A large crowd attended the Teagasc and Department of Agriculture-organised dairy farm walk on the organic farm of Seamus Howard at the edge of the Burren at Kilnaboy, Co Clare.
They were welcomed by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett, herself an organic beef and sheep farmer.
There are just 62 organic dairy farmers in the country out of a total of over 2,000 organic farmers and Joe Kelleher, the Teagasc organic specialist, said the aim is to increase this number.
The Howard farm was one of the first organic farms in the country, having been started by Seamus’s father James, who went organic in 1985.
Seamus explained they milked 17 cows, kept beef and sheep and farmed in harmony with nature. The farm is part of the Burren National Park, with over half the farm area in the Burren, with the other half really good-quality, productive farmland.
Brendan Dunford speaking about the Burren at the organic farm walk on Seamus Howard's farm.
In the last 12 months, Seamus has decided to concentrate on dairy and has made huge investments in the farm.
A new Lely robot has been installed and a top-spec cubicle shed has been built. Seamus has imported 14 organic Fleckvieh cows from Austria and has plans to import more organic cows from Denmark with the aim of milking 50 cows this year.
Some of the Fleckvieh cows imported by Seamus.
With a milking platform of 38.46ha, 50 cows equates to a stocking rate of 1.3 cows/ha but the overall stocking rate is much lower when you include the winter grazing from the Burren and land that the cows can’t access.
New robot on Seamus Howard's organic farm.
Seamus will be supplying Glenisk with organic grass-fed milk, meaning he cannot feed any grain or any product containing anything other than grass. Lucerne, which is a type of alfalfa, can be fed and this is available in pellet form which is imported from Spain.
The grazing swards are high in clover, with both red and white clover present in the fields used for grazing and silage. The herd will be all spring-calving.
New cubicle shed on Seamus Howard's farm.
According to Joe Kelleher, supplying milk over the winter months is not a requirement for all contracts, with both Glenisk and the Little Milk Company both seeking new spring-calving suppliers for cheese and yoghurt products.
He said there is strong demand for Irish organic cheeses in Germany and other high-value markets which can be produced from spring and summer milk.
A large crowd attended the Teagasc and Department of Agriculture-organised dairy farm walk on the organic farm of Seamus Howard at the edge of the Burren at Kilnaboy, Co Clare.
They were welcomed by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett, herself an organic beef and sheep farmer.
There are just 62 organic dairy farmers in the country out of a total of over 2,000 organic farmers and Joe Kelleher, the Teagasc organic specialist, said the aim is to increase this number.
The Howard farm was one of the first organic farms in the country, having been started by Seamus’s father James, who went organic in 1985.
Seamus explained they milked 17 cows, kept beef and sheep and farmed in harmony with nature. The farm is part of the Burren National Park, with over half the farm area in the Burren, with the other half really good-quality, productive farmland.
Brendan Dunford speaking about the Burren at the organic farm walk on Seamus Howard's farm.
In the last 12 months, Seamus has decided to concentrate on dairy and has made huge investments in the farm.
A new Lely robot has been installed and a top-spec cubicle shed has been built. Seamus has imported 14 organic Fleckvieh cows from Austria and has plans to import more organic cows from Denmark with the aim of milking 50 cows this year.
Some of the Fleckvieh cows imported by Seamus.
With a milking platform of 38.46ha, 50 cows equates to a stocking rate of 1.3 cows/ha but the overall stocking rate is much lower when you include the winter grazing from the Burren and land that the cows can’t access.
New robot on Seamus Howard's organic farm.
Seamus will be supplying Glenisk with organic grass-fed milk, meaning he cannot feed any grain or any product containing anything other than grass. Lucerne, which is a type of alfalfa, can be fed and this is available in pellet form which is imported from Spain.
The grazing swards are high in clover, with both red and white clover present in the fields used for grazing and silage. The herd will be all spring-calving.
New cubicle shed on Seamus Howard's farm.
According to Joe Kelleher, supplying milk over the winter months is not a requirement for all contracts, with both Glenisk and the Little Milk Company both seeking new spring-calving suppliers for cheese and yoghurt products.
He said there is strong demand for Irish organic cheeses in Germany and other high-value markets which can be produced from spring and summer milk.
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