Listen: Keeping solids high and SCC low in Co. Tipperary
Co. Tipperary native, Michael Ryan featured on episode one of season three of Agriland's 'The Dairy Trail' podcast earlier this week.
Michael, who is farming in partnership with his father Tom and his mother Mary, won the 2025 NDC and Kerrygold Milk Quality Award back in October.
Micheal spoke on the practices in place on the farm, such as reducing somatic cell count (SCC) and boosting milk production, that helped them achieve this award.
The Ryans, who are from Lisheen, just outside Thurles in Co. Tipperary, are milking 152 black-and-white cows.
Michael spoke about pushing on in the tail-end of the lactation to continue achieving 13L of milk/cow at 1.3kg of milk solids (MS).
The herd is producing roughly 560kg MS/cow in 2025 while marinating an SCC level of sub 100, attractive figures which bumped them to the top of the list as award winners.
When talking about their recent award, Michael said: "We didn't think we would win a Liam McCarthy and we definitely didn't think we would an NDC anyway.
"It's brilliant, there is nothing like a good surprise in life"
Michael spoke about where the farm is at the minute, and the practices in place for drying off and finishing out the grazing rotation.
During the recording, Michael still had his cows out and was planning to have the whole farm closed by this weekend.
He said: "It is a big bonus to get grass into the diet at this time of the year, especially with the way weather had gone.
"We were lucky that ground recoverd after that wet spell and we could keep them out."
Michael also carried out his final milk recording last week, which he will pair alongside the rigorous criteria in place which helps them to choose which cows can go for selective dry cow therapy.
The Ryans only choose cows who have never had a reading of 50 or higher in their SCC levels for selective dry cow therapy, and still manage to have at least 30% only receiving teat sealer.
The young farmer also spoke of the farms criteria for breeding, housing, grassland management, and more.
As well as that, Michael discussed how he is going about balancing his nitrates banding and achieving sufficient slurry storage.
So make sure to listen to the podcast to hear his full story.
If you have already listened to Michael's podcast, you can tune in to episode two of The Dairy Trail tomorrow (Monday, December 1) at 5.00p.m.
Episode two, which will be hosted here on Agriland and across all other platforms, will feature Co. Wicklow dairy farmer, John Wynne, who will be speaking about his winter milking operation.
