Michael & Kevin Gordon
Co. Mayo
The Gordon family had 50 cows and expanded to 75 cows in 2024. The paddock sizes needed correction as cows were either being moved a lot, going into heavy covers to get the grazings, or not achieving full intakes of pasture.
So, in 2024 they pulled out wires and on one block of land (which makes up 2/3rds of their platform) they went from 14 paddocks down to 9 paddocks. The Gordons now have less wires to put up and the cows are milking well in bigger paddocks
“I would encourage anyone to look at their farm, block by block and try get as many of the paddocks as possible into the ideal size” – Michael Gordon
Michael Martin
Co. Westmeath
Michael Martin cut his 1st cut on the 9th of May in 2024 because it hadn’t been grazed in the Spring or Winter and he wanted high quality. It tested at 74.9% DMD and 31.8% DM and 14.5% crude protein. There was good bulk in it too.
He has started to reseed some of the silage ground because he finds it hard enough to make good quality silage for lactating cows from old pastures. He is also using “cling film” under the black plastic and finds it super for reducing spoilage on top of the pit.
Martin and Lisa Alexander
Co. Donegal
Martin and Lisa Alexander have one of the finest examples of a dairy herd in Ireland. The EBI of the herd is €261 which is in the top 1% of all herds. In 2024, the herd sold 5,788 litres of milk at 3.83% protein and 4.82% fat. Calves were fed on whole milk. It is estimated that the cows produced around 6,000 litres when milk to calves is taken into account.
The Alexander’s received 5.4c/l above the average Aurivo supplier in 2024. This amounts to €18,900 extra for their farm or €315 per cow. This is a great example of a new entrant seeking help and picking top class genetics to suit the Irish system.
“When we were buying the heifer calves, we offered an extra €100/head for the pick of the bunches we were looking at. Tommy Doherty, our local Teagasc Dairy Advisor at the time, advised us to do this and helped us pick out the highest fat and protein % calves and it has paid off in spades.”
David Gannon
Co. Galway
David Gannon has a low cost model, but he has opportunity to create more cash from the farm. We asked David for a comment on the use of the Profit Monitor as part of the advice he has been getting from Teagasc through the programme:
“My profit monitor showed me that my costs are roughly €200 per cow lower than the average of Aurivo suppliers that did a profit monitor (€2040 per cow vs €2245 for the avg). There is opportunity there in terms of more milk though and throughout the course of 2024, I have been laying down the foundations for putting more milk in the tank profitably. I had the same cost per cow as the top 10% profits farms but they had about €400 more output, so I intend to keep my costs low and increase the output at the same time.”
Jason Coulter
Co. Sligo
Jason farms 130 cows, 35-40 replacement heifers and 60-70 beef selling them as weanlings and stores. The farm is split up by a roadway too so moving cows is by no means straightforward, as it requires crossing a road and walking up a road.
Jason employs Owen Golden who has been with him for 8 years. Owen does roughly 39 hours a week. Jason milks every morning and Owen comes in at 7.30am just as milking is finishing up and Owen milks every afternoon. The weekends are shared between them. Sometimes one will do Saturday and the other will do Sunday, or alternate weekends. Owen typically works 7.30am – 1pm and 3pm -5.45pm.
“The flexibility to have someone that is milking in the afternoon is great. Its hard to put a price on that and on the ability to plan things, be it work or with my wife and kids. It’s fine to be working really hard and making loads of money but its no use to you if you’re not around or if it puts you in an early grave.”