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"I am a third-year agricultural science student studying animal and crop production in University College Dublin. My keen interest in farming stems from my upbringing on our family farm in Aughavas, Co Leitrim. An important part of our degree programme is completing 30 weeks of professional work experience in the second semester of the third year.
“I began my dairy placement in January with Sansaw Dairy, outside Shrewsbury, in England. A beautiful estate, it is a modern dairy farm milking 1,600 cows on a grass-based, spring calving system, utilising a grazing platform of slightly over 500ha. Cork man Breiffni Daly is the farm manager.
“I worked on the farm with Breiffni and his team along with four other UCD students and one MTU student for the 10-week calving season. The farm runs a crossbred herd where cows are housed during the winter in three 15-bay cubicle sheds with access to outdoor self-feed silage pits. Due to the herd size, the cows are also wintered on fodder beet and baled silage.
About the enterprise
“Cows are calved in a large straw-bedded shed, monitored 24/7 due to the intensity of calving. Over 1,000 cows calved during February, with freshly calved cows turning out to grass immediately to join the milking herd.
“Replacement heifer calves are reared in a separate yard where they are penned in groups of 20. Dairy bull calves are reared in a third yard for six weeks until they are sold. Mortality rates are very low considering the number of stock on the farm.
“The cows are milked twice a day through a 70 bail Waikato rotary parlour built in 2012. The team at Sansaw strive to achieve optimum results through grass management, a compact breeding season and a strong emphasis on animal welfare.
“My next destination was the prairie land of Saskatchewan in Canada to work on an extensive beef and tillage farm owned by Dustin Hawkins. Dustin farms alongside his eldest son Boston and four other siblings, two hired men and three of us UCD students.
“They farm a total of 29,000ac and have 750 suckler cows consisting of both Angus and Simmental cattle. From March through to April, 250 cows were calved down in the outdoor pens at the home yard. The remaining in-calf cows were hauled to pasture ground to calve out on grass from mid-April into May.
Tillage operation
“Dustin owns 40 breeding bulls, relatively easy calving Simmental, Angus and Hereford bulls. All steers are sold at nine months old and surplus heifers are sold at 11 months old to a large feedlot. Calves are tagged, vaccinated and branded ‘DH’ within the first month. Bull calves receive a growth hormone implant in their left ear and they are castrated using a rubber ring.
"The ever-expanding tillage operation incorporates the use of large machinery equipped with state-of-the-art technology to maximise efficiency and output per acre.
“Crops are sown using the minimum tillage method. Wheat, lentils, oilseed rape and winter rye are the main crops seeded this year across 18,000ac of farm land. Dustin runs a fleet of John Deere equipment.
“Professional work experience is a great opportunity for any student interested in a career in agriculture to work abroad for a period of time. It really enhanced my understanding of farming practices in other areas.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time working in England and Canada, returning home with great memories and a broader knowledge of the dairy, beef and tillage sectors.”
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