Paula Hynes: Shows, sales and new life on the farm
Georgie Hynes adds the finishing touches before the Limerick show.
The American rapper and actor Curtis James Jackson adopted the nickname 50 Cent as he saw it as a metaphor for change.
As I look at how dairy markets have rocketed upwards over the last few months, and especially over the last few weeks, a base price in excess of 50 cents now is easily achievable, could that be a metaphor for change? Absolutely, as dairy farmers have struggled so hard over the last 18 months.
We have fought to deal with policy changes, weak dairy markets and horrendous weather so the idea of a base price is a chance at survival for many. The GDT increased by 5.5% this week with butter, WMP, SMP, and Mozzarella all seeing good increases but watching how EU dairy markets have been increasing is even more important.
Butter has increased by €2,000 a tonne this year, in actual fact it is increasing in price so fast at the moment that fresh harvests of sunflower seeds have increased by $100 a tonne this week as no doubt demand for margarine will increase.
A dairy market can’t rely solely on butter though and crucially SMP prices are also increasing with good demand for food and feed SMP. WMP has also shown great increases over the last few months. German prices for milk have lifted over 1 cent a week through August so any base price increases in Ireland during August are well outdated.
Now is the time for Irish processors to set the tone on price if they want to see milk throughout the winter whilst also giving spring-calving herds the confidence that they will start out 2025 on a brighter note.
As is usually typical of farming, the only thing that could throw a spanner in the works for dairy markets is policy, while our renowned EU leaders chose to look at slapping tariffs on the imports of Chinese electric vehicles, China is never a country to be intimidated and has finally fought the EU back by launching an anti-subsidy investigation into imports of EU dairy.
Should this latest probe by the Chinese impact EU dairy farmers, then it is up to those who represent us at EU level to ensure dairy farmers are compensated via the 36% tariffs imposed on Chinese EVs by the EU.
As with all trade wars, the person who usually pays the price is the consumer and ordinary hard-working person.
New life has arrived in abundance on our farm over the last week, we hear the call of new baby calves as we walk down the farm yard every morning and it is always a breath of fresh air to see those calves wagging their tales as they drink milk and bounce around in a new bed of straw.
The freshly calved heifers are now accustomed to their new roles as milking cows. Unfortunately, one heifer got mastitis in a rear quarter.
We strip the fresh calvers on every milking and as soon as we noticed mastitis we tubed the quarter but also noticed within 20 minutes that she wasn’t eating her evening feed, her temperature was up and after a quick phone call to Coolcower vets, Pat was in the yard within a half hour.
The heifer received two IV injections and as her rumination had also slowed it was decided to pump her stomach. We stripped the quarter a few more times late into the night and gave another mastitis tube before a few hours sleep.
That quick intervention and team effort delivered, as by the morning milking the heifer had milk back in the quarter and was eating as normal. We are blessed that our vets work as a team and later that day Patricia popped in to give the heifer a once-over after consulting with Pat.
The effort that they put in always highlights to me how crucial it is that Ireland has a second veterinary college to give more people with a passion for animals the opportunity to work in such a great career.
It is that passion for working with animals that makes our team of vets such a huge asset, they know all our show animals by name, know a lot of their big achievements in the show ring but often they are overworked due to the lack of qualified people coming through the education system.
Perhaps it is about time the agricultural sector threw all its weight behind the veterinary sector to ensure a second veterinary college is delivered in Ireland immediately.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has been toying around with this for long enough and needs to ensure it is delivered straight away for a country so heavily reliant on agriculture.
Before Georgie heads back to school, there is one last outdoor agricultural show as we head to Limerick this weekend with a team of five which are all well used to the show ring now and will most likely be heading to the National Dairy show in October as well.
It will be a short week then as I head to the UK with her for the ABAB qualifier on Friday before a late night flight home so she can help at the Eedy sale which takes place on Saturday, August 31, in Clonakilty, the herd owned by Robert, Sylvia, Jason and Laura Helen.
There are 48 lots for sale on the day so Georgie will be busy helping walk a few in the sales ring and also leading heifers back and forward from the ring. Sales experience is always great for young handlers, constantly leading new heifers who are still just becoming accustomed to the big atmosphere.
The Helen family always offer some outstanding stock at the Eedy sale. We purchased Eedy Rubicon Acclaim at the sale two years ago and she has certainly hit the big time, both in the show ring and also in the milking parlour.
We also purchased Eedy Mystic Crush Adina at the same sale and she is just fresh now with her first calf and milking 27 litres a day even though she is only calved five days. No doubt auctioneer Michael Taffe will be as busy as ever on the rostrum at this year's sale.
