Two years into being a dairy farmer and I am still a long way from completely refining my system. As with any new venture, there were plenty of mistakes and the learning curve was quite steep at times.

However, there are a few very important decisions I made that are delivering for me and they will be the back bone of my system from now on. With the expected influx of new entrants over the next few years, I thought I would share them and maybe provide some food for thought for other prospective new entrants.

Measuring and budgeting grass

It became obvious to me early on that I had to start measuring and budgeting grass. I haven’t mastered the skill by any means but I am getting better at it week by week. Measuring grass gives me the confidence to make decisions like taking out surplus and reducing or dropping meal feeding which has a direct and positive effect on farm profitability.

At the end of the year, it gives me a total figure for tonnes of dry matter grown. From this figure, I can see how my farm is performing, which paddocks need attention and set the optimum stocking rate for my farm. Measuring grass is putting money in my pocket.

Cow type

Cow type is something I decided on after doing a lot of research. It became obvious to me early on that a crossbred cow would best suit my system. Teagasc research has indicated that a high EBI crossbred cow is the most profitable of all cow types. Crossbred cows are easily managed, fertile, hardy and deliver high solids milk.

The herd of cows I aim to breed will be 500kg delivering close on their body weight in solids on mostly grazed grass. I will do this by using a mixture of Jersey, Kiwi-cross and high EBI Holstein-Friesian bulls. In my herd, crossbred cows have outperformed their Holstein sisters when receiving the same treatment and management.

Discussing group

Finally, probably the biggest influence on my business has been the discussion group. I was lucky enough to join a very progressive and focussed discussion group who meet once a month. The amount of information I can harvest at each of these meetings is enormous.

For a new entrant to have access to farmers who have established and expanded their business successfully within the quota regime is priceless. For any farmer who is considering entering milk production, I would encourage them to join a discussion group as their first step.