About | CalfPens | Limerick

Paul Dillon

With my father, Diarmuid Dillon, Noel Fitzgerald, Mike Reidy, Con Guiney, Mort Daly and 2 gentlemen that I can't identify about 1970. Maybe this was when I realized that good animals, well cared for, paid the bills

Having completed a year at Ag College in Pallaskenry in 1983, I was fortunate to spend a year working on the farm of Sean and John O’Sullivan at Lisduff, Co Cork.

The RDS Spring Show was the most important agriculture event of the year. At that time, the cows stayed in Dublin for the week. We had the Champion cow in 1984, a daughter of Ballinahina Creator 2, Lisduff Begonia 109 Ex.

Delightful Bell 7 VG85 with 7 ET heifer calves by the French bull Penn-Springs Mr C and the Dutch bull, Paltzer Sexation Bert born in 1991.

Bell 7 was the highest index cow in Ireland when indexes were first introduced in the mid 80’s. Her highest yield was in 1989, 11,892kg at 4.04% 3.20%. This was on 3X milking.

She was sired by the Canadian bull, Ullswater Roybrook and was one of ten Ullwater Roybrook daughters we milked. Some of the Ullswater Roybrook’s could have plain udders but their superior ability to milk was obvious. We failed to provide a level of management to optimise the genetic ability of Holstein cows. Global genetics have improved significantly in the last 30 years, I am not convinced that livestock management has kept pace with the genetic improvement.

This heifer was a daughter of Ridgwardine Judo that we sold at the Cork Club heifer sale about 1980. Judo's was very popular for using on heifers as they were very easy calving but were also inclined to be a little frisky when they first started milking

The Limerick and Clare team of John Maher, Paul Hannan and Paul Dillon were winners of the All-Ireland Inter Club Stock Judging in 1984. The master judge on the day was Seamus Kelly of Moneymore Herd in Co Louth. Mr Kelly was a pioneer of dairy farming and cattle breeding, he was ahead of his time.

Barbican Sauterne Darkie 2 Ex after winning 50 tonne class at Millstreet.

We purchased Darkie for flushing, but she did not produce many embryos.

200 cow 4 row barn that I built in 2000. Headlocks were not commonly used in Ireland at the time so I imported the cubicles and headlocks from Wisconsin USA.

Imported 400 Brown Swiss cows from Switzerland. A very likable breed of cows with good solids. This is the Brown Swiss in Limerick

Having spent 30 years milking cows, I went back to school to learn to feed cows properly when I had no cow. I received a diploma in Ruminant Nutrition in 2018 from Harper Adams University.

I must be a slow learner

"THERE IS A WORLD ELSEWHERE" – SHAKESPEARE

Visiting dairy farms in different countries one encounters varying climatic and political conditions. Low or fluctuating milk price, scarcity of quality labour and the vagaries of the weather are always issues. The response in Ireland to these challenges, large numbers of low yielding cows, is a version of dairying that is seldom encountered in the Northern Hemisphere. The low output Irish system is definitely better for the myriad of businesses that supply inputs to farms but I am not convinced that the Irish farmer who takes all the risk and does all the work is best served by this one dimensional approach.

Kingshay are a UK based agricultural consultancy providing unbiased information and support based on trials and investigations. Their annual report is always an interesting read as it compares different production systems. The 2023 Dairy Costings report draws on data from 978 conventional herds and 83 organic herds.

One table that always catches my eye is the table that compares the MOPF (Margin Over all Purchase Feed) per cow at different levels of production.

Every farm is unique with different levels of borrowing, quality of land, fragmentation of land etc so it can be difficult to make direct comparisons between farms and production systems. MOPF is not profit, 2 farms could have the say MOPF but very different profit. However, MOPF is still a good way of benchmarking system performance.

According to the table above a herd of 100 cows in the high category would produce 1,100,200 litres of milk at a total MOPF of £359,500.

200 cows in the lowest band would produce 1,037,000 litres of with a total MOPF of £370,200. The total MOPF in both systems is similar but clearly, with double the cow numbers, there will be far more costs & labour involved in the low yield system.

Another way to compare the systems is if the farm with 200 cows went from the 5,185 litre to 11,002 litres per cow he would have an extra £1,744 per cow after paying for all purchased feed.

Critics of the high output cow will often dismiss the system and claim that the economics will not work when milk price drops. Every system comes under pressure when milk price drops so I have also included the 2016 table when milk was half the price it was in 2023. The margins still favor the high yield cows.

A controlled environment with a consistent quality diet every day is the basis for high level of production per cow in most countries. Half the cows to produce the same amount of milk.

Less work for the farmer, better for the environment but a lot of salesmen out of a job.