Recent Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)-funded research, carried out by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Economics Research Branch, sought to examine production drivers and trends for dairy farms in Northern Ireland.
The study computed an aggregate dairy-sector productivity measure and identified significant factors impacting farm-level productivity.
Production drivers
Findings show that dairy-sector productivity improved (growth averaging 0.5% a year) between 2005 and 2016 due to output increasing relative to input.
Drivers of productivity included increasing herd size, stocking density, and higher educational attainment, while increasing labour input per cow and purchased feed per cow tended to have a negative impact.
The results show that capital investment improves productivity, although benefits tend to be delayed.
The study identified strategies and best practices to help dairy farms improve productivity.
These included efficient management of inputs, which may involve increasing labour or capital to achieve more from available land.
For example, improving grassland management and investing in technology may help accelerate improvements in efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability of the sector.
Moreover, to maximise the gains from innovative dairy technologies, an appropriate set of farmer skills and competencies is also needed.
Important research
The research has been presented to the research community and policy stakeholders in the UK and beyond.
It forms an important part of the evidence base used by policy makers to develop policy under the ‘increased productivity’ theme of the Northern Ireland Agricultural Policy Framework.
To further this objective, AFBI Economics Research Branch is currently developing a whole farm model to assess the impacts of policy, markets and farming factors on economic performance of the dairy sector.
Meanwhile, Teagasc research has confirmed that within intensive grass-based systems, stocking rate (SR) is widely acknowledged as the primary lever of productivity.
As SR increases, there is a linear increase in milk production per hectare.
Additionally, higher SR systems are conducive to greater grass production and utilisation, and improved sward quality.
Production efficiency
The appropriate cow for intensified grazing systems must be robust and fertile, and have the capability to convert feed resources efficiently to high-value milk solids (MS).
In this regard, the increased productivity of Jersey x Holstein-Friesian crossbreds (JxHF) over conventional Holstein-Friesian (HF) cows has been substantiated internationally.
This is primarily due to their superior productive efficiency, fertility, and longevity.
In overall terms, the productivity of grass-based systems is dependent on a number of factors.
These include the attainment of a balance between the competing objectives of high grass intake to maximise milk production per cow, and increased grazing intensity.