TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS

• You, personally, must be in very good physical and mental health to farm well; hence the need to:
  • Have an annual health check-up – a full MOT – with your doctor, and act on his recommendations.
  • Participate in fitness activities, either on your own or with friends – farmers are not as fit as they should be.
  • Work a ‘normal day’ because long working hours are tiring and interfere with rest and sleep. If the word ‘normal’ annoys you, then the chances are you need extra help on the farm.
  • Engage with other humans on a daily basis either socially, in the community or with discussion group members, etc.
  • If you feel overwhelmed or stressed, talk to someone about it and talk to your doctor. The old way of thinking that tough men work their way through these sorts of things, just doesn’t work!
  • Eat well! Very easy to neglect this all-important requirement:
    • If you are a good cook, take some time off mid-day to cook a dinner for yourself and your family (it will be therapeutic).
    • If you are not, most towns and villages have restaurants that sell dinners – forget about fast-food outlets!
• These few suggestions will help to keep you physically and mentally fit.
• Care for and about your family:
  • Realise that your family means everything to you – prove it.
    • Do you take them for granted? Find it hard to find time to socialise with your other half? Do you rarely help around the house? Do you rarely play with your children, or go to see them play sports/participate in activities?
    • If you say that ‘you haven’t time’, what does that tell you?
    • Think about this: if someone told you that you had six months to live, what would you spend that time doing?
    • Why is divorce at farm level increasing?
• Care about your staff:
  • If you find working with staff stressful/problematic and you are thinking it would be a lot easier to do it yourself, then you need to ask yourself:
    • Am I adequately equipped to deal with and train staff?
    • Maybe I am the sort of person who can only work on my own with my family, hence, the need to reduce cow numbers so as to make it a family-run business.
• Deal with other people in a courteous and business-like manner:
  • Are you comfortable with salespeople coming on farm?
  • A lot of environmental people are now visiting farms.
  • Empathise with them as they have a job to do – will it do any good in being aggressive?
  • To be ready for farm business visitors, insist that they arrive by appointment only.

K.I.S.S.

• This stands for ‘keep it simple stupid’ – a great principle in business!
  • Your system should be such that with the correct cow, anyone could operate your farm if you are away for a prolonged period.
• The answer to this principle is a low cost, grass-based dairy farming.
  • Ryanair must be your business model.
• A high stocking rate (SR) on the milking platform (MP) destroys this ambition.
• Over 20 years ago a widow contacted me for help in trying to plan the way she should farm after the death of her husband. In exasperation one day she said: “Is it any wonder John died of a heart attack.” This was the result of a very complicated system.

GROW TO UTILISE 12 TONNES GRASS PER HECTARE

• This is one of the two key performance indicators (KPIs) of dairy farming.
• Now, a very challenging target with the restrictions on nitrogen use.
• To grow 13-15t/ha you must:
  • Have every field on the farm at optimum levels for soil pH (6.3+), phosphorous (index 3 +) and potash (index 3+).
  • Every field on the farm with up-to-date varieties of grass and clover.
  • Know the science behind grass growth and photosynthesis (what percentage of your income comes from on-farm photosynthesis?).
    • How many leaves has a grass plant and how does this influence rotation length?
    • Why does grass grow?
    • What influences grass root development?
  • A grassland-management plan must be done in January or February.
  • You must measure grass weekly.
  • Use the spring and autumn rotation planners.
  • Minimise soil compaction.
  • Use slurry at appropriate times to get greatest growth.
• To utilise this amount of grass, you must have:
  • Very good infrastructure – good and wide roadways, paddocks of correct size, multiple paddock entrances, and easy access to water.
  • Know and understand pre- and post-grazing heights and why they are so important.
    • Every 1cm of extra grass over 4cm left behind post-grazing height target, equals 200kg DM/ha, which would feed 10 cows for one day.
  • A wet weather grazing plan/protocol, such as on-off grazing, suitable paddocks, area allocation plan, etc.

