Recent dairy entrant joins Dairylink project

There were several options for John Oliver when he decided to switch from suckler beef to dairying four years ago. The farm, near Limavady, Co Derry, has shallow soils, which are prone to poaching, and the northwest is a high rainfall area, so grazing can be challenging at times.

A year-round calving herd in a total confinement system was an option. Also on the cards was a split-calving high-input system, with stale cows getting out to grass when conditions allow.

Block autumn-calving

In the end, John opted to establish a 90-cow block autumn-calving herd in a medium-input system. Average yield is around 7,000 litres per cow from 2t of concentrates.

He said that he wants a high-fertility herd, so the block calving system means he only milks cows that get back in-calf easily.

Seasonal workload

He also liked the idea of a seasonal workload, with calving, breeding and drying off.

John is very clear in what he wants from his farm in Derry. Improving grazing infrastructure, making better-quality silage to reduce feed costs and developing genetics to suit the system are all key objectives for him.

John probably had doubts about his decision to start dairying, as it was in the middle of a downturn in milk prices.

However, he points out that dairy stock were easier to buy when milk was below 20p/l and the sales of suckler cows and ewes covered the cost of establishing the herd.

Capital costs associated with starting dairying mainly came from building a parlour, renovating and extending existing farm buildings.

The plan is to pay back the costs of conversion over seven years.

Weekly roundup

Calving started on 27 August and marks the beginning of my fourth year of dairy farming. Work on converting from suckler beef to dairying began in late 2014, when winter housing was renovated and extended.

A 10-a-side swing-over parlour was built in the existing farmyard, which is centrally located in the 100-acre grazing block. The farm has light but shallow soils and the grazing block runs from 300ft to 600ft above sea level.

Last year, cows were housed full-time in the third week in August and, before this, cows had been in on and off during the summer, which amounted to almost a month’s lost grazing.

Early housing depleted reserves of good-quality silage sooner than planned, which meant I had to feed more concentrates.

However, this year has been completely different. The dry summer has allowed plenty of good-quality silage to be made, between first and second cuts and baling surplus on the grazing platform. Rain at the end of August delayed the third cut slightly, but it was harvested and we are well stocked for winter.

My aim in dairying is to have a block autumn-calving herd that can produce milk in a medium-input system. I want cows to be able to produce from grass when conditions allow during the autumn and spring.

In winter, cows are on silage and concentrates are fed in a feed to yield system through in-parlour and out-of-parlour feeders.

Conversion

When I was converting to dairying, cows were bought privately from a range of sources. Most were in-calf heifers and around a quarter of them were second-calvers or older. If I was doing it again, I would go all heifers to keep replacement rates lower for the first few years.

All cows that were bought in were springing and due to calve down in autumn 2015, so it gave me a good start in establishing the block-calving profile.

The cows are mostly Holstein-bred. However, there are some British Friesian, Shorthorn and Montbeliarde genetics in the herd too.

As all cows were in-calf when I bought them, the heifers calving down this autumn are the first cows to be milked on the farm that were bred here.

At breeding over the past three years, I have used mostly Friesian sires on cows. These are high-EBI Irish bulls or else some British Friesian- or New Zealand-bred sires.

Prehen Omen is the only Holstein bull that has been used on the farm.

I am not chasing litres and I am trying to get away from bigger, angular-type cows.

However, there is still room for some Holstein genetics to be used in lower-yielding cows.

Ultimately what I am after is a low-maintenance cow that is good on her feet and can hold condition.

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