Developments in Grassland 5 year grassland management plan for a dairy farm in Co. Monaghan by Colin Todd https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw Colin Todd 14468798 en-us 2018-02-21 12:04:05 UTC 2018-02-26 21:23:53 UTC hello@padlet.com Background information/ Introduction colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233690792  At present, Irish dairy farmers are growing on average 9.1 t DM/ha (National Farm Survey data) 

Across all the farms that are routinely recording farm cover in PastureBase Ireland (PBI), the bottom 20 farms, the average of all farms, and the top 20 farms are growing 11.0, 13.8 and 16.7 t DM/ha, respectively (O'Donovan& Egan 2017)

Grass utilisation within the NFS has increased by almost 1t DM/ha between 2008 and 2015, the overall level of utilisation remains low at 54pc and 70pc of that achieved at Curtins and Ballyhaise, respectively (Moran 2017)]]> 2018-02-21 12:12:45 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233690792 Dairy system of production on current case study farm colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233717259
  • 110 cows
  • 45 heifers to calve
  • 30% Autumn and 70% Spring calving
  • Surplus heifers sold and some cows culled to keep cow numbers around 110
  • 46 1-2 year old heifers
  • 12 1-2 year old breeding bulls that are sold in the spring time
  • Approx. 45-50 heifer calves
  • Bull calves and some beef calves sold at 2 weeks of age
    • 25 hectares on the milking platform

    Further 55 hectares of neighboring land leased 
    ]]>     2018-02-21 13:34:33 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233717259     Strengths colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233720585
  • Young Farmer (40 yo)
  • Educated (degree in agriculture)
  • Always wanting to progress
  • Up to date with new technologies
  • Young Family- therefore needs to be progressive
  • Part of a discussion group
  • Reseeding programme in place
  • Soil testing
  • Good potential to grow grass and utilise it
  • Attends farm walks and open days

    • ]]>     2018-02-21 13:41:28 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233720585     Challenges colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233729132
  • Does some contract scanning and AI
  • Time can be challenging during busy months of contract work
  • Ground not extremely dry so can be challenging in poor weather conditions
  • Health- TB becoming an issue in surrounding areas
  • A lot of land leased
  • Milk price inlfuences cash flow and profitability
  • A lot of money spent on expansion of infrastructure
  • High stocking rate of 4.5 cows per hectare on the milking platform

    • ]]>     2018-02-21 13:57:41 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233729132     Opportunities colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233734638
  • Join a grass focused discussion group
  • Ballyhaise Agricultural College not to far away
  • Better grassland management and grass measuring
  • Measurement tools available
  • Better use of  Agrinet
  • Attend more farm walks and open days
  • Get optimum utilisation out of the grass grown

    • ]]>     2018-02-21 14:07:00 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233734638     colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233747816 2018-02-21 14:26:30 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233747816 Threats colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233755841
  • Labour- Currently reliant on father and a student
  • Milk price volatility
  • Brexit
  • Policy- GHG regulations
  • Price of Inputs- Feed, fertiliser, diesel, vet, AI
  • Farmers may want to reclaim rented land
  • Milking platform is at its peak

    • ]]>     2018-02-21 14:37:50 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233755841     Objective of grassland management plan colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233771299 To put a grassland management system in place that matches stocking rate to grass growth and that optimises growth and utilisation of grass on the farm through grass measuring techniques and better use of the Agrinet system.]]> 2018-02-21 15:00:31 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233771299 5 year Action Plan colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233781957 2018-02-21 15:16:03 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233781957 Year 1 colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233784562
  • Soil Test
  • Paddock level nutrient plan
  • Grazing rotation plan


    • ]]>     2018-02-21 15:19:50 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233784562     Year 2 colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233786716
  • Learn to use the grass measuring tools
  • Measure grass weekly
  • Enter into the agrinet database
    • ]]>     2018-02-21 15:23:05 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233786716     Year 3 colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233788266
  • Continue measuring the grass weekly
  • Keep agrinet up to date
  • Do another soil test
  • Figure out the worst performing paddocks and put a reseeding programme in place
    • ]]>     2018-02-21 15:25:27 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233788266     Year 4 colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233811952
  • 2 years data collected that can be used to revise plan in place 
  • Will be able to look at:
    1. stocking rate
    2. No. of animals
    3. Calving data
    4. Grazed herbage grown
    5. Silage herbage grown
    6. Utilisation

    ]]>     2018-02-21 15:59:48 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233811952     Year 5 colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233820672
  • Invest in infrastructure for optimum system
  • Continue with grass measuring and using agrinet
  • Performance of grass- weighing
  • Review reseeding programme
    • ]]>     2018-02-21 16:12:36 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233820672     Geographical location colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233824277 2018-02-21 16:18:05 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233824277 Agrinet Database colintodd96 https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233829482 2018-02-21 16:25:15 UTC https://padlet.com/colintodd96/8ujojfvirumw/wish/233829482