MSD Animal Health held a Sense Hub open day in conjunction with Mullinahone Co-op and Munster Bovine on the farm of Sean, Laoise and Liam Hennessy recently.

Laoise is Tim’s sister, the couple farm in partnership with their son Liam, who is a UCD Dairy Business graduate. Liam is also an area manager with FDC (Farm Development Co-Op). Sean continues to work full-time on the dairy farm along with Lawrence Burke.

Laoise supports the business through her expertise in computer skills and management.

The Hennessys have always been innovators in the industry, never afraid to adopt science to grow the business. Over the last few years they have expanded their dairy business, milking 235 cows on one platform and rearing their heifers on an out block.

They have a number of leased parcels of land to bring the home grazing platform to 89 hectares and will do 484kg milk solids in what was a terribly challenging grass-growing year in this area.

Farming has received a lot of criticism in recent years and particularly dairy farmers. To tackle environmental challenges such as water quality, we need infrastructure, slurry storage and potentially more housing to deal with inclement weather events due to a changing climate. To put all that in place farmers need to have confidence in the future.

New technology

I look at the Hennessys and I see committed farmers not afraid to expand, willing to embrace new technology and to enter into farm debt because they believe in the future.

Last year they built a rotary parlour to improve milking time and make the business easier to manage. We have watched it grow with interest.

It is a fabulous building to work in for both men and cows. It is a beautifully finished Dairymaster parlour, fitted out by the local Dairymaster agents, Denis T and John O’Sullivan and their team.

They are great men to answer a call-out promptly. It’s many a dig out Denis T gave me in my younger days. It’s lovely to see these local businesses growing. Make no mistake, it’s the young people coming on stream that are driving the future plans and back generations of farmers keeping rural economies vibrant.

The Hennessys have always been innovators in the industry, never afraid to adopt science to grow the business

Sustainability is a huge concern for farmers and that means having to spend on the things that reduce the labour requirement on the farm, leaving more time for strategising and managing the business.

It also leaves space to observe and look after the cow in all her needs. After all, she is the cog that keeps that rotary turning and people fed in faraway places. Food production is a noble, highly sophisticated, satisfying business.

We too have Sense Hub on our dairy farm. It has greatly reduced the workload around breeding time. There is no requirement for tail painting and no necessity for bulls, making the farm a safer place. Having Sense Hub along with the drafting gate, as the Hennessys have, is a dream.

Tim often drafts the cows from his phone while he’s having his morning cup of tea. It frees up his time for other important work and is another safe option for sorting animals.

Health warning

There is also a health warning on Sense Hub to notify if a cow is in distress. I can’t say it picks up everything. Still a cow managed to get stuck in the drafter last week.

An alert came to Tim’s phone, and a call to Colm had her sorted quickly. That element is valuable too. You need to get to that cow before her distress or problem worsens.

Sense Hub shows the duration of the cow’s heat and the strength of it with colour codes. Optimal times for insemination with conventional and sexed semen are easy to follow. The bottom line is more animals in calf.

The day before this event, Jackie Cahill, TD, did an interview on Claire Byrne Live (10 September) on the new European report, Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, where one recommendation is that Europeans should eat less meat.

Jackie defended the position of farmers admirably, citing sustainability and Irish farmers’ expert ability to contribute to our changing world’s food security.

That’s what we need from our Government, support and encouragement and we will work to improve environmental factors and biodiversity in our loved and vibrant countryside.