Milk production resources underutilised

THERE is considerable scope for increased milk production when quota restrictions are relaxed, the two-day Agricultural Research Forum was told in Tullamore.

A research paper presented at the Forum showed that there is significant under-utilisation of existing resources for milk production on farms.

Researchers at Teagasc Moorepark and University College Dublin conducted a survey of 780 Glanbia suppliers. Those over five quota categories were analysed. The results indicated a large potential for expansion in milk production.

The average milk production per hectare observed in the survey was 8,346 litres. This is lower than the 15,000 litres per hectare realised in previous milk production experiments by researchers at Moorepark, as well as commercial dairy farm data, within Irish pasture-based systems.

The percentage of farmers in the smaller quota categories with paid labour indicated significant potential for expansion without increases in labour requirement.

Having removed those respondents that stated they are intending to exit dairying, it was calculated that a 40% increase in milk production is achievable through an increase in stocking rate on the grazing platform to 2.5 cows per hectare.

The results show sizeable under-utilisation of existing resources with substantial scope for increased productivity.