Over the course of the Christmas period, Agriland has revisited some of our most popular and interesting ‘Dairy Focus’ articles from 2025, in a ‘Dairy Throwback‘ series.

In part five of the dairy Throwback series, Agriland revisited the farm of Denis Collins, who is farming in partnership with his wife Leonora and his brother Paudie in Co. Cork.

The Collins are milking 300 spring calving cows on a 350ac grazing block in Newmarket.

The herd is originally Montbeliarde-cross cows, however in recent years, the farm has put more of a focus on dairy traits through Holstein-Friesian straws.

Denis described the farm's land as "heavy in parts and exceptionally dry in other parts," which he believes is a nice balance for growing grass and getting cows out.

Investment

Over the last 10 years, the herd has grown significantly, which required significant investments.

The farm is split by a busy road, and originally the parlour was located 5km from the furthest paddock.

Therefore, the brother installed an underpass, as well as a second Dairymaster parlour, and split the herd into two 150-head mobs.

In 2019, Denis invested in a new slatted tank and cubicle shed with 160 cubicles and 200 fed spaces, as well as an improved road network.

This was followed by putting up a 20-unit Swiftflo swing parlour in 2021.

Denis described these investments as "a no-brainer" for saving the cows walking 2.5km to the parlour and 2.5km back, along with reducing labour.

The parlour has 2ft 6in centres and is equipped with cluster cleanse, automatic feeders, an auto-washer, a variable speed vacuum pump, and air gates at the back.

Last year, Denis said he was milking 120 cows through the parlour at peak and that that he was spending no more than an hour in the parlour.

Denis said the underpass saves the farm in both time and labour, as well as making things easier for his neighbours.

Performance

The cows production is averaging over 422kg of milk solids (MS), from 14.49L/day at 4.12% fat and 3.61% protein.

The herd calves down in February, typically getting out to pasture for a few hours during the day for the moth.

The breeding season consists of using conventional dairy artificial insemination (AI) straws and aiming for a 22-23% replacement rate to drive on genetic gain in the herd.

They use dairy AI on the best of the herd based on milk recording data, parity, and overall performance, with the remainder of the cows getting mopped up with three Hereford bulls and two Aberdeen Angus bulls.

They also run their herd through sire advice on the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) site to pick a team of bulls and go through matching up bulls with their breeding adviser.

In terms of breeding and the genetics of the herd, Denis admitted that they don't have the type of cow they want yet and that in terms of breeding and infrastructure "we are at the growing stage, there is still a lot to be done".

The Collins have been more vigorous with their breeding programme in the last couple of years by genotyping their herd and selecting bulls that will improve solids and fertility.

Denis described the farm system as "by no means the finished product" but said himself and his brother are "in a privileged postion".

He added: "I wouldn't be here for only the work my mother and father have done here before.

Denis revealed that he is happy to progress the farm even further in the next few years and "bang out the underpass in the summer", but said nothing is possible without the support of all of his family and four kids, Willow, Beatrix, Donnacha, and Patrick.

"My brother Tim who is teaching and my sister, Catherine have also put in a lot of effort over the years," he added.

For the future, Denis said himself and his brother Paudie are happy milking 150 cows each.

According to Denis: "There is a lot investment to be done yet and a lot more to do, and it's about fine tuning what we have now and making our system more robust."