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·         The Irish dairy industry has a direct advantage in that it works off a grass based system.

·         Grass is the cheapest feedstuff available and Irish farms have the potential to produce 12-16 tonnes of grass dry matter per hectare (O’Donovan et al., 2011).

·         In order to utilise the grass we have available to us on Irish dairy farms, the use of grazing management tools such as pasture base Ireland (PBI) and farmer attendance at discussion groups based solely on grass production and management is very important. (O’Donovan et al., 2011)

·         At present, only 3000 Irish dairy farmers use systems such as pasture base Ireland to record grass measurements with adoption of grass measuring and grass budgeting quite low at approximately 18% (Creighton et al., 2011)

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·         The farm I chose for this case study is a spring calving dairy farm on the Waterford Tipperary border just outside Clonmel.

·         This farmer milks 145 cows which are a 60:40 Holstein Friesian cross cows.
·         SR 2.1 LU/ha

·         Silage ground and ground for rearing replacement heifers is situated on an out farm.

·         Two stock bulls - a Hereford and a limousine – can also be found on the farm.

·         At present, grassland management consists of a rotational grazing system using temporary strip grazing to ensure cows utilize the grass available to them fully. Regular reseeding also takes place with 1/7th of the farm being reseeded annually.

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·         Good soil and land is of good quality, has the ability to grow and utilise grass

·         Has a reseeding program in place

·         Is willing to learn and progress and take on board new ideas/technologies

·         Attends farm walks and open days

·         Has also got an employee who takes big interest in the farm and the two bounce ideas off of each other

·         Has a young family so has a reason to want the farm to succeed

·         Soil tests regularly

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·         As with every farmer, having time to dedicate to grassland management is a challenge.

·         Not a member of a grass based discussion group

·         Current milk price is good however this is always an uncertainty.

·         Health – the likes of TB, pneumonia and mastitis all have the potential to impact on farm performance.

·         Doesn’t currently measure grass or use any grass budgeting tools.

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·         Extreme weather events, difficult winters such as 2017/2018 may lead to forage shortages, difficulty getting fertiliser/slurry out and a delay in cattle being left out.

·         Labour – the farmer currently has one full time and one part time farm labourer. It is getting more difficult to get farm workers in recent years.

·         Volatility of the industry, milk price was very good in 2017 however it is far from guaranteed to stay like this which means there is always a degree of uncertainty in the industry

·         Price of inputs – fertiliser, feed, diesel etc. are all necessary inputs whose prices cannot be guaranteed, again causing a degree of volatility.

·         Regulations whether it be in the form of emissions or rules enforced in order to receive subsidies also pose a threat to the industry.

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·         There are grass based discussion groups in the area that the farmer could attend

·         Teagasc Moorepark holds open days as well as there being other opportunities to attend farm walks or farm open days.

·         As a glanbia supplier the farmer would have access to information from the monitor farms, these can work as a benchmark for the farmer to assess how he is performing compared to some of the best dairy producers.

·         Mapping the farm is also a possibility, this could be done through GrassTec, an independent company or there are some applications that provide this service also.

·         Grass budgeting and measurement tools such as PBI are available to him should he choose to avail of them.

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Over the next 5 years the objective of this farm would be to start grass measuring as a regular activity on the farm and to start using a grass budgeting tool such as PBI in order to optimise grass utilisation on the farm. The farmer also aims to take part in more grass focused discussion groups in his area.

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1. Continue to measure and budget grass.
2. Use the data gathered over the last number of years to know what type of infrastructure needs to be invested in at farm level.

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1. Get farm mapped by GrassTec or other similar company
2. Join a grass based discussion group
3. Start silage analysis

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1. Continue to grass measure and input it on the system
2.. Use information gathered to target what paddocks need to be reseeded

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1. Put into practice what has been learned in DG as to how to measure and budget grass
2. Enter information into PBI or Agrinet
3. Use soil testing results to put a paddock level nutrient plan in place

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1. Continue to measure and budget grass.
2. Use the data gathered over the last number of years to review stocking rate, amount of grass grown, fertility and calving parameters