Milk the type of cow you love

Every cow has a place in the family, we work with them everyday of the week, every week of the year, writes Farming columnist Paula Hynes.

Paula and Pete Hynes with their dairy herd

I often wonder why do we dairy farmers get up seven days a week regardless of the weather all year to go to work. It is a hard lifestyle but this week I was given a reminder of why I get out of bed. 

We simply love cows and let's be clear, it is easy to love the good cows, the show winners, but every cow has a place in the family, we work with them everyday of the week, every week of the year. 

With a longer winter ahead due to disastrous weather, we made a decision to sell all the empty cows along with a few cows which have cell count issues, it was only when we started to draft them during milking that it became a moment of sadness and not the easiest of tasks but one that had to be done, it takes the pressure of slurry tanks, silage pits and creates a little bit more room in the sheds but to be fair to these cows, some have been milking in the herd as long as I have been farming.

Selecting cows for culling also highlighted how we select cows for breeding, we only breed replacements from our best and of the high cell count cows leaving, some were mother and daughter so while originally we bred as much as we could to Holstein semen in order to expand the herd, now we put those lesser cow families in calf to beef semen so as to progress the herd in a better frame of herd health. 

It is always a sad moment to see a lorry drive out the gate with cows leaving. It does remind me though of what Pete constantly says to our daughter Becky: “Milk the type of cow you love, that’s what gets you out of bed in the morning” - it's a simple bit of wisdom, but he is so right. 

It is a constant discussion in Ireland, reducing livestock numbers and some would even have us stop farming livestock altogether, easy for them to say as they don’t have a connection to the animals, they simply see them as numbers. 

Many people have a cat or a dog which they see as part of their family, for us it is cows, we see them born onto the farm, grow up and, in time, give birth to another generation. Crazy as it might seem, they are our pets, our family. Trust me, when you know them all individually, know their stories, their quirks, it can be hard to say goodbye.

With some respite in the weather, we also turned out some jersey heifers that we were showing during the summer; showing can turn them into pets, but the reality is they need to be herd animals, learn those instincts and learn a pecking order, we give them heifer rearer nuts daily along with good haylage to ensure they are getting good quality fibre. 

True to form, Dream, the jersey calf that Georgie showed at the National Dairy Show, has become the ring leader of the gang out in the field - once I call them for feed, all the heads pop up and when Dream decides to charge up the field, the rest follow but they do wait to be guided by her.

International Men's Day

While we are streamlining some work on farm to ease the daily workload, it not only allows for a little more scope to get off farm, but also to think about what we prioritize. Monday, November 20 is International Men's Day, and the 2023 theme for the day is 'Zero Male Suicide'. 

The Department of Agriculture, with the support of the Department of Health and the HSE, are running a half-day conference in Portlaoise to mark the day, titled Cultivating Mental Wellbeing In Rural Ireland. 

Minister Martin Heydon will be giving the opening address and then also chairing a panel discussion which Pete has been asked to speak on, rather than having presentations, it will be a series of discussions allowing the audience to interact which is such a good idea as ultimately a key to good mental wellbeing is simply learning to talk and share problems.

There is a great lineup of experts on the panel discussions, so the event is well worth checking out; further details will be available on social media via DAFM for those who want to attend. I’ll pop along myself as it will be nice to go for the spin with Pete and I’ll share what I learn in a future article.

I have headed off on a little adventure with Georgie, leaving Pete and Becky running the farm as Chloe is also away grooming at a show in Cavan. Georgie loves that bit of one-on-one time where we head off together for a few days. 

As Pete dropped us to Cork airport, the look on Georgie's face as we checked in our bags reminded me we live in a world which is dominated by material things, and expensive presents, but really and truly life is about making memories, making great friends and having adventures. I can’t wait to share our little adventure with you because it is a culmination of all three.