Milk quality can be easily overlooked at this time of year as we progress into the latter end of the lactation, so what can we learn from a multi-award winning dairy farmer in milk quality?
John and Olivia MacNamara who farm at Starview, Gormanstown, Hospital, Co. Limerick, were the overall winners of the 2023 National Dairy Council (NDC) & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards.
The MacNamaras are milking 220 spring calving cows on a 78ha milking platform with 116ha making up the whole farm.
The MacNamaras run a high economic breeding index (EBI), crossbred herd with calving commencing on the first week of February.
The herd has an EBI of €208 with a calving interval of 371 days, a replacement rate of 19% and six-week calving rate of 75% recorded in 2023.
The farm grows 14+ t/ha of grass which is achieved through good grassland management, consistent reseeding and over-sowing with clover incorporation becoming more important year-on-year.
The MacNamaras aim to “run an enjoyable, profitable, efficient, sustainable dairy business, while also enjoying good family work life balance”.
Milk quality
In terms of milk quality, John told Agriland that “not one item or practice gets you good solids or quality, just like no one player is going to win you the game, it’s a combination of stuff”.
Producing high solids in the last number of years, John has put down to “taking on the research available to me and putting it into practice to see whether it works or not on the farm”.
John told Agriland that incorporating clover more intensely has helped with milk solids production, as he can utilise more grass now.
The herd produced on average 439kg of milk solids/cow last year, with a fat production of 4.55% and a protein production of 3.69% while only feeding 530kg of ration/cow.
Breeding and genetics is also a big driver of milk solid production on the MacNamara’s farm.
John prefers to choose proven bulls over genomic bulls, and a kiwi-cross animal seems to be the way forward for the farm.
The MacNamara’s attention to detail when it comes to their milking routine and their top quality milk production can be attributed to their cow care and their milking procedure.
Milk recording has been carried out for many years on the farm, which has resulted in low somatic cell count (SCC) year-on-year.
Talking to Agriland, John said in terms of milk quality, he doesn’t “cut back on products, I use plenty teat dip all year round and have enough acid and detergent ready to go at all times”.
John has a particular focus on somatic cell count (SCC) control for the first six months of the year, in order to reap the awards of the €7,500 SCC bonus.
The MacNamara’s SCC for 2023 averaged at 136,000 cells/ml, with a total bacteria count (TBC) of 9,000 cfu/ml, and a thermoduric of 108,000 cfu/ml.
John believes that there should be more incentives for farmers to keep there cell count under 200,000 cells/ml as quality milk is so important for the dairy industry.
The MacNamaras are very strict when it comes to milk recording, and if there is a spike in SCC, they make it their business to find the problem in order to get it back down within four days.
Milk production and milk quality are a priority of the MacnNamaras, as they are focused on improving solids delivered through high EBI genetics and maximising grass utilisation.
Milking routine and drying-off
Gloves are worn for each milking on the MacNamara farm and cows are sprayed after each milking. The same procedure and routine is carried out each day, so cows are at their ease.
There is hot water supplied in the dairy through electric water heating, which is essential, as hot water is rinsed through the system immediately after milking.
The milk plant is hot washed daily for eight minutes at 80°C and detergents are never re-used after the one milking. The plant is then acid descaled twice a week and peracetic acid is used as a daily steriliser.
Cows in their first lactation and thin cows are dried off in early November, and the rest of the cows are dried off in batches at least eight weeks prior to calving.
Reports from the milk recording are used to identify any high SCC cows, or cows that have had history of mastitis during the year.
Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) is an important part of drying-off for the MacNamaras as a proportion of the herd with the lowest SCC are selected and heifers.
Attention to detail while drying-off is essential for the Macnamaras, and only 10 cows are dried off each time to give time to the procedure and to make sure it is done in a clean environment.
Teat ends are cleaned with cotton wool soaked in methylated spirits, and where possible, cows are let out to dry paddocks to soak up.
This year, the MacNamara’s SCC is back from 136,000 cells/ml to 87,000 cells/ml, as they improved their drying off procedure.
Hygiene plays a massive part in the MacNamara’s success, as it is critical at the time of drying-off and it continues to be a priority during housing.
John also said that “everything around the parlour, everything leading up to the parlour including laneways and exits, is kept 100% clean”.
John emphasised that he’s not doing anything drastically different to any other farmer in the country, but he focuses on the small things that make the difference
During the housing season, cubicles are cleaned and dusted with a lime and saw dust mix everyday, with passageways and concrete constantly getting scraped and washed down.