Dairy Focus: How improving EBI worked for this Co. Cavan farm

For this week’s Dairy Focus, Agriland made the trip to Co. Cavan to meet with Cathal Comiskey on his dairy farm outside Kilnaleck.

Cathal is currently milking a herd of 124 high economic breeding index (EBI) cows in a spring-calving system.

The herd has been transformed in the last number of years, with three batches of heifers purchased in three years.

Changing system

Up until just a few years ago, Cathal operated a very different system on the farm, with 95 cows calving all-year round and the farm having a winter-milk contract.

Between 60 and 70 Hereford and Angus-cross calves were also being reared on the farm.

According to Cathal, the milking herd had a bit of everything, including Holstein, British Friesian and Montebeliarde.

Cathal joined a local Knowledge Transfer (KT) group and spoke with his Teagasc adviser at the time, James Dunne, which led him to see the benefit of using the EBI.

This resulted in Cathal making the decision to change his herd and move towards a herd of high-EBI animals. He also stopped keeping the calves and instead began to focus solely on dairy/milk production.

One of the issues Cathal noted with the old herd was poor production of milk solids, which meant that for a large portion of the year, he was getting below the base price from his co-op.

The winter milk bonus gave him a top-up which meant that over the year he would average base price.

EBI

It took about two years from the time Cathal decided to make the change until he had purchased his first in-calf heifers.

Cathal planned to sell the old herd and start afresh with bought-in heifers, but after meeting with his discussion group, he changed his mind.

“I wanted to change the herd straight away, but they talked me out of it,” he said.

“Instead, I made the change over three years, with in-calf heifers brought in each year.”

Cathal started with 67 heifers purchased in 2019. These calved down in spring 2020.

In 2020, another 45 heifers were purchased, followed by another 30 in 2021.

Cathal sold all the calves the first year, with the first of his own heifers due to calve down in spring 2023.

When purchasing the heifers, Cathal said that breed wasn’t his focus. Instead, he focused on animals with good EBI that could produce high levels of milk solids.

Cathal has gone from averaging base price for his milk, to now averaging between 10-12c/L over the base price.

The current herd EBI is averaging €175, with heifers calving down in the spring having an average EBI of €213, and the calves having an average EBI of €216.

Production

Milk solids production and yield from the herd has improved since Cathal purchased the first heifers.

Explaining the production of the herd, he said: “Even the first year, the first 67 heifers performed as good, if not better, than the old herd; they were up in yield, protein and fat.

“In 2018 the herd averaged 3.29% for protein. The first year with the heifers we had an average protein of 3.56%, which was a big gain.

“Since that, the performance from the herd has increased year-on-year; in 2021, they averaged 3.72% protein and 4.61% fat, with an average yield of 5,300L.”

The herd is on track to produce 475kg of milk solids, which is an increase from 325kg from the older herd.

Concentrate feeding has also reduced on the farm, but cows are still fed, on average, about 1t/year, which Cathal said is something he is looking to reduce.

However, land type does mean that extra concentrates are needed in the system.

“I have started putting a big focus into grass measuring and getting the most out of the grass on the farm,” said Cathal.

“We put clover into 16ac that we reseeded this year. It is looking well at the minute, but we haven’t gotten a chance to graze it yet.”

‘They’ll be dry in September’

Cathal said that he had concerns about changing his system of production and purchasing Jersey-cross heifers.

“Selling the bull calves did worry me a little, but we’ve had no issue selling calves,” he said.

“People also said the cows would go dry in September and that kind of worried me a bit too.

“I had also heard about the low cull-cow price and how the money you’d make from the milk would be lost. But I had also been to a lot of farms that had this kind of stock, and they were getting on fine with them.

“They would suit the land-type better than the older herd and [they] are more able to handle walking distances.

“We have much fewer problems with lameness and cows having sore feet. We’ve also reduced are vet bills,” he added.

Lifestyle

Other benefits from changing his systems that Cathal noted were increased profitability and a change in lifestyle.

“A big thing for me was the increased profitability from the herd for the same – or less – work,” he said.

“Speaking with James, he said that for the same number of cows, I could increase farm income by about €50,000 by just improving herd genetics and grassland management.”

The Comiskey family
L-R: Ryan, Cathal, Claire, Megan and Jamie in front

Commenting further, he said: “Changing the system has also meant I have more time to spend with the family. You’ve a busy few months, but you don’t have cows calving and calves on the farm all year round.

“I have also started getting my heifers contract-reared off-farm, which means that I only have the cows on the farm.”

Future plans

Cathal plans to continue improving the herd’s genetic potential and thus increase cow performance.

He plans to use sexed semen on some of the best cows in the herd next year to generate replacement heifers.

With the contracting system still new to Cathal and the rearer, he is planning on waiting a little longer before using it on the heifers.

Commenting on his target for the herd’s production, he said: “I’d like to see them achieve and surpass 500kg of milk solids. With some better management and further improvements in breeding, I think they will achieve that.