Farm systems almost need to be bomb-proof to survive everything being thrown at them
When I started out dairy farming in 2009, ‘resilience’ was the buzz word in the sector it was used in relation to developing a strong farm system that could manage fluctuations in milk price.
Resilience is defined as the ability to recover quickly from difficulties, and when we consider the road bumps of the past 11 years fodder shortages, weather extremes, labour, the 2016 milk price slump and now a global pandemic it seems a farm system has to be utterly bomb-proof in all areas to cope with what’s being fired at us.
It all comes back to the three pillars of sustainability: the economic, environmental and social foundations that farming systems have to be built upon in order for the next generations to farm.
The truly sustainable farm must be incredibly efficient, attractive to work in and stocked correctly, while operating farm practices that are environmentally aware.
The question of sustainability is one I continually come back to in relation to our own farm.
Calving ended on March 31 following a compact 10 weeks from start to finish, with the last two cows calving in the field to the delight of the boys as they helped me pop the calves into the wheelbarrow to bring to the shed.
Home schooling has taught some valuable lessons to the kids, especially around the importance of closing gates, training a calf to drink from a teat and the first signs of spring.
Hopefully these lessons will stay with them for life, and in some way knowing the difference between a buzzard and a wood pigeon will be of benefit.
Calf rearing went well considering no calf was lost once it was born alive. Our aim to breed just the number of replacements we need instead of surplus dairy stock worked well.
We have been fortunate to find a beef farmer who values healthy calves getting the right start, creating a reliable outlet for the Hereford beef calves moving off the farm every few weeks.
The early high-quality colostrum had them leaving the farm in thriving condition and they were sold for an agreed flat-rate price that worked for us and the beef farmer, so it was a win-win deal.
This year, for the first time, we tested every batch of colostrum with a Brix refractometer. This is a small hand-held instrument that measures, with good accuracy, the IgG (antibody) levels of colostrum as a percentage.
A score of 22pc is the cut-off value for good quality colostrum that can be fed to newborn calves. Using the Brix has taught us a number of things that will change how we manage our colostrum next season: These include:
It’s easy to get good colostrum in February with values often over 26pc as measured on the Brix.
Colostrum quality dropped significantly the longer the time between calving and first milking, which makes a big difference to calf health.
Despite no change in the dry-cow diet, the March colostrum quality rarely hit the 22pc target, so having a store of February colostrum in the freezer will definitely be a consideration for next season.
The milking herd are performing very well on our OAD system at 3.93pc protein and 5.01pc butterfat, delivering 2.05kg milk solids as they hit peak this week.
Grass quality in the second round has contributed a lot to cow performance with AFC at 560kgDM/ha and cover/cow of 191kgDM, while growth just exceeded demand last week.
The only consideration around grass growth is the current lack of moisture. That is our nemesis in the main growing season as we have shallow soils on a steep, south-facing farm.
Moisture deficit
Finding myself looking for rain in April gives a slight prickle of unease so early in the season as flashbacks of summer 2018 come to mind. With any luck we will avoid that scenario, but weather data from Met Eireann shows April rainfall in the southeast to be at a paltry 10pc of the four-year average despite being the midpoint of the month.
March rainfall was also 40pc back on average, creating a sixweek moisture deficit here that is concerning given that we haven’t yet hit summer.
Coming back to resilience in farm systems, one of the most important factors is our ability to learn and adapt in the face of continual challenges.
Thinking outside the box is commonplace in our jobs as we are so used to dealing with the fickle moods of Mother Nature.
Farmers are born problem solvers and improvisation is a survival skill that we have finetuned through trial and error to a degree where there is little we can’t fix with some twine and a penknife.
Long may that be the case.
The Hereford beef calves were sold for an agreed flat-rate price that worked for us and the beef farmer, so it was a win-win deal