Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Lads let cows out to grass and now calves have scour. This happens every year when I let them out. Is there anything I can put into the milk to help prevent this happening?

There's a product called Prebiotic and Postbiotic for calves from Precision Microbes. That's seems to be getting good reviews. Sounds like it would be of use.

My own are getting a little something about a week of age. It's not a scour but they're turned off milk for a few feeds and when they get through it they're perfect again. I'm getting that product myself today to try on the latest calves that are going this now.

I'd have reservations about the milk replacer route. You could be entering and forced out in a short time from above. I'd try the microbes with the milk and this way you'll know now and maybe save a bit typing into the register as that's getting tighter too.

The product is only available through Vets.

If they start taxing the land rental money, then the price will go up for land, not down. Why would ye think that a landowner say getting €300/acre now, and then will only get €250 cos of a "new" tax wouldn't be looking for €350/acre next year?

Tried it last year. Vet gave it to us when we were having issues.

Didn't do anything for us..

The move comes just four weeks since the chair of the group, former Teagasc director Gerry Boyle, said any measures under consideration by the group would be voluntary.

Dairy

Department moves to reintroduce dairy quotas

The move comes just four weeks since the chair of the group, former Teagasc director Gerry Boyle, said any measures under consideration by the group would be voluntary.

Jack Kennedy

08 March 2022 09:17

A limit on dairy cows per farm, a limit on the volume produced per farm or the establishment of a greenhouse gas entitlement per farm are the three options under consideration by the Department of Agriculture to curtail expansion in the Irish dairy sector.

Speaking at the Food Vision dairy group held on Monday in Backweston, Co Kildare, Department Assistant Secretary General Sinead McPhillips reportedly said unless the Government-led think-tank could come up with and agree on solutions to reduce greenhouse gases from the sector, then the Department was going to introduce one of the three mandatory options.

It is also understood that the establishment of a greenhouse gas entitlement per farm is not yet ready for national roll-out, so the per-cow limit, effectively a stock numbers limit per farm, or the volume limit are the two most likely options under consideration.

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Modelling

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that this type of modelling work has been completed to look at the effect of these options on stabilising and reducing greenhouse gases in an Irish scenario.

The move comes just four weeks since the chair of the group, former Teagasc director Gerry Boyle, said any measures under consideration by the group would be voluntary.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has asked for a detailed plan on how the dairy sector needs to react in the next number of weeks.

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The Department announcement is likely to cause huge frustration among the farm organisations and the dairy industry which are taking part in the forum. Farm organisations are likely to challenge any new imposed limit on dairying on a practical and legal basis.

Fertiliser reduction

Also at the meeting, Department of Agriculture Inspector Dale Crammond presented details of a plan to further reduce chemical nitrogen usage from a projected 350,000t in 2022 down to 275,000t in 2025.

This would mean a 13% reduction in 2022, followed by a further 7% reduction in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025. This would involve replacing 65% of CAN (27% N) used on Irish farms with protected urea.

Teagasc options

Principal research officer with Teagasc Kevin Hanrahan presented details of a scenario that suggested the dairy herd would need to be reduced by 38% by 2030 if methane levels were to be reduced by 22% compared with 2018.

The modelling didn’t take into account any mitigation factors. Hanrahan had been requested by the chair to carry out simulation of the required restraint in dairy production and cow growth to achieve, firstly, stable methane levels versus 2018 and, secondly, a 22% reduction versus 2018.

War rages

The irony of the whole situation is the fact that a war is raging in Ukraine and Russia that could have devastating and huge potential consequences for Irish, EU and global food and energy reserves.

Meanwhile, a Government-led think-tank met to consider limiting the one sector of Irish farming that has a competitive advantage and a huge positive economic impact on rural Ireland.

More reports and analysis to follow.

Charlie McConalogueCowsDairy herdDairy quotasGerry BoyleGreenhouse gasesMethaneQuotasRussiaTeagasc

ffs keep them well away from any of this …they took a blind one sided approach to nitrate banding of cows

I can see a new found appreciation of all farmers stemming from the Russian invasion and all the knock on effects it’s having worldwide ….

A poteintal reference year is one of main reasons I’m mantaning stock numbers

They will discard all common sense and practical solutions and just listen to whatever teagasc say. So it will be a new Zealand lite model. That means more cows and less milk. So I guess the limit will be on litres as opposed to stocking rates or milk solids or anything that would make more sense. Then they will keep going around in circles with declining water quality, etc. It's hard not to feel deflated with all the BS.

I got on very well with it Alps.

Electric pump in the pit same as yourself.

Sounds like the control box needs some adjustment. Had to do some tinkering with the settings on my own before I got where I wanted it. The first year I wasn't long finding out about the reset button.

It's for the calves..

320 an acre for silage ground for 2 cuts of silage locally here

you buy the fertiliser

absolute madness

16€ per bale just for the land

i bought a stack of 250 bales last week for 23€

and none of my N and P allowance used up