Making investments for expansion in Tyrone

A significant amount of capital investment has been made on Robin Clements’ dairy farm near Trillick, Co Tyrone, over the past three years, as the land area and herd size expanded.

The Clements converted from sucklers seven years ago and a 64ha outfarm was purchased three years ago.

Robin has been focusing on drainage, improving soil fertility and reseeding to increase grass growth on the new outfarm.

The land block is used for silage and heifer rearing, as well as zero grazing for the milking herd at times when grass demand exceeds supply on the milking platform.

There is potential for a second dairy unit to be established on the outfarm in the future. However, that will require even more capital expenditure, so the focus in the short term has been to invest in increasing grass production to complement increasing cow numbers and stocking rate on the home block.

There has also been investment on the home farm during phase one of the Dairylink Ireland programme.

Targeted use of lime, slurry and compound fertilisers has seen the proportion of the home block that has optimal soil status for pH, phosphorus and potassium increase from 24% in January 2016 to 63% in January 2018.

Annual grass growth increased by 20% over phase one of Dairylink to 10.8t DM/ha last year.

To improve utilisation, Robin has invested in grazing infrastructure on the home block, with paddocks sub-divided, more drinkers installed and additional laneways constructed.

Capital expenditure

Over the past three years, annual capital expenditure on the farm has averaged £40,268. Last year, almost half of all capital spend on the farm was for the purchase of livestock, namely 20 in-calf heifers and seven two-year-old cows.

Developing a comprehensive herd health plan has been important for Robin, as stock have been bought in from other herds to help increase cow numbers. A key element of this is his vaccination programme, which covers BVD, Salmonella, IBR and leptospirosis.

Robin continued to make investments in the farm during 2018, with four extra units added to the parlour. There was already space in the pit for the new units, which takes it to a 20-a-side parlour. There was also more fencing work completed and drinkers installed with the help of an agri-environment scheme grant.

What are the three most important steps you have taken in the last three years?

What is your aim over the next three years?

In the longer term, establishing a second parlour on the outfarm is something we have been thinking about more often since the initial work with improving the land block was completed. Zero grazing has been useful in allowing us to build cow numbers and make use of the new block without the need for capital investment in a new parlour and buildings.

However, there is significant cost with the time and diesel needed to draw zero-grazed grass to cows and then take slurry back to the outfarm. It is only a mile and a half away from the main yard, but it is back roads with a few steep hills, which isn’t ideal.

A parlour and cubicle house on the outfarm could work well if we calved everything down at the main yard and then took 80 or 100 cows over to it. We would keep problem cows at home and design the layout of the second unit so that one person could milk by themselves.

How is grass growth and calving preparation going?

Four heifers have calved down already and a few more could come this week. We started serving heifers on 28 November, so they will start properly next week. There will be 40 heifers and up to 50 cows calved by the end of September and calving should be finished by the end of December.

Growth slowed in July, but it has gained since then. In the past month, we have grown a lot of grass, especially in areas that were recently reseeded.

We are catching up well with building fodder stocks for the winter. Third cut is in a fortnight and we have 70 acres slurried and sowed with the aim being to cut this again in mid-September, conditions permitting.

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