The farm of Philip, Andrew and Aodhagon Smith from Crossdoney, Co Cavan has seen a remarkable transformation in five years.
Going from calving 11 months of the year to a spring calving season of just 11 weeks since 2019 has not been without challenges and ruthless decision-making. The Smiths outlined their case study at a Lakeland Dairies farm walk last week.
In order to deal with the increased workload in the calving and breeding seasons, the Smith invested in three Cs: cows, concrete and collars.
In terms of cows, the calving season has reduced from 11 months to 11 weeks through culling of empties and late calvers, while replacing them with bought-in stock. They now have just three batches of stock to look after – the cows, the heifers and the calves.
Looking at the concrete, the Smiths upgraded their parlour to a 15 unit double-up parlour. This has resulted in a saving of approximately three hours per day, or 21 hours per week.
Efficient milking and housing facilities are available, with capacity matching herd size, cubicle sheds near the milking parlour and spacious calving facilities.
The Smiths have invested in grazing infrastructure and cow housing.
A wider investment in automation has seen the installation of automated scrapers for cleaning cubicles, automatic calf feeders, drafting gates in the exit area and heat detection collars.
Andrew fired a word of warning, however, on the use of automation. Referencing the use of heat detection collars, he said they are no substitute for eyeballing cows in heat.
“You sit there and you’ll get the text that such and such a cow is in heat, but you still have to go out there and check on them to make sure all is OK. Heat collars alone won’t get them in calf, you have to do everything else,” he said.
Other simple yet effective measures seen on the Smith farm include the use of a farm map, particularly helpful in communicating with staff and contractors, and multiple entry points to paddocks for ease of access.
Holding farm performance
in a wet year
With heavy rainfall in the last six weeks and a tight stocking rate of approximately four cows/ha on the milking platform, the Smiths have worked hard to maintain grass growth and grazing.
“When it gets wet here, it gets real wet. When it gets dry, it dries quick enough as well. It has been a struggle, with cows in and out the last couple of weeks, which is far from ideal,” said Andrew.
In 2022, the Smiths achieved a grass growth of almost 14.2 tonne/DM/ha. Currently, 64% of the farm is optimal for soil fertility, with a strong emphasis from Andrew and Philip on increasing this figure and improving lower soil indexes.
Achieving and maintaining these high-level figures is credited to good grass management practices.
“A lot of that I would say is down to not skimping on fertiliser or lime, and then when the grass does grow, managing it better.
“The whole milking platform has gotten four to five tonnes of lime over the last couple of years, and it was nearly all done again this year too. We had soil samples taken too and worked alongside our adviser to put a good plan in place,” Andrew explained.
Andrew Smith speaking at the farm walk.
Now in their third year of grass measuring, Andrew does approximately 30 grass walks per year. This helps manage grass supply and quality throughout the grazing season. The practice also assists in identifying underperforming paddocks for re-seeding.
Andrew emphasised the importance of consistency when grass measuring:
“I think the secret is that you need to get out every week to walk the land and measure grass. You could be sitting on the fence, keeping stock in and saying there is no grass, when, really, there is a lot of grass.
“You won’t realise that unless you are grass measuring every week and using it consistently as a tool for the farm. It will pay off.”
Another major element of the impressive grass yields on the farm is the implementation of a re-seeding plan. Annually, 10% of the farm is re-seeded using min-till methods. At the time of re-seeding, inadequacies in soil fertility are also addressed.
Encouraging farmers to turn cows out to grass early in the springtime and graze according to grass growth was a strong take-home point from the event.
Farm facts:
Size: 54ha milking platform, across the 167ha farm. Cow numbers: 215.Staff numbers: Two full-time, plus seasonal help.Cow performance: 490kg MS/cow in 2022.Grass growth: 14.2 tonne/DM/ha.
The farm of Philip, Andrew and Aodhagon Smith from Crossdoney, Co Cavan has seen a remarkable transformation in five years.
Going from calving 11 months of the year to a spring calving season of just 11 weeks since 2019 has not been without challenges and ruthless decision-making. The Smiths outlined their case study at a Lakeland Dairies farm walk last week.
In order to deal with the increased workload in the calving and breeding seasons, the Smith invested in three Cs: cows, concrete and collars.
In terms of cows, the calving season has reduced from 11 months to 11 weeks through culling of empties and late calvers, while replacing them with bought-in stock. They now have just three batches of stock to look after – the cows, the heifers and the calves.
Looking at the concrete, the Smiths upgraded their parlour to a 15 unit double-up parlour. This has resulted in a saving of approximately three hours per day, or 21 hours per week.
Efficient milking and housing facilities are available, with capacity matching herd size, cubicle sheds near the milking parlour and spacious calving facilities.
The Smiths have invested in grazing infrastructure and cow housing.
A wider investment in automation has seen the installation of automated scrapers for cleaning cubicles, automatic calf feeders, drafting gates in the exit area and heat detection collars.
Andrew fired a word of warning, however, on the use of automation. Referencing the use of heat detection collars, he said they are no substitute for eyeballing cows in heat.
“You sit there and you’ll get the text that such and such a cow is in heat, but you still have to go out there and check on them to make sure all is OK. Heat collars alone won’t get them in calf, you have to do everything else,” he said.
Other simple yet effective measures seen on the Smith farm include the use of a farm map, particularly helpful in communicating with staff and contractors, and multiple entry points to paddocks for ease of access.
Holding farm performance
in a wet year
With heavy rainfall in the last six weeks and a tight stocking rate of approximately four cows/ha on the milking platform, the Smiths have worked hard to maintain grass growth and grazing.
“When it gets wet here, it gets real wet. When it gets dry, it dries quick enough as well. It has been a struggle, with cows in and out the last couple of weeks, which is far from ideal,” said Andrew.
In 2022, the Smiths achieved a grass growth of almost 14.2 tonne/DM/ha. Currently, 64% of the farm is optimal for soil fertility, with a strong emphasis from Andrew and Philip on increasing this figure and improving lower soil indexes.
Achieving and maintaining these high-level figures is credited to good grass management practices.
“A lot of that I would say is down to not skimping on fertiliser or lime, and then when the grass does grow, managing it better.
“The whole milking platform has gotten four to five tonnes of lime over the last couple of years, and it was nearly all done again this year too. We had soil samples taken too and worked alongside our adviser to put a good plan in place,” Andrew explained.
Andrew Smith speaking at the farm walk.
Now in their third year of grass measuring, Andrew does approximately 30 grass walks per year. This helps manage grass supply and quality throughout the grazing season. The practice also assists in identifying underperforming paddocks for re-seeding.
Andrew emphasised the importance of consistency when grass measuring:
“I think the secret is that you need to get out every week to walk the land and measure grass. You could be sitting on the fence, keeping stock in and saying there is no grass, when, really, there is a lot of grass.
“You won’t realise that unless you are grass measuring every week and using it consistently as a tool for the farm. It will pay off.”
Another major element of the impressive grass yields on the farm is the implementation of a re-seeding plan. Annually, 10% of the farm is re-seeded using min-till methods. At the time of re-seeding, inadequacies in soil fertility are also addressed.
Encouraging farmers to turn cows out to grass early in the springtime and graze according to grass growth was a strong take-home point from the event.
Farm facts:
Size: 54ha milking platform, across the 167ha farm. Cow numbers: 215.Staff numbers: Two full-time, plus seasonal help.Cow performance: 490kg MS/cow in 2022.Grass growth: 14.2 tonne/DM/ha. 
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