This innovative programme provides farmers with the insights and support needed to optimise grassland management, herd health and nutrition.

Key features include real-time tracking with the new online Milk Solids Tracker tool, expert advice from dedicated Milk Solids Growth Specialists and in-depth milk data analysis to identify areas for improvement. With these tools, farmers can enhance herd productivity and drive greater profitability.

Milk Solids Tracker

With an aim to drive farm performance, precision and profitability, the online Milk Solids tracker takes guessing out of the equation when it comes to maximising milk solids production.

Available on tirlanfarmlife.com, the tracker allows milk suppliers to set milk production targets. A traffic light system highlights the current month’s production, meaning that when targets are not being met, corrective measures can be put in place in a timely manner.

Providing real-time data, the tracker paints a clear picture of herd performance and compares against previous years and against targets set by the milk supplier, allowing for easy and efficient monitoring of milk solids performance.

Graphs show kilos of solids per day and kilos of solids for the entire lactation, and provides a breakdown of butterfat and protein on a monthly and yearly basis, making it easy to identify areas in need of improvement.

Specialist Team

Offering tailored advice and practical solutions are a team of dedicated Milk Solids Growth specialists.

Working one-on-one with milk suppliers, the specialists provide personalised support and insights on farm-specific needs, to optimise herd performance, covering areas such as soil nutrition to maximise grass growth, utilisation and quality, herd health and nutrition.

By utilising more quality grass and conserved forages in the diet, as well as providing supplementary feeds at the right time, there is significant potential for individual farmers to improve their performance.

Butterfat to Protein Ratio

The Milk Solids Growth programme is about farming smarter, with in-depth insights into milk data, including butterfat to protein ratios.

Milk Solids Growth manager, Bryan Harte explained that a common cause of a drop in milk solids in early lactation is lack of energy intake.

“This negative energy balance may have further knock-on effects on fertility, body condition, and general health.”

“It may be difficult to identify on-farm, but analysing milk constituent data such as butterfat to protein ratio gives a good idea of energy balance in the herd.”

Calculated by dividing butterfat percentage by protein percentage, a ratio greater than 1.4 could indicate that herd is in a negative energy balance.

Through this programme, Tirlán suppliers are notified when their butterfat to protein ratio in the previous seven days exceeds 1.4, providing a prompt indication to the farmer that the cows’ energy requirements may not be met.

This allows the implementation of strategies to boost herd productivity, performance and efficiency.

On-farm Support

Set up on Tirlán’s Milk Solids Tracker are Dean Kelly and Tom Short, who are farming in partnership at Kilmullen House, near Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow. The duo milks 150 cows and has a herd EBI average of €192. Their cows were yielding around 7,000l last year, with solids averaging 540kg. They have been working with Tirlán to ensure cow diets are fully balanced and energy requirements are being met.

“With last spring being so difficult, cows weren’t out when they should have been. I could see the difference in the milk solids, protein was dropping,” Dean explained.

Commending the prompt on-farm technical support provided by Tirlán, Dean explained how Bryan came out to their farm and analysed their data.

“He came out and looked at the cows – at their diets, their intakes, yield, and worked out what UFL was in the feed we were giving them, he was a great help.”

The new online Milk Solids Tracker tool means growing your on-farm profit through improved milk solids is simple and straightforward.

The forward-thinking approach of the programme will allow dairy farmers to unlock greater efficiency and profitability from their herd.

To discover more about the Milk Solids Growth programme click HERE