SIX-WEEK CALVING RATE 90%

• This is achieved by:
  • High three-week submission rate: target 90%. This is achieved by:
    • Making sure cows have a good body condition score (BCS) at mating.
    • Cows not losing more than 0.5 BCS from calving to mating.
    • Synchronising heifers, fixed time AI of cows, using ‘why wait’ programme.
    • Very good heat detection.
    • Genetically fertile herd.
  • High conception rates (65%+) to all services. This is affected by (1) BCS at calving; (2) BCS loss from calving to mating; (3) poor AI technician; (4) poor storage/management of AI straws; (5) sexed semen; (6) stress; (7) energy deficit; (8) minerals; (9) disease; (10) poor herd fertility genetics.
• Herd genetics is key. Using EBI, ‘mate the best to the best ‘and spend time making this happen as it costs nothing.

• MANAGE YOUR FINANCEs
  • This commandment is broken most frequently – in fact, it is nearly never obeyed.
  • It is made up of a number of ‘must-do’ tasks:
    • Record financial transactions during the year.
      • These should be paid and recorded on the last day of the month in the Cost Control Planner, Cash Minder, Agrinet programmes, etc.
    • Analyse the data by way of the dairy profit monitor (DPM) in December.
      • All DPM should be completed in November/December – it is easy to predict farm receipts and expenditure for December.
      • Analyse the data (best done in a discussion group) so that the next stage, the financial plan, can be completed by early January for the coming year.
  • Act on the outcomes of the DPM analysis.
    • We all procrastinate and acting on your DPM analysis is as rare as hens’ teeth.
    • Action must take place as a result of DPM analysis. Write down what you must do.
  • Make a financial plan for the coming year.
    • If you are not able, get help from your adviser.
    • It will put you in control of your financial destiny for 2025 and reduce stress.

COMPLY WITH ALL ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

• This will be seen as a very controversial commandment.
• Fighting things that are not winnable is mentally draining, leave it to your farm organisation but back them in whatever they want you to do.
• All seven steps outlined to improve farm sustainability by Teagasc are doable:
  • Improve herd EBI.
  • Substitute clover for chemical nitrogen.
  • Change to protected urea.
  • Reduce losses from slurry.
  • Improve energy efficiency and renewable energy.
  • Improve forestry and hedgerows on farms.
  • Use Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) adviser to help you improve water quality.
• Other important tasks are:
  • Extending the grazing season for the whole herd to over 275 days, because every extra 10 days at grass reduces farm greenhouse gas (GHG) by 1.7% and profitability increased by €27+/cow/year.
  • Reducing nitrogen use by 10kg/ha will reduce GHG emissions by 1% while increasing farm profit by €10/ha.
  • Reduce the age at first calving to 22-24 months, maintain the average age of herd at 4.5+ lactations and the average age at cow slaughter to 5.5+ lactations – all of which improve GHG emissions from the farm while at the same time adding to farm profitability.
• Soil compaction results in wetter soils which, in turn results in more nitrogen losses. Slurry spreading and grazing cows in wet weather are the big damaging activities.
• Establish your carbon footprint level through Bord Bia. This is a great figure to have for debates with non-farmers.
• Adequate and good animal housing, silage storage, slurry storage and soiled water storage in the farmyard should be every farmers’ goal.

