How the Hunt family has increased their dairy farm’s sustainability and profitability was a key part of their farm walk this week.
John and Evan Hunt from near Tubbercurry in Co. Sligo hosted their final farm walk as part of the Teagasc and Aurivo joint programme on Thursday (July 27).
The farm, over the last number of years, has seen considerable changes, which have, and will continued to, result in increased sustainability and profitability on the farm.
For example, herd size has increased on the farm and considerable investment has been made in facilities.
System
The Hunts are currently milking 120 spring-calving crossbred cows, in a system that is very much grass focused.
The milking platform has 41.28ha, and has increased from 31ha in 2021, and 87ha are farmed in total.
An out-block is used for silage and grazing for some youngstock – with the majority of the slurry targeted to this area.
In 2021, 17t of grass – in terms of dry matter (DM)/ha – was grown, 15.8t in 2022 and 7t so far in 2023. Although grass tonnage grown dropped slightly, there was a considerable reduction in chemical fertiliser usage.
Chemical nitrogen usage dropped from 254 units/ac in 2021 to 115 units/ac so far this year. In 2022, a total of 210 units/ac of chemical nitrogen was used.
The farm is fragmented, which means that in order to access around 90% of the grazing platform, cows are walked on a public road.
Milking starts around 5:00a.m to ensure that cows are milked and back grazing before traffic from local schools starts.
Concentrate feeding/cow has increased over the last number of years, which Evans said is down to trying to increase production from the herd.
A low-input system had been operated by John, which Evans said is fine in a no-deed scenario or when two wages aren’t needed from the farm.
But to ensure that deed repayments and wages for two can be achieved from the farm, increased production is needed.
Herd performance
Crossbred genetics have been used for a long number of years on the farm, which has resulted in higher percentages. However, milk has been an issue at times.
The average economic breeding index (EBI) of the herd is €193, but milk kg is -108, which equates to a herd average of 5,828kg of milk.
Within the breeding plan a focus has now been placed on increasing milk production from the herd with the 2023-born calves having a figure for milk kg of -45kg, which equates to 6,497kg of milk.
In 2021, the herd delivered 419kg of milk solids to the co-op, and this has increased to a projected figure of 470kg for 2023.
A six-week calving rate of 89% was achieved in 2023, which is slightly down on previous years – but in those years a large amount of heifers were entering the herd.
Sustainability and profitability
After completing two years at Ballyhaise Agricultural College, Evan worked on a farm in Co. Galway that was going through expansion.
Seeing this made up Evan’s mind and the decision was made to increase cow numbers on the home farm alongside his father John.
John and Evan entered into a partnership in January 2019, with between 40-50 cows milking on the farm at that time.
The purchase of land around the home farm has allowed for the increase in cow numbers.
Although land had become available, facilities on the farm were becoming an issue, with 75 cows being milked through a four-unit parlour.
This meant that milking was taking up to six hours/day and wasn’t sustainable for them, or the cows.
A new milking parlour was constructed in 2021, which has been a massive time-saver, with the whole milking process now taking around one hour and a half.
Cubicles had become an issue on the farm too. A leased shed has been used for the last number of years, but it involves moving heavily in-calf cows on the road.
A new 120-cubicle shed is currently under construction and will mean that all the cows will be housed on the farm this year.
Clover
Clover has been incorporated onto the farm over the last number of years, with 38% of the farm having some level of clover present.
In 2021, none of the farm had clover. The first year of establishing clover resulted in 20% having good levels.
Evan said that the clover journey on the farm hasn’t been an easy one, but that the benefits of having clover in the sward are being seen.
Almost 40% of the farm now has clover in it. However, growth rates in the paddocks with clover show huge variation.
Although they ensured that soil was in the correct pH and concentrated on indexes before establishing clover, it has not been as successful as they would like.
Overall, the benefits of having clover have been seen on the farm, but it was described by Evan as being “finicky”.
Moving forward
The aim on the farm moving forward is to target a herd average of 500kg of milk solids/cow – with grass and genetics being key to this.
Clover will have a role to play on this farm, but finding the right management of clover on heavier soil types is going to be key.
The plan is to increase herd size further and focus on removing some of the poorer performing or problem cows from the herd.