The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to farmersjournal.ie on this browser until 9pm next Wednesday. Thank you for buying the paper and using the code.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact us.
For assistance, call 01 4199525
or email subs@farmersjournal.ie
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
Reset password
Please enter your email address and we will send you a link to reset your password
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address.
Please click on the link in this email to reset
your password. If you can't find it in your inbox,
please check your spam folder. If you can't
find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
Email address not recognised
There is no subscription associated with this email
address. To read our subscriber-only content.
please subscribe or use the reader loyalty code.
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
You have no more free articles this month
We hope you've enjoyed your 6 free articles. To continue reading, sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access for 30 days.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.
If there was a prize for the best farm scenery, then the Lamberton farm would give it a good rattle this year. The farm looks down on Lough Swilly and this combined with the rolling grass hills and mature trees makes for a very scenic place to produce milk. Having said that, this part of Ireland gets a nice drop of rain and when the mist is down and the rain fills the sky it is challenging.
The Lambertons are up for the challenge and the meticulous detail is apparent when Ian shows me the rainfall records for the last three years written in on a calendar in the farm office. The records give an indication of the measurement and thought process behind the business.
The farm is highly stocked (about 100 cows more than what should be) as grazing ground is limiting so some buffer feeding of fresh grass takes place. When we called in July after a morning where almost an inch of rain had fallen, the second herd (lame or mastitis) were indoors in cubicles as ground conditions were very wet.
This second herd (about 30 cows) are milked after the main herd and are stripped to check for mastitis at every milking. The main herd are only stripped when there is a problem such as when clots appear in the milk filter sock or if a cow is spotted with swelling at milking.
When Ian started farming in 1971 he was the fourth generation to farm at Fahan and he was joined by David in 1975. Gareth and Christopher are now looking to join the business and Paul has just completed the advanced dairy cert in Ballyhaise so there is no shortage of help around the farm.
The farm was traditionally beef and sheep but milking started in 1977 until BSE depopulated the herd in 2002. In April 2003, milking started again with the purchase of three small herds, all with very different genetics. The Lambertons have two main owned land blocks about eight miles apart, so they plan to develop another milking block over time, – hence the reason for keeping the extra cows for the moment. One of the land blocks away from the farm is more typical of a hill sheep farm with paddocks rising from 300ft to 800ft above sea level with a later grass growing season.
Interestingly, the Lambertons use selective dry cow therapy, with any cow less than 100,000 SCC getting a sealer only at drying off and cows over 100,000 getting a tube and teat sealer.
Factfile
Farming system: In 2015, the Lamberton business milked 270 cows delivering 1.4m litres to Aurivo Co-op in a spring-calving production system. In total, the Lamberton family are farming 170ha (420 acres). Milk fat averaged 4.18% and protein percentage averaged 3.44% in 2015.
If there was a prize for the best farm scenery, then the Lamberton farm would give it a good rattle this year. The farm looks down on Lough Swilly and this combined with the rolling grass hills and mature trees makes for a very scenic place to produce milk. Having said that, this part of Ireland gets a nice drop of rain and when the mist is down and the rain fills the sky it is challenging.
The Lambertons are up for the challenge and the meticulous detail is apparent when Ian shows me the rainfall records for the last three years written in on a calendar in the farm office. The records give an indication of the measurement and thought process behind the business.
The farm is highly stocked (about 100 cows more than what should be) as grazing ground is limiting so some buffer feeding of fresh grass takes place. When we called in July after a morning where almost an inch of rain had fallen, the second herd (lame or mastitis) were indoors in cubicles as ground conditions were very wet.
This second herd (about 30 cows) are milked after the main herd and are stripped to check for mastitis at every milking. The main herd are only stripped when there is a problem such as when clots appear in the milk filter sock or if a cow is spotted with swelling at milking.
When Ian started farming in 1971 he was the fourth generation to farm at Fahan and he was joined by David in 1975. Gareth and Christopher are now looking to join the business and Paul has just completed the advanced dairy cert in Ballyhaise so there is no shortage of help around the farm.
The farm was traditionally beef and sheep but milking started in 1977 until BSE depopulated the herd in 2002. In April 2003, milking started again with the purchase of three small herds, all with very different genetics. The Lambertons have two main owned land blocks about eight miles apart, so they plan to develop another milking block over time, – hence the reason for keeping the extra cows for the moment. One of the land blocks away from the farm is more typical of a hill sheep farm with paddocks rising from 300ft to 800ft above sea level with a later grass growing season.
Interestingly, the Lambertons use selective dry cow therapy, with any cow less than 100,000 SCC getting a sealer only at drying off and cows over 100,000 getting a tube and teat sealer.
Factfile
Farming system: In 2015, the Lamberton business milked 270 cows delivering 1.4m litres to Aurivo Co-op in a spring-calving production system. In total, the Lamberton family are farming 170ha (420 acres). Milk fat averaged 4.18% and protein percentage averaged 3.44% in 2015.
This year 13 farming families compete for the Overall title in the NDC/Kerrygold quality milk awards.
Save to a collection
Recent collections
This article has already been saved
This article has been saved
Create a collection
Subscriber only
This content is available to digital subscribers only. Sign in to your account or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.SIGN INSUBSCRIBE FOR €1
This is a subscriber-only article
The farm was traditionally beef and sheep but milking started in 1977 until BSE depopulated the herd in 2002. In April 2003, milking started again with the purchase of three small herds, all with very different genetics. The Lambertons have two main owned land blocks about eight miles apart, so they plan to develop another milking block over time, – hence the reason for keeping the extra cows for the moment. One of the land blocks away from the farm is more typical of a hill sheep farm with paddocks rising from 300ft to 800ft above sea level with a later grass growing season.
SHARING OPTIONS: