill theboxes and reduce bruising.

The crop is carefully dried, cured andput into the store. In-store checks arecarried out on the crop tomake sure thatthe fridge is at the correct temperatureto control diseases like silver scurf,which likes temperatures above 5oC tospread.With the fluctuation in outsidetemperatures of over 20oC in the lastmonth alone, the effect on the operationof the fridges has to be carefully moni-tored.

The stores will also be inspected reg-ularly for condensation and wet spotswhich would indicate that there wasn’tenough time spent drying and curing. Atthe first sign of either, action would betaken to rectify the problem, the pro-blemwon’tgoawayby itself.‘‘It’snotwhatgoes into thestore,’’concludesDavid.‘‘It’swhat comes out that counts.’’

KEY POINTS | potatoes

* Know your seed rate for the crop youintend to plant.* Calculate tubers per hectare ratherthan tonnes peracre.* Dependingonseedsize, therecouldbesignificant variations in rate per hectare

and, consequently, cost.* Where there is variation in seed size,split grading should be carried out.* Table1givesanindicationofseedratesbased onseed size.Simply count the

numberof tubersin50kgofseedanduse

this as the basis of your seeding rate.

MAINPICTURE: John Rodgers,Shay Phelan ofTeagasc and David Rodgers.

ABOVE:David Rodgers says seedmanagementis avital part of potato production.

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tillage

Thriving in volatile timesNATIONALTILLAGECONFERENCE2011,THESEVENOAKSHOTEL,CARLOW,27JANUARY

THE start of 2011 sees the tillageindustry in a much betterfinancial position than thesame time last year.World mar-

kets are finely balanced and poor har-vests elsewhere in the world resulted insignificant price increases as harvest2010 approached, a development thatnone of the market experts predicted.

While this was welcome, it is a goodexample of the price volatility we mustcope with now.

This year’s national conference willoffer strategies to deal with volatility inall aspects of tillage.

Traditionally, Irish grain has beensold green off the combine, leavinggrowers vulnerable to price volatility.This year is the first year where the op-portunity to sell grain in advance of har-vest has been widely available, offeringtheopportunitytoaccuratelypredictthevalueof theharvesteitherbeforedrillingor fixed during the life of the crop.

Advanced sales have been availableto farmers in the UK formany years, but

how do they decide when to sell or not?MarkWoodisa farmmanager fromthe

west of England where conditions arenot dissimilar to those in Ireland. At theconference he will describe his thoughtprocesses in trading his grain. He willemphasise that the most important stepin the process is to know your costs ofproduction.

From a production point of view theonly protection against price volatility isto maximise output and minimise costs.The most significant cost on a tillagefarm is machinery, which is relativelyinflexible from year to year and must becarried in poor as well as good years.

Dermot Forristal will look in detail atcombining costs to explain how to mini-mise the costs thatmust be carriedbuttomaintain sufficient capacity to bring inthe harvest, even in a wet year.

Despite 2010 having been probablythe lowest disease year for over a decadedue to the dry weather, disease remainsan ever-present threat. Steven Kildeawill describe the latest developments inour septoriapopulations andhowwecanincorporate the new fungicides comingonto the market this year to keep ahead.

As well as price variability, tillagefarmersneed to copewithunpredictable

weather which can influence not onlydisease but also nitrogen availability inmost seasons. Richie Hackett will de-scribe new work which is being underta-ken to account for this variability andhelp growers target the correct nitrogenrate to meet yield and market require-ments.

Winter barley and oilseed rape haveboth seen significant increases in areafor2011.While theybringuseful diversityto the rotation, they must earn theirplace. Recent work has emphasised thattoachievehighyields, bothcropsneed toset high seed numbers, but how they getthere is very different.

Michael Hennessey will explain thatfor winter barley to set a high number ofseeds, it needs to set a large number ofears. He highlights the husbandry ap-proach needed to achieve it. Conversely,in oilseed rape, large numbers of flowersandpodsneed to be avoided; JohnSpinkwill explain why, and describe agro-nomic approaches to maximise yield.

Finally,Tim O’Donovan will explainhow the innovationsdescribedabovearebeing combined into practical wholefarm approaches, and demonstrated ontheTeagascTillage BETTER farms pro-gramme.

This year’s National Conferencewill offer strategies to dealwith volatility in all aspects of tillage.

