Alex McCarthy: The year rolls on, but the jobs don't wait!

The year has just flown by, and some small jobs are in need of completion now and, dare I say, the spring comes around again, writes Limerick dairy farmer Alex McCarthy.

Dairy farmer Alex McCarthy with some of the calves on the family farm at Feenagh, Co Limerick. Picture: Dan Linehan

Our cows are currently producing 20.3L a day at 4.33% butterfat and 3.99% protein. At this level, they are delivering 1.72kg of milk solids per day on 4kg of meal. SCC is currently 115, which is satisfactory.

Our average farm cover is currently 760 kg DM/ha with a cover per cow of 335 kg. Our pre-grazing yields are 1700 kg DM/ha at the moment, with cows doing a very good job on graze-outs. Our current demand is 36 while growth is 52, so this is giving us a chance to build up some grass cover and take some pressure off. We are continuing to focus on keeping 15-20 kg DM/ha/day difference between growth and demand to help build average farm cover.