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You wouldn’t want to be afraid of heights if farming at Caherbeg. The necessity for the four wheel drive tractor and the fact Tim reverses up hill to spread fertiliser as part of the routine gives you some indication of the steepness of the land and the height above sea level (750 feet at top). The Hurley cows don’t have it easy when walking to grass but on the flip side they have great views of the surrounding countryside when the sun shines.
The grazing block is about 33 hectares adjusted and in total 77 hectares are farmed with cows calving from February onwards. In 2015 75 cows were milked and this year 84 cows are going through the parlour. The silage and drystock block is about one mile from the home farm.
The attention to detail and cleanliness really stood out on this farm. The plant washing routine is as follows; after morning milking the plant is rinsed with 170 litres of cold water before 170 litres of hot water is sucked through the plant and let run to waste until the returning water is hot enough. Then the hot wash solution is added which is two scoops (590g) of Koldosan Super (75% sodium hydroxide) and 450ml of Dairychlor (7% chlorine). This is left to circulate for 10 minutes and retained for evening washing after which it is discarded. The plant is drained before it is rinsed with 170 litres of cold water which contains 45ml of peracetic acid.
A BFS descaler product is used in 120 litres of hot water every 10 days before the detergent wash. The bulk tank is washed down with a hose before the automatic washer is turned on to remove the residue and then a BFS hotwash (2.1% chlorine & 9.6% chlorine product) is used during the washing process. The tank is decaled every three weeks.
The Hurleys are big fans of the ankle straps for cows and have red straps for cows that are not to go into the bulk tank and blue straps to alert the milker to cows that only have three teats milking.
Factfile
Farming System: in 2015 the Hurley business milked 75 cows delivering 424,500 litres to Lisavaird Co-op in a spring calving production system. In total the Hurley family are farming 77 hectares (190 acres). Milk fat averaged 4.17% and protein percentage averaged 3.68% in 2015.
You wouldn’t want to be afraid of heights if farming at Caherbeg. The necessity for the four wheel drive tractor and the fact Tim reverses up hill to spread fertiliser as part of the routine gives you some indication of the steepness of the land and the height above sea level (750 feet at top). The Hurley cows don’t have it easy when walking to grass but on the flip side they have great views of the surrounding countryside when the sun shines.
The grazing block is about 33 hectares adjusted and in total 77 hectares are farmed with cows calving from February onwards. In 2015 75 cows were milked and this year 84 cows are going through the parlour. The silage and drystock block is about one mile from the home farm.
The attention to detail and cleanliness really stood out on this farm. The plant washing routine is as follows; after morning milking the plant is rinsed with 170 litres of cold water before 170 litres of hot water is sucked through the plant and let run to waste until the returning water is hot enough. Then the hot wash solution is added which is two scoops (590g) of Koldosan Super (75% sodium hydroxide) and 450ml of Dairychlor (7% chlorine). This is left to circulate for 10 minutes and retained for evening washing after which it is discarded. The plant is drained before it is rinsed with 170 litres of cold water which contains 45ml of peracetic acid.
A BFS descaler product is used in 120 litres of hot water every 10 days before the detergent wash. The bulk tank is washed down with a hose before the automatic washer is turned on to remove the residue and then a BFS hotwash (2.1% chlorine & 9.6% chlorine product) is used during the washing process. The tank is decaled every three weeks.
The Hurleys are big fans of the ankle straps for cows and have red straps for cows that are not to go into the bulk tank and blue straps to alert the milker to cows that only have three teats milking.
Factfile
Farming System: in 2015 the Hurley business milked 75 cows delivering 424,500 litres to Lisavaird Co-op in a spring calving production system. In total the Hurley family are farming 77 hectares (190 acres). Milk fat averaged 4.17% and protein percentage averaged 3.68% in 2015.
This year 13 farming families compete for the Overall title in the NDC/Kerrygold quality milk awards.
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A BFS descaler product is used in 120 litres of hot water every 10 days before the detergent wash. The bulk tank is washed down with a hose before the automatic washer is turned on to remove the residue and then a BFS hotwash (2.1% chlorine & 9.6% chlorine product) is used during the washing process. The tank is decaled every three weeks.
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