MESSAGES

• Save on costs wherever you can!
• Maximise milk sales efficiently.
• End the breeding season.
• Nitrogen (N) – two applications remain – phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) plus sulphur (S) required.
• Winter feed: assess availability versus requirement and act!
• Weigh replacement heifer calves and in-calf heifers NOW and act.
• To prepare for clover next year, spray for weeds now.
• Prevent skin cancer by using suncream every day.
• Be aware of the possibility of bullying and sexual harassment on the farm.
• Plan to use contractors more this year.

SAVE ON COSTS

• This may seem like a surprising piece of advice after dairy farmers’ average income in 2022 was just over €150,000 according to Teagasc’s National Farm Survey. But they will do well to make half that this year – do a quick estimate now of your potential income for this year.
• The big thing farmers must be ready for this autumn is large tax bills:
  • Get your accountant to give you a rough estimate now and put money aside so that you are not under undue pressure coming up to Christmas.
• The actions to take now are to minimise costs and maintain milk sales as efficiently as possible. 
• Because farmers are used to spending, they find it hard to cut back. Ask yourself if you need to buy this or that; and will it make you financially better off?
• Save as hard as you can on costs. Milk production costs last year were massive and varied from 35-55c/L (including labour). You don’t need to be a genius to work out what you must do when milk price is 40-45c/L.
• Use P and K plus lime as much as you can as the return is 152% on the money spent. These will help to maintain grass yield with less N:
  • Where clover is good, this will allow you to reduce N to 0 or 9kg/ha (7-8 units/acre) in July.
• You must examine your attitude to meal feeding:
  • Give little or no meals to any animal, except small calves because the return on the money invested in meals for cows is only 3.2% (a no brainer!).
  • If you are tight in grass, coming out of the drought, then feed high quality bales – red or white clover bales would be ideal.
  • When grass is plentiful, the response to feeding meal to calves is 8:1 (that is 8kg meal is required to give 1kg weight gain); whereas in autumn the response is 4:1.
  • If you are feeding a lot of meals to cows, then you must be overstocked. After a milk recording, identify the poor yielders, the high SCC cows and lame cows, and sell them on.
• Prevent mastitis (high SCC) by good, simple parlour practices and if selling cows, the advice is obvious…. sell high-cell-count cows.
•  Lameness prevention can be achieved by:
  • Good hoof-care management.
  • No aggressive driving to and from parlour.
  • Good roadways.
• Get all cows in calf as they are more valuable than culls – so be very pro-active on heat detection. Early July mating gives an early April calver.
• Scan now to confirm pregnancy – it will also tell you cows that are not in-calf or that have weak pregnancies. With veterinary advice you can take appropriate action.
• Reduce dosing costs:
• Rotate the calves either in front of the cows or the R2.
• Before dosing, establish the need by having a dung sample analysed – several labs do this at a small cost.
• Make adequate silage this year so as not to have to buy expensive feeds next winter.
• Graze out paddocks well by not wasting grass by ‘topping’ or letting it rot by going stemmy.
• Save on machinery running costs, particularly diesel, by grass budgeting to reduce topping and once per month nitrogen spreading.
• A 10- or 13-times-per-week milking would reduce labour costs with minimum loss of milk.
• Before a capital investment, be absolutely certain you can afford it.
• Stay on top of paying bills so that you don’t arrive in late autumn with an unknown amount of credit clients.

MAXIMISE MILK SALES

• Maximise the amount of milk produced at grass because it only costs €3 per day to feed a cow at this time of year, compared to nearly twice that in November-December.
  • The secret is plenty of quality grass.
  • Your milk price will be high if the percentage fat and protein is high, which is achieved by not having stemmy grass.
  • Cows that are yielding less than 12L now should be dried off and sold, as this leaves cheaper feed, grass, available to the remaining cows.
  • You will lose 1-3c/L if you incur SCC, TBC, and antibiotic or water penalties.
  • 16:8-hour milk day, helps to free up time and results in a little higher fat.

END OF BREEDING SEASON

•  May calvers have no part to play in profitable dairying
  • The cut-off date for no May calvers is July 20 but target a cut-off date of July 12-15.
  • Don’t stop bulling until mid-July, even if you think you have enough replacements. But you must have enough acres for them.
  • However, if you are tight on the number of replacements because of disease, mastitis or lameness issues, you should keep bulling cows with Jersey/Friesian until late July.
  • All cows now being bulled should get an AI Jersey bull or very short-gestation beef bull, such as Aberdeen Angus or Hereford.
  • But remember, cows bulling late in the season indicate a fertility problem.
• There are two to three weeks left in the bulling season.
  • Make use of that time.
  • Use a short gestation bull.
  • A stock bull with no calving data will only make things worse so, make up your mind whether you are in milk or not!
• Stay focused on heat detection and you will save a lot of money.
  • Every cull cow will cost €1,000-€2,500, depending on her age and EBI.
  • Every 5% culling over the Moorepark optimum rate of 18% results in a cost of €50 for every cow in your herd.
• All farmers should scan all cows now (even though it's a bit late).
  • You will know cows that are not in calf.
  • It will identify weak pregnancies.
  • Remedial action, based on veterinary advice, should be undertaken.
  • Use fresh semen from a bull with a calving interval of minus 6-10 days, or a Jersey, because the calves will ‘pop’ out and the cow will jump up immediately after calving and come bulling quicker.
  • Using a stock bull now is bad business as you don’t know his gestation length and he may be infertile now after a busy season.