HAVE AN ANIMAL HEALTH PREVENTATIVE CARE PLAN

• Prevention is better than cure.
  • It is cheaper.
  • It prevents overuse of antibiotics/drugs; thus, reducing any immunity issues for animals and humans.
  • It is environmentally more efficient.
• The main animal health preventative practices on farm are:
  • Vaccinate against various diseases.
    • BVD, IBR, leptospirosis, Salmonella, etc. in cows.
    • Vaccinate calves under vet supervision, for various calf issues, constantly occurring.
    • Neospora infection which causes 13% cow abortions is spread by dogs; prevent cows eating grass where there is a lot of dog activity.
  • Have well-ventilated housing to prevent various respiratory diseases in calves and cows.
  • Good grassland rotational management can minimise hoose and stomach worms in animals, particularly calves; thus, enhancing the immunity levels in adult animals.
  • Prevent lameness by having good roadways and undamaged concrete yards, moving cows very slowly to and from milkings, regular hoof pairing and foot bathing.
  • Mastitis preventative care is having:
    • The milking machine in good working order – test twice per year.
    • A very good, consistent milking routine by all milking staff – this is much more important than farmers give it credit for.
    • Use 15-20cc of teat dip per cow post milking.
    • Adequate cubicles during housing (110% of herd).
    • Yards, cubicles being regularly cleaned.
• Animal Genetics, over €15 PD for ‘health’ on EBI, will ensure animals have a less chance of mastitis, lameness and TB.

HAVE REPLACEMENTs ON TARGET WEIGHTS

• Replacements are mismanaged on many farms and by contract rearers.
• The quality and size of the replacement heifer (R2) entering the dairy herd has a big effect on the herd’s performance and farm profits:
  • They will represent 15-25% of the herd while at best only yielding 80% of the mature cow’s yield – nationally it is way below this target.
  • Replacement heifers must achieve the target weights outlined in Table 1 for critical dates in the replacement heifer’s life.

Table 1: Target weights and percentage of mature cow weight for key dates of replacement heifer management (example: 561kg cow with EBI maintenance = €16).

• Failure to achieve these targets at each stage will result in:
  • Either, the animal yielding less than 350kg milk solids (MSs) in her first lactation, or
  • Being very slow to go back in calf, or
  • Being 100-150kg MS short of her lifetime potential.
• ‘A good start is half the battle’ hence, aim for weaning weights of 110kg and 95kg for B&Ws and Jersey crosses, respectively.

DO NOT FEED MORE MEAL THAN ADVISED!

• According to Moorepark research it is 3-4% and it should not be more than 10% of the cow’s diet in the year.
• The targets are:
  • 1kg meal per 1kg MS produced, or
  • 0.8kg meal for every one litre of milk yield.
• Meal feeding at 1,200+ kg per cow per year is out of control.
• Table 2, outlines various levels of meal that should be fed each month to achieve the annual meal feeding goals you wish to achieve.
  • You need to use this plan based on grass available on the milking platform (MP).
  • Nobody, but nobody, stocked at advised SRs on the MP should need to feed more than 800-900gs meal/cow.
• Why are farmers feeding so much/too much meal annually? The usual excuses are:
  • Not enough grass in spring and autumn – (controllable).
  • Grass not good enough in summer – (controllable).
  • Cows won’t go in-calf in May – June (a myth).
  • Milk price is great (no logic!).
  • It helps cashflow, particularly, in spring and late autumn (a myth).
  • Feeder calibration was 20-30% incorrect – (controllable).
  • Staff took it on themselves to ‘feed whatever they wished while I was away, and it has continued’ (become the boss).
  • ‘Feeders need adjusting for various types of feed’ – (controllable).
  • ‘Look, I never really planned the amounts’ – (controllable).
  • Quantity being fed was never adjusted for availability of grass – (controllable).
  • Too slow to react when grass became plentiful – (controllable).

Table 2: Suggested meal feeding and % protein levels per month to achieve various annual meal feeding targets. Source: Discussion groups.

• For sure, those of us giving advice on meal feeding are losing the battle. It is so obvious from farmers’ finances that they are not making money with all the meal being fed.

NEVER CARRY SURPLUS LIVESTOCK!

