Access to land is the key issue facing many dairy farm businesses across the country. This is usually due to a limited supply of quality land available in the locality or the high cost of renting or buying whatever suitable land is available.
As part of an annual survey of Northern Ireland dairy farmers conducted last December at the RUAS Winter Fair, 40% of respondents said that access to land was the main challenge facing their business. The land issue ran ahead of labour availability (34.3%), environmental controls (17.1%) and lack of a successor (8.6%) in the Irish Farmers Journal survey.
A limited land supply locally can often lead to fragmented farms if farmers want to expand their businesses and land subsequently becomes available elsewhere. Dairy farmers with fragmented land blocks often develop higher input systems with limited or no grazing.
James Martin is the latest participant to join phase two of the Dairylink Ireland programme and he operates a high-input/high-output system on his farm in Armagh. Cows stay indoors all year, with grass silage the main forage.
Other issues which influence the development of high-input or indoor systems are high rainfall, land type, milk pricing on volume, cow type, limited grassland skills, and little or no farm roadway infrastructure.
Some or all of these factors play a part on those farms producing a lot of milk indoors.
Dairylink Ireland participants operate a range of dairying systems across different land types and climatic conditions. The programme is about making the most of available resources and is not about comparing different systems.
Phase one of Dairylink Ireland, as well as various benchmarking programmes, have found that good management and attention to detail are key influences on farm profitability, regardless of system type.
Weekly round-up
Recent weekend rain has forced cows back inside on most Dairylink farms.Most farms have spread urea on grazing blocks.Slurry is going out on silage ground and on low grass covers or recently grazed areas.Scanning is ongoing as herds move into 13 to 15 weeks of breeding.Getting out on a grass walk is critical at this stage for all farms.
Farmer focus: James Martin, Dromintee, Co ArmaghThere are currently 127 Holstein cows milking on the Martin family farm in Dromintee, Co Armagh. Average yield is just short of 10,000 litres at 3.8% butterfat and 3.2% protein from 3.5t per cow of concentrates and grass silage. James has been farming at home with his father Owen since he graduated with a degree in agriculture in 2015.
The Martin farmyard is essentially land locked with only two small fields adjacent to the yard. A 70-acre owned block of grassland lies across a public road from the farmyard. Crossing the road and proximity to the village made crossing cows very difficult.
This made it difficult to walk cows to and from grass. Soils are fairly heavy too, which limited grazing opportunities when conditions were wet. This led the Martins to develop a fully housed system in 2013. Cows are calving throughout the year and there is no seasonal variation in milk output.
James and Owen have a strong focus on cow type and milk yield when selecting sires. This year’s calves are by bulls such as Bromley, Punch, Boastful and MVP. Sexed semen is used on the farm and surplus heifers are sold under their Garaba pedigree prefix.
With cows calving year-round, there are replacement heifers of all ages on the farm. However, heifers are put into various groups according to size and age for calving at two years old.
The herd is in expansion mode and available land should be able to support around 180 cows in the coming years. There is scope for expansion, as bull calves are no longer kept for beef, heifers are calving earlier and some additional land has been rented in recent years.
Outfarms
With land only being used for either silage or else grazing heifers and dry cows, various outlaying blocks of owned and rented land can support herd expansion on the Martin farm.
The furthest outfarm is an owned block of land near Belleeks, about 10 miles away from the main farmyard. The Martins have all their own machinery for silage and slurry work, with extra help and additional trailers only needed at silage time.
A greater emphasis has been put on silage quality in recent years, with four cuts taken each year. A new roofed silo is being built at present and will be completed for first-cut silage this year. It compromises of two silos, with the entire building measuring 100ft by 110ft.
The new silo measures 100ft x 110ft and will be ready for first cut this year.
Cubicles and feed space will be an issue as cow numbers increase and the long-term plan is to convert some of the old silos into cow accommodation as the herd increases.
Existing milking facilities will be able to handle extra cows, as a new 24-unit swing-over parlour was built in 2015.
A new 24-unit swing-over parlour was built in 2015.
At present, cows are grouped in two batches, with silage, blend and straw fed through the diet feeder. All cows have electronic tags and are fed to yield in the parlour and then automatically drafted back into their groups after milking.
