In the latest episode of Agriland's limited podcast series "The Dairy Trail", technical dairy specialist, Cathal O'Shea visited the farm of Dan and Danny Somers in Co, Wicklow.

The father and son partnership are milking 230 Montbéliardes in a split calving system, with 40-50 cows calving down in autumn.  

Dan talks on how they got into Montbéliardes and how the herd is working out for them on their farm.

He tells us about the diet they feed over the winter months to achieve their target of 7000L at 557kg/MS.

Dan also talks about the current tasks at hand on farm, between drying-off and calving down.

We hear about balancing issues with banding, and dive into calf care, breeding, grass management, lameness, and the farm's infrastructure.