Paula Hynes: Snowy roads, new calves and the on farm challenge

Danske Bank are the main sponsors of the RUAS Winter Fair, so when livestock classes were cancelled at the show due to the bluetongue outbreak in Northern Ireland, it was fantastic to see them step up for the on farm challenge, writes Aherla dairy farmer Paula Hynes

Danske Bank on farm challenge judge Alan Timbrell with Georgie Hynes and their Jersey heifer in milk entry Potterswalls Victorious Cash. Picture: Paula Hynes

It is Danske Bank On Farm Challenge week, and we were visited by UK dairy judge Alan Timbrell who viewed our five entries. Georgie and Richard Jones prepped the animals to ensure they looked their best, just as they would for competition at the RUAS Winter Fair.

The competition was a huge undertaking for the judge, viewing cows and heifers across 32 counties over three-and-a-half days. It also involved a lot of driving for his trusted drivers, Ashley Fleming and Mark Logan.

Alan’s first day judging was somewhat of an off-road challenge, with treacherous conditions in Cork and Kerry. Snow-covered, hilly woodland roads were travelled, but we thoroughly enjoyed the mammoth effort he made to visit the farm and judge our cows. 

A slice or two of warm pizza and a coffee in hand while he made his notes sitting on a bale helped keep spirits up. With a mid-afternoon temperature of 2°C, a small drop of Jameson was called for to warm us all.

Hopefully, we will have a little luck when the results come in. Win, lose or draw, we are really happy with the animals we put forward. 

Cash has improved so much since her win in Millstreet in October and will make a superb cow. Our Fame heifer in milk is improving all the time and is showing plenty of potential. Our senior Jersey cow, Kiki, was classified EX92 in December. She is the granddam of Kai and Kasey. 

One of the great things about competing cows is constantly meeting new people, and it was wonderful to chat with Alan and give him a brief insight into what we do here with the Rathard herd. No doubt our paths will cross again as the girls compete in the UK.

Danske Bank are the main sponsors of the RUAS Winter Fair, so when livestock classes were cancelled at the show due to the bluetongue outbreak in Northern Ireland, it was fantastic to see Danske Bank step up as sole sponsors of the On Farm Challenge.

Calving

While we were busy prepping the show entries, calving ramped up quickly as the New Year arrived. Most of our heifers are calved now and, thankfully, all have had healthy heifer calves so far. We like to calve the heifers first to ensure they are allotted extra time in the milking parlour before calving gets busy with the cows. 

It has also been a busy few days of calving for the show team. Acclaim is back, freshly calved on her third lactation with another super heifer calf sired by Walnutlawn Sidekick. She looks really good since calving and is rocking on milk production. It is always easy to work with cows that know their job and do it well.

The Jerseys were not going to be outdone by the Holsteins in the calving pens. Dream calved in on her second lactation with another heifer calf, but it was the K Club that really ruled with new arrivals.

Kasey calved in on her third lactation. She really is a superstar cow, not just in the show ring. She was straight back to work and grubbing well. She has now had three heifer calves and has calved every January.

The first of her heifers, Khaleesi, is also now calved in with a heifer calf on her first lactation. She looks really exciting as a milker. Khaleesi was National Champion as a calf in 2024 and is a full sister to Kalani, who was junior Jersey champion at the National Dairy Show in 2025.

Grazing

The weather may be cold, but we have been lucky to graze the milking cows at grass this week. Once the frost has lifted from a sunshine-exposed paddock around midday, the cows are turned out for three hours.

They happily graze and then lie down in the sunshine. The exercise is great for them and leaves them far more content once they return indoors. They are on a TMR diet at the feed rail, with a fresh mix waiting for them when they come in from grass.

We tend not to let them go hungry before turnout, as fresh calvers need all the energy they can get. Keeping their rumen full of fibre helps reduce issues. To maintain balance, we are targeting paddocks with lower grass covers for the moment.

While there is plenty of new life on the home farm, the girls’ animals have also calved away from home. Georgie’s Jersey heifer Ravina calved in Carlisle with a smashing heifer calf sired by Goldorak.

Ravina seems to be settling well into life as a milker and, if she continues to progress, she may well head to UK Dairy Expo.

Down in the southern hemisphere, Becky’s Holstein heifer Daphne has calved and is looking very impressive. Becky has sent plenty of videos since clipping her and getting her back working on the halter. 

Daphne will now head to IDW to be shown as a milking yearling. Having calved at 21 months, she already looks more like a junior two.

There was no time for idling once Becky arrived in Australia. She went straight to work washing the entire show team and had them all clipped within three days. That has allowed plenty of time to work them on the halter and to prepare for the show.

She heads to the show in a few days and will arrive 24 hours before the animals. With a string of 20 animals, there is a huge amount of work involved in setting up. Having everything ready for their arrival means the cattle can be washed immediately off the truck and settled into their stalls to start eating again after their seven-hour journey.

I mentioned that calving had been running smoothly. As I finish writing, Pete has just arrived at the back door with a straw-filled box containing a five-week-premature calf. It will be a miracle if we can keep it alive, but we will give it our very best shot.