Access to land is the key issue facing many dairy farm businesses across the country. This is usually due to a limited supply of quality land available in the locality or the high cost of renting or buying whatever suitable land is available.
As part of an annual survey of Northern Ireland dairy farmers conducted last December at the RUAS Winter Fair, 40% of respondents said that access to land was the main challenge facing their business. The land issue ran ahead of labour availability (34.3%), environmental controls (17.1%) and lack of a successor (8.6%) in the Irish Farmers Journal survey.
A limited land supply locally can often lead to fragmented farms if farmers want to expand their businesses and land subsequently becomes available elsewhere. Dairy farmers with fragmented land blocks often develop higher input systems with limited or no grazing.
James Martin is the latest participant to join phase two of the Dairylink Ireland programme and he operates a high-input/high-output system on his farm in Armagh. Cows stay indoors all year, with grass silage the main forage.
Other issues which influence the development of high-input or indoor systems are high rainfall, land type, milk pricing on volume, cow type, limited grassland skills, and little or no farm roadway infrastructure.
Some or all of these factors play a part on those farms producing a lot of milk indoors.
Dairylink Ireland participants operate a range of dairying systems across different land types and climatic conditions. The programme is about making the most of available resources and is not about comparing different systems.
Phase one of Dairylink Ireland, as well as various benchmarking programmes, have found that good management and attention to detail are key influences on farm profitability, regardless of system type.
Weekly round-up
Recent weekend rain has forced cows back inside on most Dairylink farms.Most farms have spread urea on grazing blocks.Slurry is going out on silage ground and on low grass covers or recently grazed areas.Scanning is ongoing as herds move into 13 to 15 weeks of breeding.Getting out on a grass walk is critical at this stage for all farms.
Farmer focus: James Martin, Dromintee, Co ArmaghThere are currently 127 Holstein cows milking on the Martin family farm in Dromintee, Co Armagh. Average yield is just short of 10,000 litres at 3.8% butterfat and 3.2% protein from 3.5t per cow of concentrates and grass silage. James has been farming at home with his father Owen since he graduated with a degree in agriculture in 2015.
The Martin farmyard is essentially land locked with only two small fields adjacent to the yard. A 70-acre owned block of grassland lies across a public road from the farmyard. Crossing the road and proximity to the village made crossing cows very difficult.
This made it difficult to walk cows to and from grass. Soils are fairly heavy too, which limited grazing opportunities when conditions were wet. This led the Martins to develop a fully housed system in 2013. Cows are calving throughout the year and there is no seasonal variation in milk output.
James and Owen have a strong focus on cow type and milk yield when selecting sires. This year’s calves are by bulls such as Bromley, Punch, Boastful and MVP. Sexed semen is used on the farm and surplus heifers are sold under their Garaba pedigree prefix.
With cows calving year-round, there are replacement heifers of all ages on the farm. However, heifers are put into various groups according to size and age for calving at two years old.
The herd is in expansion mode and available land should be able to support around 180 cows in the coming years. There is scope for expansion, as bull calves are no longer kept for beef, heifers are calving earlier and some additional land has been rented in recent years.
Outfarms
With land only being used for either silage or else grazing heifers and dry cows, various outlaying blocks of owned and rented land can support herd expansion on the Martin farm.
The furthest outfarm is an owned block of land near Belleeks, about 10 miles away from the main farmyard. The Martins have all their own machinery for silage and slurry work, with extra help and additional trailers only needed at silage time.
A greater emphasis has been put on silage quality in recent years, with four cuts taken each year. A new roofed silo is being built at present and will be completed for first-cut silage this year. It compromises of two silos, with the entire building measuring 100ft by 110ft.
The new silo measures 100ft x 110ft and will be ready for first cut this year.
Cubicles and feed space will be an issue as cow numbers increase and the long-term plan is to convert some of the old silos into cow accommodation as the herd increases.
Existing milking facilities will be able to handle extra cows, as a new 24-unit swing-over parlour was built in 2015.
A new 24-unit swing-over parlour was built in 2015.
At present, cows are grouped in two batches, with silage, blend and straw fed through the diet feeder. All cows have electronic tags and are fed to yield in the parlour and then automatically drafted back into their groups after milking.
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