FERTILISERS IN JULY

• There are only two N dressings of approximately 20-28 units/acre each, left between now and year end: in mid-July and mid-September.
  • Farmers stocked at approximately 2.5 cows/ha have only one dressing of 20-28 units/acre left.
  • This is the time to review the quantity of N used versus your allowance. If you have more available, you have got your spreading programme wrong.
  • You should bulk spread each application across all acres on these dates.
• Nitrogen is a feed cost like meal but gives a return of 48% on the investment.
  • Use protected urea as it is better for the environment (lower losses, etc.)
  • It is 11% cheaper than CAN and more expensive than ordinary urea but it is more efficient. 
  • Where 10mm rain is forecast within 24-36 hours use protected urea.
• If soil index for P and K are low:
  • Apply some P and K to improve growth and their content in grass.
  • Apply a high N compound with low P and K; but some farmers may have to apply 18:6:12.
  • If extra K is required, August is the best month to use.
• Apply 5-10 units of S per acre.
• Empty all slurry and soiled water tanks now.

WINTER FEED: HOW MANY MORE TONNES REQUIRED?

• You must address this question for your farm now so that you can take remedial steps.
  • Best to do the sums on a dry matter (DM) basis.
• Next winter, each cow needs 11kg DM per day. Weanlings need 4.7kg DM per day and in-calf heifer/store animals need 8.5kg DM per day.
  • Discount for any meal feeding planned.
  • Also, decide on the length of your winter, adding on another two to three weeks, to be sure.
• Measure your pit/pits in feet and do the following calculation:
  • Length x width x average height and divide by 45 (an area of 45 cubic feet holds one tonne)
• If the quantity of silage in the pit is 300 tonnes (= 300,000kg DM).
  • This equals 60,000kg DM (300 x 1,000 x 0.20), if the silage is 20% DM.
  • The first cuts will be 20-25% DM, while bales will be 35-45% DM this year.
• You will now be able to make plans for making up the deficit.
• Options available:
  • Sell off livestock, buy meal, straw, fodder beet/kale, rent ground for late second cut silage, rent silage pit and housing for the winter.
  • To see which option is the least expensive, cost all options out and use various combinations to make up the deficit,
  • Some farmers sell off cull cows in late July/August to allow more autumn grass, which can be used to extend the grazing season to late November.
• It is still not too late to plan and take a late second cut – will probably be the cheapest of all options.
  • The yield will be 5-6 tonnes/acre of fresh silage.

DON’T NEGLECT REPLACEMENT HEIFERS

• Weigh both R1s and R2s now to establish their weights relative to targets for July 1.
  • Calves should be 27% of mature weight = 150kg (for 550kg herd).
  • In-calf heifers: 67% of mature weight = 370kg.
• Therefore, give special management treatment – either meals or graze in front of older calves or heifers – to all animals below the target weight.
• Research has shown that moderate calves on July 1 can make good weanlings on November 1 if grazing management is top drawer.
  • It is all about feeding high-quality grass to calves and heifers.
  • If you have them on good grass, they will gain 0.8kg/day (100kg in 125 days).
• Practice the leader-follower system.
  • Calves graze in front of the heifers or cows.
  • Calves will do really well with no adverse effect on the heifers.
  • Parasites will have no effect on the calves as they will be diluted, therefore, little or no dosing.
• Or let the calves graze some of the cow paddocks.
  • Let them into covers of 900-1,100kg DM.
  • Let them graze out the area in three to four days and then move on to next area.
  • Some baling may have to be done on these paddocks next time round.
• All farms have late ‘weak’ calves.
  • Let these graze in front of the main bunch of calves on the very best of grass.
  • If that isn’t possible, give them fresh grass in front of cows or heifers.
  • 1-2kg of meal could be justified to these but don’t keep them near the house in a ‘calf paddock’ to feed meals because parasites will prevent thrive.
  • Adopt the ‘buddy-buddy’ system where two small calves are put in each cow paddock and leave them there, even as cows come to the paddock. They will thrive really well and no meals or dosing is needed.
  • It is best to give best quality grass and no meals than to give them poor quality grass with meals.
• No meals should be fed to strong calves.
  • The response is poor, requiring 8kg of meal to give 1kg weight gain.
• To prevent stomach worms with minimum dosing, keep calves on after-grass for as long as possible.
  • Give a white or yellow dose in early July and move to after-grass.
• Under-target-weight R2s (they should all be in calf now) should be grazed in front of main bunch or run with the calves so as to get best grass.
• It is absolutely essential to get the weights as described above from the contract rearer.
  • You don’t want any animals underweight and none excessively over target weights.
• The use of excessive quantities of dosing in calves, as distinct from grazing management to control parasites, will result in young and old cows with low immunity. This means they will have to be dosed regularly as cows.

