‘My aim is to produce milk from what I grow – and I’m fine with lower yields’

Sean Condon’s low-input system bearing fruit since switch as demand for organic grows

Fifteen years ago, dairy farmer Sean Condon realised he had to make some changes if he wanted to stay afloat. With about ten years left of the milk quota system, he took a step back to evaluate his set-up, and he knew he had to do something drastic.

Doubling the number of cows he was milking for a similar income was not a prospect he relished. His family were young and he wanted a life/work balance so he decided to move to once-a-day milking (OAD).

Sean, from Fanningstown, Crecora, Co Limerick, had always had an interest in organic farming; he looked at it seriously and decided to also make the transition to organic dairy production.

Certified by the Irish Organic Association, he obtained his full organic symbol in 2007.

Dairy breeds and replacements

The dairy herd are a mixture of breeds including Friesian, Jersey and Norwegian Reds. He uses an AI Aberdeen Angus bull. The average herd EBI is €130, compared to the national average of €106.

Sean is currently milking 65 cows and has an average livestock unit of 1.3/ha. He owns 40ha and rents an additional 19ha; of this 59ha the milking platform is 36ha.

“The replacement rates are lower in OAD milking as there is not as much pressure on the cows., I think that working in this way actually gives an extra lactation and I average seven lactations per cow,” he says.

One of the breeding priorities for organic dairy farmers is to get heifers in calf at a suitable age, and Sean performs well with 85pc of his heifers calved at 22-26 months compared to the national average of 70pc.

Spring calving

For many dairy farmers milking through the winter months is not appealing, yet the consumer wants milk 365 days a year so continuity of supply is a necessity.

On Sean’s farm the emphasis is on producing as much milk as possible from forage, and winter milking challenges this system as feeding meal is required during the winter months to supplement forage.

In 2012 Sean and a number of other dairy farmers started the Little Milk Company and he switched back to spring milk production and still received a premium for his milk.

“I operate a low-input system here that does not rely on importing expensive feed due to the environmental impacts associated with that,” he explains.

“My aim is to produce milk from what I grow on the farm, and while this means lower yields, that is something that I am fine with as it is all about inputs and outputs and attempting to achieve a balance in that system.”

Grazing and silage management

Sean has re-seeded 75pc of the farm over the past ten years with both red and white clover and perennial ryegrass.

Approximately 36ha are in the grazing platform and as cows calve in March they are moved outdoors to graze. The paddocks are between 1-1½ha and are rotated throughout the grazing season.

He spreads slurry from the overwintering animals on the grazing ground as early as possible in the year, and all the farmyard manure is spread on the silage ground, of approximately 14ha.

‘I operate a low-input system here that does not rely on importing expensive feed due to the environmental impacts associated with that’