The Ballyhaise Dairy Open Day drew a large crowd to Co. Cavan on Wednesday (July 13), which had a look at the ongoing research taking place on the farm.
The farm is currently in the process of undertaking clover trials, with the majority of the farm now having clover in its swards.
25% of farm was reseeded last year and 10% oversown, with a further 25% reseeded this year and another 10% oversown.
The trails at Ballyhaise dairy farm are being run by Teagasc researcher Donal Patton and farm manager Barry Reilly.
The aim of the trial is to determine if animal production can be maintained from grazing with less chemical nitrogen (N) inputs, in this case in the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) region as that is where Ballyhaise is based.
Ballyhaise trials
The main focus last year was establishing clover on the farm, which had very little clover to start.
As the trial began, the Ballyhaise dairy herd was spilt into four groups, with each group on a slightly different grass diet.
The four trial-diets are as follows:
- Perennial ryegrass on 1,100kg of concentrates (PRG + HC), with N inputs of 325kg/ha (zero percentage reduction);
- Perennial ryegrass on 600kg of concentrates (PRG + LC), with N inputs of 285kg/ha (12% reduction);
- White clover on 1,100kg of concentrates (WC + HC), with N inputs of 200kg/ha (38% reduction);
- White clover on 600kg of concentrates (WC + LC), with N inputs of 160kg/ha (51% reduction).
Result from year one
The establishment of clover to peaty soils has gone very well, with Ballyhaise doing both full reseeds and oversowing.
As the trial started in 2021, only one year’s results are currently available.
In the future the trials will look at longevity, but as the swards are only recently established it is impossible to determine long-term results yet.
Donal Patton and Barry Reilly noted that is not possible on a commercial farm to establish large amounts clover in a short period of time, but that a strong effort is being made so that Ballyhaise has information for farmers in the region.
It is also important to note that a large portion of the farm was reseeded last year which had a major impact on pasture production, with winter fodder needing to be purchased in.
Grass only Grass only Grass clover Grass clover Concentrate level High Low High Low Milk yield (kg/cow) 5,549 5,165 5,600 5,327 Fat (%) 5.26 5.13 4.94 5.10 Protein (%) 3.83 3.76 3.78 3.78 Milk solids (kg/cow) 514 468 495 482 Pasture grown (t DM/ha) 13.4 12.4 12 12.4 Chemical N (kg/ha) 244 264 175 210 Concentrate (kg/cow) 1,077 612 1,097 627 Silage conserved (%) 51 37 41 30
The results from the first year show very little difference, but it is still early days for the trial.
Increased forage output is expected over the coming years as clover swards mature.