TO PREPARE FOR CLOVER NEXT YEAR, SPRAY FOR WEEDS

• At a time when farmers need to grow as much grass as possible (16+ tonne DM/ha), it doesn’t make sense to have weeds growing where grass should grow.
• With the need to promote more clover on our farms, we need to embark on a serious attack on perennial weeds this year in fields into which we intend sowing clover next year.
• Weeds and docks are costing farmers serious money, probably €10-€25 per acre in lost grass production.
• Docks are a major economic cost to farmers because one dock (big one) every 35m² reduces grass growth by 1% per acre.
  • As a rough guide, every big dock in that area causes losses of €10-€15.
  • Decide on the spray to use, a decision mainly based on clover content of pasture. 
  • Any serious, economically minded dairy farmer must protect clover if they have it.
  • Best results are got by spraying three to four weeks after cutting silage.
  • Grass growth is slow relative to the growth of the dock.
  • Grass ground cover is low resulting in lower loss of grass yield.
  • Spray now in July or August, when there is great heat in the ground.
  • Spray on warm, sultry days.
  • Give serious consideration to spot spraying where docks are not too plentiful.
• Where weed infestation is low, we should spot-spray to minimise cost, this will be more effective and a lot better, environmentally.
• The best time to spray for ragwort is December-January with Forefront T.

PREVENT SKIN CANCER

• Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Ireland with about 13,000 annual cases.
  • Of these, nearly 1,200 are due to melanoma.
  • One in three men and one in four women are impacted.
  • With climate change, it will probably increase.
• As you know it is caused by ultraviolet rays from the sun or sun beds (I doubt many farmers need these!).
• Many Irish farmers have fallen victim to it.
  • It can become life-threatening in as short a timeframe as six weeks.
  • It can spread to other parts of the body.
  • It can appear on skin not exposed to the sun.
  • A very young friend of mine died at 30 years of age; it is not an old person’s problem.
• Preventative measures are obvious, even if we take them
  for granted.
  • Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
  • Wear sunscreen all the time – apply first thing in the morning. 
  • Wear protective clothing that covers your arms, legs, and face (a wide brimmed hat is ideal as it protects your face, ears and neck).
  • Wear sunglasses.
  • Provide suncream in the office on your farm for your staff and, most importantly make them aware of the risk.
• If you have any concerning blotches on your skin, consult your doctor

BULLYING and SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON FARMS

• Dairy farms are very different places to work compared with 10-20 years ago with many more staff, as well as family members employed now.
• That brings challenges for managers and employees – are we prepared?
• The Health Service Executive, on its web pages has good, simple notes on these topics which could be used to formulate farm policy/protocols on sensitive issues. I quote from them here.
• The main types of bullying include:
  • Verbal
    • Face-to-face, written or phone.
    • Includes name-calling, put-downs, slagging and threats.
  • Physical
    • Being punched, tripped, kicked and having things stolen or damaged.
  • Social
    • Being left out, given tasks far below/inferior to your capabilities, being ignored or having rumours spread about you.
    • Social bullying is one of the hardest types of bullying to identify and deal with.
  • Psychological
  • • Hard to identify, less direct and feels like it is in your head.
    • Includes intimidation, dirty looks, stalking, manipulation, and unpredictable reactions.
  • Cyberbullying
    • Online offensive and abusive messaging, hacking into other people’s accounts and spreading rumours or sharing intimate photos of ex-partners or friends.
  • Bullying on the job
    • Employers and employees have a duty by law to provide a safe and healthy work environment.
    • It can take the form of psychological and social intimidation.
  • Sexual harassment may include:
    • Unwelcomed touching and physical contact.
    • Making promises in return for sexual favours.
    • Leering and staring.
    • Sexual gestures and body movement.
    • Comments of a sexual nature.
    • Questions about your sex life.
    • Sex-based insults.
    • Displaying rude and offensive pornographic material or images.
    • Criminal offences such as rude phone calls, indecent exposure, and sexual assault.
• I refer to these – there are many more such issues now – so that owners/managers/employees can be aware of their actions before they can cause/become an issue on the farm.
  • Owners/managers should have policies and protocols for these, like all other tasks, and make all farm staff aware of their responsibilities.
• What to do?
  • Talk to someone about it.
  • Record in a diary when it happened, how it happened, with/by whom, the nature of the bullying/sexual harassment, etc.
  • Record what you did/say in the circumstances.
• Where to go for help?
  • The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (1890 245 545).
  • Free Legal Advice Centres (1890 350 250)
  • Citizens Information. 

FINALLY

• Grass management.
  • After the drought, and with the return of rain, grass will ‘fly’ but N and S will be required seven to 10 days after rain comes to drive on growth so that you are in a position to extend the grazing rotation in August.
  • Average farm cover should be 180/cow, increasing from end of month. You must start to build up grass from late in the month, by lengthening the rotation to 25-30 days.
  • Late July is your last chance to sow grass and clover mix.
• At 2,000 milkings – that is now – liners should be changed.
• Have you gone out recently to a film with your partner?
• Have you planned a holiday?  

‘High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation’ - Charles Kettering