The rain arrived with a bang last weekend when 54mm fell in two days. Our well is back at full production again, thankfully, and the stream that runs through the farm is starting to flow. Grass should kick on quickly with 30 units of protected urea spread on 12 September. Hopefully the rain knows when to stop now, although with annual rainfall at only 520mm in the Kilkenny area for the year, there is probably a fair bit still due between now and December.

Grazing conditions are still very good in our area so cows are cleaning out paddocks very well. Protein broke the 4% barrier last week.

We were very lucky that the weather held for the week of the Ploughing with more shorts and sunglasses to be seen on site than wellies

Although milk production is dropping, the herd is still producing between 1.6kgMS and 1.7kgMS from 2kg of concentrate.

We were very lucky that the weather held for the week of the Ploughing with more shorts and sunglasses to be seen on site than wellies this year. Commodity prices are low across most sectors but the weather helped to keep the mood buoyant for most of the attendees.

The seven cows on the stand were very well turned out everyday and well looked after by the Jones family

Our local hurling club took on parking duties in the yellow carpark as a fundraiser for the club. The heat made the job tough enough but a lot easier at the end of each day than if we had to try to get cars out of a wet carpark. Hopefully people got in and out easily enough without too many hold ups.

Our cow returned in great order from the Irish Holstein Friesian Association stand. The seven cows on the stand were very well turned out everyday and well looked after by the Jones family and all the team at the IHFA.

If the weather was the feelgood factor at the Ploughing, beef protests, Brexit, climate change and environmental challenges managed to dampen the spirits a bit

It’s a big task to take on displaying milking cows on the stand, with milking done every day and effective 24-hour supervision needed to make sure they get back home in the same condition that they left in. All the cows seemed very relaxed on the stand and might have even enjoyed their break from the hustle and bustle of farm life.

If the weather was the feelgood factor at the Ploughing, beef protests, Brexit, climate change and environmental challenges managed to dampen the spirits a bit.

We had plenty of speakers at various venues throughout the three days extolling the virtues of sustainable food production in our corner of the world.

We obviously need to keep improving areas and become more efficient

It’s disappointing that we have to keep defending our position as one of the most sustainable food production systems in the world.

We obviously need to keep improving areas and become more efficient, but sometimes, listening to certain sections of the media, you could be led to believe that farmers spend most of their working life cutting down trees, pouring slurry into rivers and encouraging cows to belch as often as possible.

The latest policy from first-world regions such as Europe and New Zealand, where there is a surplus of sustainably produced dairy and beef, is to cut back on production

The almost 30m air passengers who passed through Dublin Airport last year gets conveniently ignored, as does the 300m passengers that went through UK airports in 2018. Maybe restrictions should be explored on the amount of flights people take per year and especially those who indulge in first-class travel.

The latest policy from first-world regions such as Europe and New Zealand, where there is a surplus of sustainably produced dairy and beef, is to cut back on production in these areas and allow the vacuum to be filled by product from less developed countries with very little regard for the environment, climate change, animal welfare and food safety.

Supporting our native and sustainable dairy and beef industries has to be better than watching great international eco-systems such as the Amazon, literally go up in smoke.

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