‘We are aiming for a uniform herd of trouble-free cows performing well from a basic diet of grazed grass’
A SIMPLE system, maximising the use of grass, is the formula for Padraig Moroney’s efficient dairy unit which produces 1.5m litres of milk per annum on heavytype soil in south Tipperary.
The 223-cow herd is now rated in the top 10pc of herds in the region.
The Moroney farm at Ballynennan near Drangan in the shadow of Slievenamon was set to be the host farm for the Irish Holstein Friesian Club field day this summer until Covid-19 intervened.
Padraig and his wife Audrey, with help from children Patrick (15), Erin (13), Dawn (11) and Turlough (10), have almost doubled their Lismalin pedigree Holstein herd since the abolition of the milk quota in 2015.
Padraig describes it as “a commercially-focused, hardworking spring calving herd”.
“My aim is a uniform herd of trouble-free cows that perform well from a basic diet of grazed grass and will also respond to supplementary feed judiciously introduced at the opportune times during lactation,” he says.
Starting from a base of 50 cows in 1979, herd size had more than doubled to 120 cows when the milk quota was introduced. Since quotas were ended in 2015, it has almost doubled again to 223 cows calving down this spring.
With performance per cow average 7,041 litres, 563kg milk solids at 4.46pc fat and 3.55pc protein, the herd ranks in the top 10pc of all co-op suppliers, performing 30pc higher than the co-op average.
The target is to achieve 600kg milk solids/cow/ year, and breeding is key to achieving this goal.
“I have a preference for North American Holstein strains for better conformation, good fertility and with a PTA of + 400kg milk. I also select on the conformation traits, especially strength,” says Padraig.
Traits such as Daughter Pregnancy Rate and
Net Merit index are also considered in the breeding programme.
“I find the World Wide Sires mating programme helpful and I also like the depth and diversity of choice from the stud,” he says.
“We have a number of cows yielding over 700kg milk solids per lactation and these cows are not under pressure.”
Padraig believes that through selecting for higher weights of solids and culling out the lowest quartile, further increases are achievable.
Classification helps inform breeding decisions.
“Cows who classify well tend to be trouble-free cows with a natural will to milk,” says Padraig, who has the challenges of a long winter season on heavy soil and paddocks a long distance from the base to cope with.
Winter housing
“The furthest away paddock is 2km from the parlour so that’s a daily round trip of at least 4km per milking. The soil is heavy; the weather dictates so much in that most years it’s early April before cows are grazing day and night here.
“Winter housing the herd any date later than November 20 is a bonus. Meal feeding of 1.2 tonne/cow per year is a complementary aid to drive not only animal performance but grassland performance also with stocking of 1.1 acres/ cows.
“An in-calf rate of 88-90pc at the completion of the breeding season has been the norm for the past few years and having looked at the fiveyear herd trend report our calving interval has steadily averaged 365 days.”
Herd health is also a positive attribute with an overall SCC score of 89.
Padraig adds: “Soil fertility is very important and we have managed this aspect really closely in line with overall farm improvements. All the farm is in index 3 for P & K and meets the industry beststandard for lime application.
“The impact on this has been a reduced purchase of fertiliser, which has been very positive economically.”
Top ten:
The Moroneys’ pedigree Holstein herd is ranked in the top 10pc of dairy herds in its region
‘An in-calf rate of 88-90pc at completion of the breeding season has been the norm for the past few years’