Paula Hynes: If the weather plays ball we will easily get a fourth cut

The rain has made for a superb month for growing grass

Georgie Hynes with Rathard Unix Adina and the red ribbon in the Junior showmanship challenge at the Tullamore show.

August has been a superb month for growing grass and it is reflected in how cows are producing, currently the spring calvers are averaging 21.5 litres with fat at 4.45% and protein hovering around 3.70%, certainly production and percentages are ahead of where we would have been in mid-August over the last few years. 

Yes the weather has been rather depressing, but I always feel it important to stay positive rather than dwell on a negative, the weather can only improve, and one would imagine sunshine can’t be too far away. A sunny September and October would put a smile on everyone's face. 

We have 17 acres of red clover which is coming close to being harvested again so hopefully we will get it baled in the next 10 days. If the weather plays ball we will easily get a fourth cut from it, quality bales which will be welcome for the autumn calvers.

National Livestock Show

We ventured to the National Livestock Show in Tullamore with six heifers on board. It’s a long journey but competition is top class there so it is always good to see the heifers compete at a high level. With such a busy schedule at the show, Richard Jones teamed up with us to prepare the heifers for the show ring, a true expert at having them looking their best and great fun as well, having the banter in between classes always helps the girls stay more relaxed.

First into the ring was Rathard Chocochip Dream Du Chalain, a March-born jersey heifer. She had taken reserve champion colourbreed at the IHFA National YMA Finals, she has continued to mature nicely and won her class again. 

Rathard Kasey followed suit. She won the jersey calf class in Tullamore last year so it was nice to see her return and win the Jersey maiden heifer. Hopefully, she will return next year as a 2yo in milk. I always enjoy seeing the girls compete in the showmanship classes so it was wonderful to see them both compete in the Jersey Handler Of The Year class and a proud moment to see them take first and second place with Becky standing top of the line again.

Moving over to the Holstein ring, Georgie was first in for the Junior showmanship challenge, a big class of 20 handlers with former YMA competitor Dermot McCarthy officiating the judging. Having spent many years competing at YMA, Dermot knows how to put the handlers through their paces. Georgie continued her success standing top of the line-up taking the red ribbon. 

Becky was next into the ring for the Intermediate Showmanship Challenge, it truly is a joy to watch her on the halter, so cool, relaxed and professional. It was nice to see her take the red ribbon again, she has been so competitive this year, figures out so many heifers quickly to get the best out of them. 

We had some banter in the jeep on the way home that the last person to beat Becky in the showmanship this year was Georgie who pipped her at the post in Cork Summer Show. I feel that seeing Becky achieve success actually spurs Georgie on as she wants to achieve what her sister does and it is wonderful to see them work together striving for team success. 

Heifer classes were really strong at Tullamore, Becky was pulled into 5th place with Jones Chief Jay-Z but kept her cool showing the heifer well to finish 2nd to Steve Mcloughlin handling Boleybawn Chief Brenda owned by Tony Kealy before Jay-Z went on to claim Honorable Mention in the Junior Holstein Championship.

Back home from Tullamore, there was no time to rest with heifers to be washed, a fresh calver to be clipped and a third lactation cow named Agnes calved with a heifer calf by Perseus. Agnes is a real worker of a cow, she produced 560kgs/ms at 4.97% fat and 3.77% protein with an average scc of 56 in her 2nd lactation and managed to pull 45 days back on her calving interval. 

With the farm back in order, Becky departed for the UK to Panda Holsteins for five weeks, we’ll miss her around the place, but life presents opportunities, and it is important she embrace the journey ahead.

Cork Holstein Freisian Club

Although a team member down, we attended the Cork Holstein Freisian Club annual barbecue on Wednesday evening. Great credit to the club for organizing the event which is always a great social occasion and fantastic to see a room packed with people of all generations who have such passion for breeding and working with cows. 

The club is extremely active, running farm walks, farm tours, bull sales and is a club that really encourages the next generation of breeders. The Cork club really highlights the diversity of the Holstein breed and how it can be bred to suit any system of dairying. 

The barbecue also sees the culmination of the club's herds competition. This was our third year entering, Alan Buttimer visited our farm during the summer to judge our herd in the Spring B category. We were delighted to see one of Becky's heifers Eedy Mogul Adina won the Heifer In Milk category, we purchased her as a calf from the Helen family and her first calf Rathard Unix Adina has been really successful for Georgie all season. 

We also took 2nd place in the Cow Family category with the Alanna cow family, with the grand dam of that cow family having an ebi of 312, an average scc of 63 over 9 lactations, she has numerous EX and VG daughters in the herd all of which are high ebi with super scc and milk solids with Alanna also being the grand dam of the 2019 and 2023 all-Ireland ebi champion heifer calf.

With our outdoor show season now finished, it is simply a case of keeping the heifers ticking over now until the National Dairy Show in October. In the meantime, we have a lot of travel to plan for the next two months so the diary will require a lot of organizing to ensure everything runs smoothly