Dairy
The third season of 'The Dairy Trail' limited podcast series is set to return, focusing on late lactation and drying-off the herd.
Autumn calving is well under way, meaning we will not feel the time slip away before the breeding season begins.
As the final rotation wraps up and milk prices continue to plumet, marts and factories may see an influx of cull cows.
Farmers must keep an eye out for milk fever (hypocalcemia), as the calving season is well and truly under way for the autumn calving herd.
As we are well and truly in the midst of autumn calving, farmers must be considering diets and feed groups coming into the housing period.
As we near the end of the final rotation, you should be testing silage to ensure the winter milking herd are maximising production.
Winter milking seems to be on the rise again, with over 8% of Irish dairy farmers currently in the midst of calving.
The first step to a successful winter milk herd is ensuring that mineral and feed are at optimum levels to produce high quality milk and...
Dairy Focus
The Eivers family in Co. Meath are increasing their winter milk margins through optimum winter diets and selective breeding.
Many farmers have got out of winter milk/liquid milk production in the last number of years due to higher input costs and shortage...
Freshly calved autumn calving cows have a requirement for high levels of energy, protein and minerals in the diet, and it is important that...
It is easy to get carried away feeding concentrates for your winter milk herd, however the diet should be adjusted based on the quality of...
It is not always the easiest to control your somatic cell count (SCC) in the early lactation of your winter milking herds, particularly...
Your winter milk herd would have started to calve down from the start of October and now that we are about six weeks into calving, the...
We are now into the thick of autumn calving for the winter milk herds and as we get further into the year, it is vital that the freshly...
Testing silage now is crucial as many cows in the country are going to be milking through the winter months with their main source of...
Winter milk production is already an expensive way of producing milk which means it so important to test your silage as silage quality is...
Securing optimal levels of winter milk performance from autumn calving cows requires a number of key management priorities to be addressed.
As we get closer to the start of the autumn calving season, it is important to start thinking about selecting bulls for your herd as the...
Dairy Technical
Autumn-calving herds will be starting the breeding of cows in just a few weeks, so it is important that you select the correct sires for your herd.
For herds that are calving cows in autumn some thought now needs to be placed on the breeding of cows this winter.
Monitoring of body condition score (BCS) in winter milk cows is important at this stage of lactation, to ensure excess condition is not lost.
Dairy News
The IFA has said that an additional premium is needed for liquid milk producers in order to guarantee milk supply in the winter months.
