Labour and limitations main focus at IGA summer tour

This year’s Irish Grassland Association summer tour took place in west Cork covering two farms located near Bandon.

Owen Cashman

24 July 2018

Labour and limitations main focus at IGA summer tour

Conor Kelleher describes the key focus points of his farm business.

Cows on the Kelleher farm in Aherla, Co Cork. Conor pulled silage supplementation as he felt the cows "could be working a bit harder".

Conor Kelleher speaking about finetuning his farm to increase milk solids from 528kg per cow in 2017.

Conor Josie Kelleher, Aherla, Co CorkConor and Josie Kelleher farm 58ha in four sections in Aherla. The farm is milking 147 crossbred cows in 2017 with the cows producing 528kg of milk solids per cow.

Conor Josie Kelleher, Aherla, Co Cork

Conor and Josie Kelleher farm 58ha in four sections in Aherla. The farm is milking 147 crossbred cows in 2017 with the cows producing 528kg of milk solids per cow.

Grass grown last year was 16.3t DM /ha. Conor is the only full-time labour unit on the farm. A relief milker, Colleen, and a student are employed to alleviate pressure.

Conor's father Con also works on the farm. Overall stocking rate is 2.9 LU/ ha.

Conor said his farm is fully stocked and the focus ill be on increasing milk solids through breeding and grass growth. “I’ve reached the tipping point. In future, it’s going to be about finetuning the efficiencies of the farm.”

Current performance and fodder situation

This year, growth is 3t DM/ha behind last year's grass growth. Conor has purchased nine acres of wholecrop and has reached an agreement with a local tillage farmer to grow Wester Wolds as a catch crop.

Cows on the Kelleher farm in Aherla, Co Cork. Conor pulled silage supplementation as he felt the cows "could be working a bit harder".

“With rain to come we are hoping for a 25% to 30% bounce-back in growth. Buying the alternative fodder sources has given me peace of mind. I was not happy to wait for the rain for reassurance.”

Shinagh Dairy Farm

The second farm as part of the tour was of Shinagh Dairy Farm managed by Kevin Ahern. Established by the four west Cork co-ops in 2011, the 78ha farm is leased from Shinagh Estates Ltd. The farm is milking 244 crossbred dairy cows this year.

Most replacements are contract-reared off farm. Kevin is the only full-time employee on the farm. A student and relief milkers are also used at busy times.

Last year the cows produced 397kg milk solids per cow. When asked about the performance of the cows, Kevin explained: “The topography of the land is quite hilly, which means cows are working that bit harder. We would like to see the milk solids figure higher, but we have to remember it’s in the nature of the farm.”

Labour

Kevin, being the only full-time employee on Shinagh, works long hours. He is a top-quality farm manager looking after a big workload. Plenty of questions on the day revolved around the sustainability of the system and demand for labour for 244 cows, “So far on Shinagh, the focus has been on profit and driving cash generation. While this is still at the core we are going to look at other aspects such as labour,” said John McNamara, Teagasc adviser to Shinagh Dairy Farms.

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