As the festive period begins, Agriland has decided to revisit some of the most popular and interesting Dairy Focus articles from 2021, in a ‘Dairy throwback‘ series.
2021 saw Agriland travel the length and breadth of the country, from Donegal to Waterford and from Louth to Galway, to meet dairy farmers and learn about their farms and systems.
The ‘Dairy Throwback‘ series will kick off on Christmas Day and run until January 3, with farmers from Wicklow, Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Westmeath included in the line up.
2021 for most dairy farms has been a good year, with strong milk prices and most farms making good margins.
But there have also been challenges, i.e. Glanbia peak milk restrictions, CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) review and rising input costs, particularly at the tail end of the year.
Many of these topics and other challenges facing dairy farmers were discussed during the visits to these farms.
Dairy throwback
The series will contain six revisits, including new entrants, robotic milking, organic dairy and more – giving a look back at a good range of different systems being operated on Irish farms.
The revisits include a farmer who has gone out on their own and set up a dairy farm on land under a long-term lease, a family that are new entrants to dairy farming and a visit to see a Delaval robot.
Dairy Focus
Unfortunately, we could not include all of our 2021 Dairy Focus articles in the series. Some of the other notable visits not included are:
- The journey from 50 to 120 cows at Cullencastle farm;
- From the operating theatre to the milking parlour;
- Less cows, less milk, more profit in Co. Louth.
There are many more, all of which can be seen on the Agriland Dairy Focus page, or by clicking here.