Holstein breeders Alan and David Irwin have always concentrated on maximising output per cubicle space on their farm outside Benburb, Co Tyrone.
Operating under the prefix Redhouse Holsteins, average 305-day yield currently stands at 13,400l on three times a day milking in a fully contained system.
The 170-cow herd is predominantly autumn-calving, starting on 1 October. Cows are split into two groups, with the 60 highest yielders currently averaging around 60l per day, and top producing cows into the low 70s.
The TMR for the highs includes 20kg concentrate per cow, with the middle group at 15kg. Cows are then fed to yield in the parlour, to a maximum of 6kg. Total concentrate fed per cow is around 5t, and increases to approximately 6t per cow if youngstock feed is added in.
A nutritionist visits the farm every month to analyse silage and tweak the feed plan.
The basal diet is grass silage. There is no maize silage fed, although the TMR does include Lucerne (2kg to highs, 1.5kg to mids), some sugar beet pulp and 2kg of NIS (nutritionally improved straw) pellets.
The Irwin's have now had 37 cows in their herd which have produced over 100t of milk in their lifetime. The cow pictured is one of the older cows in the herd, has already produced 122t, and is in the close-up group for calving.
The Irwins had previously included chopped straw in the diet, but since moving to NIS, they maintain there is a lot less sorting of the TMR, and less pressure on feed space, as cows are not rushing to eat when fresh feed is offered.
Genetics
David Irwin’s passion is breeding, and he is one of three NI farms in the CAFRE Technology Demonstration Farm project under the theme ‘Genetic selection and fertility management’.
“We are first and foremost a production herd, but we have also been focusing on fat and protein in recent years and our solids have been climbing year-on-year,” he says.
That focus on solids has probably tempered what might have been possible around even higher yields, but it has resulted in butterfat at 4.38%, protein of 3.40%, and combined fat and protein yield of over 1,000kg per cow.
Fertility
Calving interval (CI) on the farm averages 400 days. “I would like to increase the fertility of the cows and get the CI closer to 365 days,” says David, although part of the reason for an extended CI is because he puts embryos in cows that don’t take to AI.
CIDRs are inserted in problem breeders, or when doing embryo work, and all cows are scanned pre-breeding.
Young heifers are kept on a bed of mushroom compost and straw.
With research showing that day length has an impact on both milk yield and cow fertility (the optimum being a 16-hour day), the farm has lights installed that change intensity in increments of 5%.
All walls are whitewashed, both for ease of cleaning and to make them reflective.
“We are trying to simulate the 21 June all the year round,” says David.
Genomics
The entire herd are genomicically tested and David only uses genomic bulls. Despite Redhouse Holsteins currently being ranked 12th in the UK for Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI), and being one of the few herds towards the top of the list that are block calving, he tends to use American indexes when making breeding decisions.
David believes that selecting on PLI would decrease the size of his cows.
“Our high-yielders are big cows. They are the most efficient and the most profitable cows,” he maintains.
He does not rely on a mating programme, as “they by their nature, breed towards average.”
However, he accepts that these programmes have a role in breeding, and not every farmer has the interest in the subject he has.
Fine-print
In the Irwin herd, rates of inbreeding are probably above average, with the milking herd at 6.4% and youngstock at 7.4%. But it is not something that concerns David, as he looks at the fine-print when selecting bulls.
That fine-print involves checking the haplotype of both the sire and dam.
“No-one is checking this, but they should. It is about avoiding bad genes and selecting the good genes. The only way not to inbreed is to crossbreed,” he maintains.
A haplotype is a sequence of DNA on a chromosome that is inherited from the sire or dam.
A number of lethal haplotypes have been discovered in Holstein cattle.
For example, if both the sire and dam are carriers of HH5, there is a 25% chance a calf will not survive to birth.
Similarly, there has been a recent focus on the haplotype for cholesterol deficiency (HCD), and if two carriers are mated, 25% of calves will die before reaching maturity.
The Irwins believe they had an issue with HCD a few years ago.
All feed is bought in as straights and mixed on the farm.
“The calves died of scour. We tried everything, but we just couldn’t keep them alive,” recalls Alan.
A focus on certain genes carried by cows also opens up the potential to breed animals that can produce milk more suited to cheese making or milk that is more easily digestible by humans (A2 milk).
Heat detection and ill health
The Irwins use CowScout for heat detection, with the system also flagging up any changes in eating and rumination behaviour that would indicate early onset of ill health.
No antibiotic tubes have been used to treat mastitis for over a year.
Calves on ad-lib milk
Around 30 breeding bulls and approximately half the heifers reared on the farm are sold for breeding. Calves go onto an automatic milk feeder at around three days, which is set up to feed ad-lib, with individual animals restricted to 3l per feed in the first week.
“They usually peak around 12l at 120g/l. That seems to be the sweetspot for us. The maximum allocation is 20l, but not many calves take that.
“We start gradual weaning at day 28, by cutting the maximum allocation. They are fully off milk by day 56,” says David.
The calves lie on a bed of 2ft of mushroom compost, covered in straw.