• Recently I heard a businessman say ‘I never buy green bananas’ as his mantra for running his business. What did he mean?
  • If you buy a green banana, it means you are planning not to eat it for some time.
  • So, he did not have a ‘just-in-case’ attitude towards having extra stocks on hand in his business.
• How does this manifest itself in dairy farming?
  • Farmers like to keep cull cows on during the winter to improve their sale value, although it increases the farm SR and increases workload.
  • Many farmers rear too many replacement heifers, just because they have them (poor breeding planning) or because of being offered poor prices as calves. A dubious practice because, it is harder to sell R2s now because there are so few new entrant/expansion farmers.
  • Many, many farmers are stocked at over three cows per ha for many ‘just-in-case’ reasons. My colleague, Paidi Kelly, argues that lower SRs can be equally as profitable.
  • Because male calves can be a poor trade, many farmers rear them on for months for small gain. Is it worth it? However, we may have to rear them on if boats don’t sail.
• However, I am a big fan of having surplus stocks of silage left over, 1-1.5t/cow, from one winter to the next. This will become more important due to climate change, which is predicted to give us wetter weather in November and March/April, with drier Augusts.

BRIEF SEASONAL REMINDERS

• The Dairy Profit Monitor (DPM) must be completed early in December, reviewed and then the Cost Control Planner must be done by January 2025.
  • It is possible to do the DPM now as all the costs for 2024 have been accrued (stitch in possible meal and other purchases and outstanding bills yet to be paid) and it is easy to estimate the December milk cheque.
  • This task requires commitment and time to assemble the data and pass onto your Teagasc adviser before he goes on holidays.
  • Some discussion groups meet in December to compare the data – a great idea!
• Check cow BCS now: It is the second most important scoring of the year, to check if she made progress since the October check.
  • In-calf heifers and weanlings need the same visual attention.
  • As we are now 60 to 70 days away to start of calving it is vital to carefully examine cow body condition so that you don’t have too many thin or fat cows at calving.
    • Thin cows: the target calving down BCS is 3.25 – this need your attention. Why?
      • They will calve down thin.
      • They will milk less, over 450L for every 1 BCS below target and have lower constituents.
      • They will be thinner at bulling time and consequently 17-20% more of them will not go in calf.
      • If you are 0.5 BCS under target now it means they are 20-30kg underweight. There are about seven weeks before we reach mid-February, but the last 14 days must be ‘written off’ as the cow herself will not put on weight. Therefore, she has 50 days of ‘feeding’ ahead of her.
      • To put on 25 kg weight she will have to get 110kg meal or 2.25kg per day with 70% DMD silage.
    • Fat cows are a liability, and Vets are preparing for a difficult spring as most cows up to recently have been in very good BCS due to all the meal feeding.
      • Put them on reduced silage or the poorer silage.
    • In-calf heifers and weanlings need the same visual attention.
• Minerals: Farmers starting to calve cows from the February 1 will need to start feeding dry cow minerals from December 20 (40 days before calving).
  • Late calving cows don’t need minerals for another six to eight weeks (save money).
  • Feed 100g per cow of pre-calving mineral, spreading half in morning and half in evening on top of the silage.
  • Make sure your mineral mix meets your deficiency requirements on the farm.
• Move vaccinations, dosing etc., normally done in February to March to December. The benefits are huge:
  • It is a quieter time of year.
  • All animals are vaccinated at same time; lower risk of missing animals.
  • The benefits for the vet are:
    • Opportunity to rebalance his busy spring workload,
    • Time to be proactive on preventative animal care and better use of medicine.
• Spring labour plan: Do you have adequate ‘help’ employed for calving period?
  • If your herd is large, do you need a nighttime calver.
  • Do you need to do a training session with your family and staff to ensure all are ‘up to speed’ on calving and calf care management? ‘Yes’. Organise it!
  • Have you the calving house ready with all the required equipment in place?
  • Have you the calf house ready?
  • Make a list of requirements and get a staff member to get things ready now.
• Do you need a contract rearer to rear your calves?
  • I or your adviser can be some help to you in making contact.

Buy protected urea for early February spreading.

Waiting to see what happens with nitrogen prices will cost you grass and lots of money.

Quotation – positive attitude!

“If you believe you can, or if you believe you can’t, you are right.”

Henry Ford.

Seasonal greetings

To all my readers, I wish you a very happy Christmas!