18 November 2024

Considerations for drying off all cows this December

Although there is the temptation to milk on given the current milk price, Dairy Specialist at Teagasc, Martina Gormley shares some considerations dairy farmers have to bear in mind if opting for such an approach.

With the current milk price, the temptation for some may be to milk on. Table 1 below shows a farm where there was 20 cows calved in March and 10 in April, and the potential extra margin at a milk price of 65c/L.

Table 1: Example of a compact calving pattern, and extra margin over feed/forage and overheads

In this example of milking on these 30 cows, it can be seen that there is a potential of nearly €9,000. When you look at this amount of margin, it is easy to see why it is tempting to milk on. The big question however is if there are any hidden costs to milking on.

What else should be considered?

• Who will milk the cows?
• Do you and employees need a break?
• Is there annual leave that employees need to take?
• Would employees appreciate some extra days off?
• Would family appreciate that you don’t have to milk Christmas Day etc.?
• Are you and family/employees fed up of milking?
• Are there other tasks that could be done instead to make spring 2025 more profitable/easier?
• Do the cows need an extra break, how is BCS?
• Will you be fresh/enthusiastic coming into spring 2025?

It is easy to look at 30 cows in isolation and say it will only take one hour per day to milk etc. In reality, however, it is more than that. For many farmers with compact calving that milk on, the big barrier is really habit/tradition and mind-set. It feels wrong not to turn on the parlour and the additional margin is used as the reason for continuing to milk through when really it is a habit for most.

Carefully think this through and identify what effect it could have on you, family, employees and cows. Maybe this is the year you could try something different and see how you find it? You can always milk on next year but from experience, most farmers that milk on due to temptation of milk price say they would not do it again. The reasons they cite often include being tired going into calving, mistakes at drying off because of calving and cows not milking as well in the following year.

Also read: Dr Joe Patton on how to make dairy farming more robust for the future