A number of farmers have enquired about what is happening in Greenfield Kilkenny. Notwithstanding what develops on the future of the farm, the summer months have been good. June was a stormer for grass, July was dry (as per normal for Kilkenny), but August growth has bounced back with the rain. Average daily grass growth rate for June was 72kg, it dropped to 43kg for July, but was up to average 64kg/day for August.
A number of farmers have enquired about what is happening in Greenfield Kilkenny. Notwithstanding what develops on the future of the farm, the summer months have been good. June was a stormer for grass, July was dry (as per normal for Kilkenny), but August growth has bounced back with the rain.
Average daily grass growth rate for June was 72kg, it dropped to 43kg for July, but was up to average 64kg/day for August.
The July stall in growth rate didn’t help the second-cut silage plans so they were shelved and that area grazed instead.
Making second-cut silage in areas of traditionally low summer rainfall is difficult. It can often hit you in the pocket with higher feed bills, and poorly utilised bag nitrogen.
A better plan is to make a good first cut and take out surplus grass as it arises depending on the weather.
Milk supply up
Milk volume deliveries from the herd are up 38% per month on average for the last five months (see Figure 1).
To put these percentages in context, remember last year was the worst in nine years in terms of spring and summer performance.
This year has been an excellent year for milk suppliers all over the country.
The increased volumes on this farm are down to a number of reasons – a super start to grazing after calving, good management, a good grass year, rain coming at the right time, grass and clover swards performing well, circa 750kg of meal fed per cow, a maturing herd and slightly higher cow numbers.
All these mean the Kilkenny herd is on track to deliver between 1.7m and 1.8m litres this year (5,500l/cow at 9.5% solids) or 520kg of milk solids per cow.
The latest results show the herd averaging 21kg/cow at 5.11% fat and 4.06% protein (1.92kg MS/cow) on 2kg of meal and grazed grass.
Grass supply
Growth has been good. It has been averaging around 70kg per day for the last three weeks of August.
As a result, surplus grass in three paddocks will be cut at the next available dry spell.
To date, there have been about 110 bales made and maybe another 50 bales to come.
That should leave the farm with eight to 10 weeks winter silage. More will be purchased or cows contracted out.
Inputs
To date this year, about 245t of meal have been purchased averaging €293/t.
The average price paid last year to Glanbia was €300/t, so the price of feed is back about €7/t year-to-date.
The last 15t load of meal was delivered into the bin in mid-August at €292/t.
Stocking rate will be dropped as not-in-calf cows are sold as the autumn progresses
At the moment, the herd is on 2kg/day of meal in an effort to continue to build grass into the autumn. Growth rate is currently just slightly above daily demand.
Stocking rate will be dropped as not-in-calf cows are sold as the autumn progresses. Grass cover was at 260kg/cow on the last farm walk with average farm cover at 724kg. Ideally you would like to see it heading for over 300kg/cow at this stage.
The last fertiliser purchased arrived on 26 August (5t of 27% net nitrate bulk) and it came in at €255/t.
Earlier in the month, the same product came in at €265/t, so the price is back €10/t.
Five tonnes of muriate of potash (0:0:50) was also delivered at €375/t.
This was the second delivery of potash in the last few weeks in order to build potassium levels in paddocks showing low soil potassium tests.
Milk supply
The latest milk cheque for July milk paid in August was €79,000. After levies and penalties were deducted, it came back to €77,000 for 18,538kg of milk solids.
Grass growth slowed in July but bounced back in August to set up September grazing.
A penalty of €1,390 was taken off for a high total bacteria count (TBC) over a three-day period. The issue, bulk tank washing procedure, once identified was fixed quickly.
The net July price for the farm was €4.26/kg versus €4.15/kg for the Glanbia average.
Financials
At the last company board meeting, the company got a six-month update on the total financial performance from ifac.
The message was that the farm is recovering well from a cashflow perspective following the very difficult 2018. It’s on track to leave cash of around €70,000 in the account this year.
This net figure includes repayment of extended credit lines, loan repayments (€79k), all labour paid, all land leased, etc. The term loan will stand at €360,000, down from €850,000.
These numbers are based on the fact that there was 917,000l supplied to the end of June averaging 36.9c/l.
The predictions suggest the farm will supply over 1.75m litres in total this year (1.6m litres delivered in 2017 and 1.4m in 2018). Ifac puts depreciation at about €100,000/year (over 15 years) with €270,000 spent on capital investment in the last three years alone.
Other
The herd was scanned last week and the initial results suggest there are about 12.5% not in-calf over the 14-week breeding season – about 40 cows.
There are some cows that need to be re-scanned. The calves are getting an IBR vaccine booster this week at the contract-rearing farm and the cows will get the salmonella vaccine shortly.
Staffing changes
David Melody has taken over the management of the farm from Niall Duffy, who has gone back to further his studies.
Niall took over from David Fogarty at the end of May and Niall steered the farm through the summer months and all shareholders are very grateful for that.
Read more
Greenfield gates almost closed
Dempsey at Large: Greenfield lease disagreement a cause of great concern
Greenfield Farm: where to now?
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