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forestry

Co-operating to competeA brief report from

the National Forestry

Producer Group

Conference

by Frances McHugh,

Teagasc

THERE are 330,000 hectares ofprivate forests in the country,involving almost 16,000growers. Many of these forests

were planted in the early 1990s and are‘due’a thinning. However, growers havelittle tradition and experience in mana-ging, utilising and marketing their tim-ber crops.

This is complicated by the largenumber of small plantations (less than8ha), often fragmented, with difficultroad access, at a distance tomarkets andconsist of mixed quality crops.

The National Forestry ProducerGroup conference and demonstrationheld in the Conference Centre at Camp-hill Ballytobin, Callan, Co Kilkenny, of-fered potential solutions.

RepresentativesRepresentatives frommanyof thenow18forestry producer groups gathered tocompare notes, to learn and to reignitetheirenthusiasmfor thework involved informing and running a successful pro-ducer group.

Among the speakers was KarstenRaae from the Danish Forestry Exten-sion, who presented some thoughts onbest practice for forest owner groups.

He said that, ideally, forest ownergroups should deal with advice, supplyand marketing.

Donal Whelan, technical director,IrishTimberGrowersAssociation, spokeabout a Model Timber Sales DispatchSystem forPrivateTimberGrowers.Thissystem tackles the issue of sales security

in private forests. A full step-by-stepoutline of this sales system can bedownloaded from the ITGAwebsite,www.itga.ie

Paul McCarthy,Teagasc RuralEnterprise Specialist, outlined theimportance of good planning when itcomes to producing and marketing aproduct.

He said that farmers have manystrengthswhen it comes to initiative andstarting a new business.

Farmers arealready inbusiness, haveassets, maybe some relevant machineryand generally have a good reputation ashard-working honest people.This allbodes well for starting a new enterprisesuch as marketing your own timber.

Business planPaul emphasised the importance of agood business plan.This should be writ-tendownandunderstoodbyall involved.

Patrick Lydon from Camphill Callanspoke about a local wood energy supplychain working in the Callan area. CallanRenewable Energy Supply Company(CRESCO) supplies woodchip to threeboilers in Callan and others in the sur-rounding area.They have purchased a

chipper and trailer and have also built aweighbridge with the help of the localLEADER company.

Their plan is to expand a districtheating system around Callan and sup-ply it with woodchip from forests in thesurrounding area of Callan.

BenefitTheyareworkingwith the newly formedKilkenny Forestry Producer Group toensure thatwoodchip isboughtas locallyas possible so that all involved will ben-efit. It is an exciting time in the privateforestry industry.

There are many opportunities for lo-cal development and rural employmentas this new timber market emerges.There are also many challenges to befaced.

If this conference is anything to go by,these challenges will be overcome intime, as there is such enthusiasm for thisstory to turn to success for all involved.

All of the above mentioned presenta-tionsareavailable fordownload fromtheTeagasc forestry website, www.teagasc.ie/forestry. Contact details of your localtimber producer group or forestry advi-ser are also available.

It is an excitingtime in the

privateforestry industry.There are manyopportunities for localdevelopment and ruralemployment as thisnew timber marketemerges

Farm forest producer groupsIn association with Teagasc, contact name and number in brackets

Donegal Woodland Owners Society Ltd(Steven Meyen 087-6775158)

East Mayo/West Roscommon Cluster Project (Noel Kennedy 087-9090504)

Galway Forest Producer Group(Aine O’Callaghan 087-2197086)

Clare Wood Energy Project(Aine O’Callaghan 087-2197086)

Kerry Farm Forestry Owners Group (Tom Houlihan 087-6184353)

Headford Farm Forestry Group(Tom Houlihan 087-6184353)

West Cork Forest Producer Group(John Casey 087-2242283)

South Tipperary Ash Growers Group(Michael Somers 087-1216163)

Limerick/Tipperary Ash Growers Group(Michael Somers 087-1216163)

Kilkenny Forest Owners Group(Frances McHugh 087-6222111)

Wexford Forestry Growers Association(Frances McHugh 087-6222111)

Wicklow Private Woodland Owners Group(Frances McHugh 087-6222111)

Laois Forestry Producer Group(Liam Kelly 087-9090495)

Offaly Forestry Producer Group(Liam Kelly 087-9090495)

Westmeath Forestry Producer Group(Liam Kelly 087-9090495)

Longford Forestry Producer Group(Liam Kelly 087-9090495)

Cavan Forestry Growers Group(Kevin O’Connell 087-1216159)

Meath Forestry Owners Group(KevinO’Connell087-1216159)

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Lessons for the future | How to deal with cold weather in the garden

* Consider the differences within yourgarden when placing plants. Avoid east-facing sites for plants with tender buds.* Sites against a south or west wall willencourage the ripening of wood that willwithstand cold conditions so use for moretender plants.* Generally golden variegated plantsshould be in the warmer locations.

