Is February too early to start calving in Cappoquin?

Daniel and Amy O’Donnell are farming near Cappoquin, Co Waterford, on a heavy farm about 800ft above sea level. I called up to Daniel this week to see how calving was going and whether doubling cow numbers is really worth all the hassle.

The surrounding countryside on the way to the farm up from Clogheen in Co Tipperary is mostly commonage for mountain sheep or forestry. There are some farmers near Daniel who have brilliant patches of green as farmers strive to grow grass in what traditionally would be well known as a heavy soil and high rainfall area.

The fact of the matter is for the last four years Daniel has measured annual rainfall figures at around 1,200mm. Farms on the south and west coast would measure double this for some years. In three of the last four years, Daniel has recorded between 60mm and 80mm of rain in February. In 2014, he measured 236mm, and he is hoping 2016 won’t be a repeat.

When the Irish Farmers Journal called to the farm this week, Daniel had 37 freshly calved from 123 cows due to calve. The freshly calved cows were eating baled silage standing on a slatted tank in an open yard. Ground conditions are too wet to venture out anywhere near the fields at the moment. Like most farms in the south last weekend, over 30mm of rain was recorded and shores and drains were full of running water (see video below).

Daniel’s theory on timing of calving is based around the fact that you might get an opportunity to graze in the spring, but you almost definitely don’t when it comes to late October and November around these parts.

Daniel said: “Our on farm rainfall measurement shows February, March and April are the lower rainfall months so our intention is to have the cows calved and take advantage of grazing if we can at all. Anyway, in the spring, day length is getting longer compared with the autumn when you only have a few hours of daylight.”

In 2009, Daniel had 60 milking cows and many farmers visited the farm as he set out on his expansion journey to double cow numbers. As we reported previously, Daniel has invested in the farmyard to manage extra cow numbers, and the extra slurry storage and new shed is really paying dividends at the moment.

The farmyard investment is not finished yet but the plan is to stage the investment rather than take out large borrowings. In 2011, €20,300 was spent on drainage, reseeding and roadways; 2012 saw another €21,883 in mostly work in the paddocks, with €5,800 spent in 2013 before €53,350 was invested in 2014, with 90% of this on slurry storage and new cubicles.

Last year, another €44,430 was spent, with two big investments of a shed at about €24,000 and a bulk tank net of grant costing about €11,000.

In total, from 2005 to the end of 2015, Daniel has invested about €240,000 in the farm (excluding land purchase). That’s about €4,000 per extra cow milked. In the same 10-year time frame the herd has doubled in numbers and the farm has doubled the amount of grass (feed) it is growing. Is it a wise investment?

Some farmers have spent this amount of money on milking facilities alone. Given the stage of development of this farm and the objectives Daniel and Amy set out for the business, they didn’t want to over-bet the farm and gradually have eased into a business that has more than doubled milk solids sold over the last five years.

The 2014 investment in the yard was around extra feed space, extra slurry storage, new space for baby calves and new cubicles. All this has come after investment in farm roadways, soil fertility and reseeding. Daniel is strong on his views on priority of investment. He said: “For me, there is little point in having extra cow numbers if they are going to be inside in the yard eating silage. Our plan was to get the farm growing grass and in such a way that we could let cows out so the majority of our milk is produced from grazed grass. It means we invested in the farm first and since then focused on the yard. Our next stage will probably be in milking facilities.”

Last year, Daniel was tight for calf pens so he purchased galvanised calf hutches that can comfortably fit about 10 calves. Daniel said: “They were a gift for the last number of years and I put the heifer calves in there. From there they go to the contract rearing farm at about three weeks of age.”

Simple sheds

The sheds made by McDonald’s in Wexford are very simple in construction and are shaped like an igloo. The only frame is a square of box iron on the ground and galvanised sheets are then shaped up and around to create the calf hutch. Like all hutches, they would take off in the wind unless they are bolted down.

Daniel has increased stocking rate from 1.7 cows/ha in 2010 up to 2.86 cows/ha in 2015. Milk solids sold per cow has increased from 357kg in 2010 up to 410kg last year, with fat percentage lifting from 4.17% in 2010 to 4.65% in 2015. Protein percentage has lifted from 3.58% in 2010 to 3.77% in 2015. In terms of annual production, the farm sold 21,277kg of milk solids in 2010 and it has lifted to 49,157kg sold in 2015. Contract-rearing the young stock has really helped Daniel and Amy deliver on the extra cow numbers.

There is only 42ha available for grazing around the parlour so if this block of land is producing feed for milking and dry cows only, it can be managed to optimise growth and utilisation.

Contract rearing helps with spring labour also, as calves disappear at three weeks of age and don’t come back again until a few months before calving.

2015 financials

The 2015 figures show a positive cashflow for this business to the tune of over €50,000 (see table). It is the second year in a row that this has been delivered. However, remember no value has been included for own labour, tax or bank repayments. Also, this excludes the Basic Payment.

The five big payments, each around €20,000, are feed, fertiliser, the contractor, the investment in the shed and contract-rearing. Daniel will have four of the big five again in 2016 but any further investment in the yard is on hold.