A Co. Kilkenny dairy farmer is confirming that his milk volumes are currently down by 8L/cow/day year-on-year.
William O’Grady milks 130 spring-calving cows at Bricana, Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny.
In a normal year, the cows would average 6,300L of milk, producing 500kg of solids. But 2024 has been far from normal, up to this point.
O’Grady told: “We managed to get cows out to grass on February 5, but they have been in and out since then.
“Over the last three weeks, they were in for four to five days constantly. Then as the weather improved we managed to get in some two- to three-hour grazing slots during the day. At night-time, all the cows are let back into the yard.
“If the cows are in by night they are receiving 7kg of concentrates per head per day. The cows will be buffer fed for at least another 10 days.”
Calving season got underway for William on January 14 and continued through until the beginning of this month.
“I was very happy with this year’s calving season. In total, we lost two calves,” he said.
Sexed semen has been used on the O’Grady farm for the past two years.
He explained: “Last year, I used sexed semen on 25 animals and was very happy with the results achieved.
“A 65% strike rate was achieved, in terms of the heifer calves that are now on the ground.
“I have also been using collars on the herd for the past three years. This is a great boost, particularly when it comes to the use of sexed semen.”
Despite the poor weather, William has managed to get fertiliser out on three-quarters of his land. He is using protected urea this year.
Last week saw him get his yearling heifers out to grass for the first time in 2024. He is very happy with the progress they have made over the last few months while housed.
However, real challenges still remain in terms of getting meaningful levels of grazed grass into his milking group. William is aware of the improved weather forecast for the coming days.
“But, it will still take a week and more to get the land back into any sort of shape. In the meantime, it’s a case of buffer feeding the cows in order to keep milk output at reasonable levels,” he said.