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.

Thu, 10 Oct, 2024 - 16:04

Alex McCarthy

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.

Growth is still restricted by the dry and cold weather. The rain last week has helped some bit.

Our stocking rate is currently 2.27. Our target was to have a cover per cow of 400 by October 1, a farm cover of 1,000kg DM/ha and a rotation length of 40 days. We clearly have missed those targets, but after the heat towards the end of September and recent rainfall, we would be hopeful for better growth over the next week or two.

We completed a milk recording in the last week of September. Over the next three months we will complete a milk recording each month in order to have accurate information to complete selective dry cow therapy. We will give sealer only to cows with an SCC of under 150,000 in all recordings and that have no cases of mastitis.

We will consult with our vet before making any decisions. There will be a local information evening in the Longcourt Hotel, Newcastle West, on getting ready for drying off in a new era on October 24 at 7pm, so we hope to attend this meeting to refresh on preparing for drying off as it is the first job of next year, not the last job of this year.

We completed our third cut in mid-September. There were 25 acres cut, and this is recovering well and will be offered to calves in the coming weeks. It received parlour washings after being cut. We applied 50 tonnes of lime recently. This was applied at two tonnes to the acre on some of the ground we reseeded this year and the ground that was used for the third cut.

Currently, we are completing some maintenance around the yard before the winter sets in. The year has just flown by, and some small jobs are in need of completion now before the housing period and, dare I say, the spring comes around again.

We have replaced some LED lights and completed a general clean-up. We are also assessing our calf-rearing sheds and equipment to see if we need to complete any purchases or upgrades.

Hopefully, the weather continues to stay settled, and the cows can stay grazing day and night for the foreseeable after a challenging year from the get-go.

Alex McCarthy farms alongside his mother and father, Mary Ita and Michael, in Feenagh, Co Limerick, and is a Dairy Signpost Demonstration Farmer on the Teagasc Kerry Agribusiness Joint Programme.