* Wrap containers in bubble wrap or takethem inside to avoid frost fracture.* Wash away salt if used for de-icing.* Frost protection for tender plants can bemade by covering with a cage or blanketmade from chicken wire stuffed withbracken or straw. Horticultural fleece couldalso be purchased for this.* Remove heavy weight of snow from

branches by gently sweeping it off in anupward direction.* Well-grown plants are most likely tosurvive and, where losses occur, try to seeit as an opportunity. The Irish nursery stockindustry can supply you with replacementsor alternatives. Support your local nur-seryman or garden centre. You will getadvice and service and high-quality plants.

Hard lessons learned from Jack Frost

THOUGH January has proven re-latively mild so far, few readersneed to be reminded that De-cember 2010 saw some of the

lowest temperatures ever recorded inIreland. Met Ireland reports that �17.5oC was recorded in Straide, CoMayo.This createdproblems formanygardensand plant collections.

The Irish flora is quite restricted inthe number of native trees and shrubs.Only five evergreen tree genera (Arbu-tus, Holly,Yew, Juniper, and Scots Pine)and 13 deciduous genera (Alnus, Betula,Corylus, Crataegus, Fraxinus, Malus, Po-pulus, Prunus, Quercus, Rhamnus, Salix,Sorbus andUlmus) are native. However,the climate allows for the growth of a fargreater range of exotic trees and shrubsthan anywhere else of similar size in theworld. Mount Stewart garden in CoDown has the largest and most diversecollection of trees and shrubs of anyNational Trust garden in the UK. Exoticintroductions from all over the worldhave made Irish gardens particularlyattractive for the garden tourist.

Many of these plant introductionsoriginated in Asia, North America andEurope. A significant number, about25%, come from Australasia and areassuch asMadeira and the Canary Islands.Many of these plants are at the limit oftheir cold tolerance in the Irish garden.

It is notoriouslydifficult topredictthesurvival of plants at low temperatures.Some rules apply. Plants survive coldspells by entering dormancy.This oftenmeans they shed their leaves and, ingeneral, deciduous broad leaf plants aremore frost tolerant than evergreenbroadleaf plants.

The suddenness of the cold snap isimportant.Plants canacclimatise tocoldweather and in some cases they will re-tain leaves in a mild winter and shedthem in cold winters.

Winter survival of wood and buds de-pends on the ripening and toughening ofthewoodduringahot summer.Thewarmsummer we had last year would haveimproved the chances of survival duringthe December cold period. Plants thathave matured are usually more likely tosurvive than young soft plants. Manyyoung Griselinea hedges have been lostthis year. On the other hand, somespecies, such as Ceanothus (Californian

Lilac) and Cistus, are more vulnerablewhen mature and some fine specimensof Ceanothus have been lost.

Soil conditions also play their part.The broom, Genista tinctoria, can sur-vive low temperatures when grown inpoor dry soils but produces soft frost-tender growth in rich moist soils.

Incheckingoutthedamage inourowngardens, brown foliage is most likelydead.The buds may not be dead, how-ever, so wait at least until June beforeabandoning hope.Try watering, mulch-ing and top-dressing the plant in spring.Frost-damaged plants that shed theirleaves soon after the frost are probablymore likely to survive than where thedamaged leaves remain on the plant.

Remove broken branches as soon aspossible to prevent tearing.Where frostheaving has lifted the plants out of theground, re-firm andmulch (but don’tmulch if the ground remains frozen).


Botanic Gardens

An occasional series by expertsat theTeagasc college at

the National Botanic gardensaimed at adding to the

appearance and value ofyour farm

Beschorneria damaged by frost.

Dead leaves on Abelia triflora.This shrubwas introduced in 1847 fromseed collected by CaptainEdwardMaddenof Kilkenny.

Frost damageon Griselinea.

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