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Holstein breeders Alan and David Irwin have always concentrated on maximising output per cubicle space on their farm outside Benburb, Co Tyrone.
Operating under the prefix Redhouse Holsteins, average 305-day yield currently stands at 13,400l on three times a day milking in a fully contained system.
The 170-cow herd is predominantly autumn-calving, starting on 1 October. Cows are split into two groups, with the 60 highest yielders currently averaging around 60l per day, and top producing cows into the low 70s.
The TMR for the highs includes 20kg concentrate per cow, with the middle group at 15kg. Cows are then fed to yield in the parlour, to a maximum of 6kg. Total concentrate fed per cow is around 5t, and increases to approximately 6t per cow if youngstock feed is added in.
A nutritionist visits the farm every month to analyse silage and tweak the feed plan.
The basal diet is grass silage. There is no maize silage fed, although the TMR does include Lucerne (2kg to highs, 1.5kg to mids), some sugar beet pulp and 2kg of NIS (nutritionally improved straw) pellets.
The Irwin's have now had 37 cows in their herd which have produced over 100t of milk in their lifetime. The cow pictured is one of the older cows in the herd, has already produced 122t, and is in the close-up group for calving.
The Irwins had previously included chopped straw in the diet, but since moving to NIS, they maintain there is a lot less sorting of the TMR, and less pressure on feed space, as cows are not rushing to eat when fresh feed is offered.
Genetics
David Irwin’s passion is breeding, and he is one of three NI farms in the CAFRE Technology Demonstration Farm project under the theme ‘Genetic selection and fertility management’.
“We are first and foremost a production herd, but we have also been focusing on fat and protein in recent years and our solids have been climbing year-on-year,” he says.
That focus on solids has probably tempered what might have been possible around even higher yields, but it has resulted in butterfat at 4.38%, protein of 3.40%, and combined fat and protein yield of over 1,000kg per cow.
Fertility
Calving interval (CI) on the farm averages 400 days. “I would like to increase the fertility of the cows and get the CI closer to 365 days,” says David, although part of the reason for an extended CI is because he puts embryos in cows that don’t take to AI.
CIDRs are inserted in problem breeders, or when doing embryo work, and all cows are scanned pre-breeding.
Young heifers are kept on a bed of mushroom compost and straw.
With research showing that day length has an impact on both milk yield and cow fertility (the optimum being a 16-hour day), the farm has lights installed that change intensity in increments of 5%.
All walls are whitewashed, both for ease of cleaning and to make them reflective.
“We are trying to simulate the 21 June all the year round,” says David.
Genomics
The entire herd are genomicically tested and David only uses genomic bulls. Despite Redhouse Holsteins currently being ranked 12th in the UK for Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI), and being one of the few herds towards the top of the list that are block calving, he tends to use American indexes when making breeding decisions.
David believes that selecting on PLI would decrease the size of his cows.
“Our high-yielders are big cows. They are the most efficient and the most profitable cows,” he maintains.
He does not rely on a mating programme, as “they by their nature, breed towards average.”
However, he accepts that these programmes have a role in breeding, and not every farmer has the interest in the subject he has.
Fine-print
In the Irwin herd, rates of inbreeding are probably above average, with the milking herd at 6.4% and youngstock at 7.4%. But it is not something that concerns David, as he looks at the fine-print when selecting bulls.
That fine-print involves checking the haplotype of both the sire and dam.
“No-one is checking this, but they should. It is about avoiding bad genes and selecting the good genes. The only way not to inbreed is to crossbreed,” he maintains.
A haplotype is a sequence of DNA on a chromosome that is inherited from the sire or dam.
A number of lethal haplotypes have been discovered in Holstein cattle.
For example, if both the sire and dam are carriers of HH5, there is a 25% chance a calf will not survive to birth.
Similarly, there has been a recent focus on the haplotype for cholesterol deficiency (HCD), and if two carriers are mated, 25% of calves will die before reaching maturity.
The Irwins believe they had an issue with HCD a few years ago.
All feed is bought in as straights and mixed on the farm.
“The calves died of scour. We tried everything, but we just couldn’t keep them alive,” recalls Alan.
A focus on certain genes carried by cows also opens up the potential to breed animals that can produce milk more suited to cheese making or milk that is more easily digestible by humans (A2 milk).
Heat detection and ill health
The Irwins use CowScout for heat detection, with the system also flagging up any changes in eating and rumination behaviour that would indicate early onset of ill health.
No antibiotic tubes have been used to treat mastitis for over a year.
Calves on ad-lib milk
Around 30 breeding bulls and approximately half the heifers reared on the farm are sold for breeding. Calves go onto an automatic milk feeder at around three days, which is set up to feed ad-lib, with individual animals restricted to 3l per feed in the first week.
“They usually peak around 12l at 120g/l. That seems to be the sweetspot for us. The maximum allocation is 20l, but not many calves take that.
“We start gradual weaning at day 28, by cutting the maximum allocation. They are fully off milk by day 56,” says David.
The calves lie on a bed of 2ft of mushroom compost, covered in straw.
Read more
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