Farm Updates

2nd April 2026

Farmer	Location	Litres	Fat %	Prot %	Kg milk solids	SCC ‘000	Kgs Meal	% Grazed in Feb	% Grazed by 17th March	% Grazed by 2nd April	Average Farm Cover (kgs DM/ha)	Growth (kg DM /ha/day)	Demand (kg DM /ha/day)	Nitrogen /ha milking platform	Calving Start date	% Cows calved by March 1st	% Cows calved by April 1st
John Walsh	Ballylooby	28	4.34	3.6	2.29	88	3.0	23	50	87	899	39	55	55	20th Jan 26	80	98
Tim O’Riordan	Mourneabbey	28.3	4.52	3.55	2.35	107	4.0	5	34	75	818	35	22	80	5th Feb 26	64	90
Jimmy Cotter	Coachford	27.5	4.95	3.61	2.42	102	4.5	12	55	88	686	31	47	50	29th Jan 26	85	99
Joe Morrissey	Rostellan	28	4.18	3.56	2.23	174	4.0	30	65	100	750	22	48	70	22nd Jan 26	80	98
Mark Lonergan	Rosegreen	28	4.16	3.51	2.21	99	4.5	28	70	97	896	31	30	75	28th Jan 26	75	95
Sean Barry	Pallasgreen	26	4.66	3.33	2.14	121	4.0	2	3	40	1000	11	29	38	8th Feb 26	68	93
Sean Moher	Mitchelstown	31	4.42	3.55	2.54	125	5.0	20	66	94	586	23	42	72	20th Jan 26	80	98
Tim Leader	Rathcoole	28	4.86	3.46	2.40	90	4.0	0	15	50				56	27th Jan 26	75	95
Tom O’Connell	Inniscarra	28	4.82	3.54	2.41	118	4.5	22	54	90	802	30	43	70	23rd Jan 26	86	99
Raymond Goggin	Templemartin	30.3	4.27	3.56	2.44	179	4.0	14	30	84	815	14	51	61	29th Jan 26	80	96
Average		28.3	4.52	3.53	2.34	120	4.2	16	44	81	904	26	41	63		77	96

Farm Updates

Cows are currently milking very well following the relatively settled weather over the past 10 days. As we approach the breeding season, it is important to ensure cows are on a rising plane of nutrition.

Demand is currently at 41, which is higher than the predicted growth rate of 30–33 for the region in the coming week. As a result, average farm cover is expected to decrease by approximately 70 over the next seven days unless additional supplements are included in the diet. Maintaining an average farm cover (AFC) above 600–700 is essential to sustain growth rates and prevent grass from becoming too tight during April.

Pictured:

Mark Lonergan’s cows beginning their second rotation yesterday. With a low stocking rate (as silage ground has not yet been closed) and an AFC of 896 kg DM/ha, Mark is in a position to reduce ration and maximise grass in the diet. However, not all farms are in the same position—some are currently grazing a mix of first and second rotation, while others are planning to begin their second rotation in mid-April.

18th March 2026

	Location	Litres	Fat %	Prot %	Kg milk solids	SCC ‘000	Kgs Meal	% Grazed in Feb	% Grazed by 17th March	Average Farm Cover (kgs DM/ha)	Growth (kg DM /ha/day)	Planned start 2nd rotation	Calving Start date	% Cows calved by March 1st
John Walsh	Ballylooby	28.1	4.56	3.39	2.23	69	3.0	23	50	896	17		20th Jan 26	80
Tim O’Riordan	Mourneabbey	27	4.43	3.65	2.18	147	5.0	5	34	735	8		5th Feb 26	64
Jimmy Cotter	Coachford	26.5	5.22	3.57	2.33	122	4.0	12	55	750	17	6th Apr	29th Jan 26	85
Joe Morrissey	Rostellan	27.4	4.36	3.37	2.12	187	4.0	30	65	915	21	5th Apr	22nd Jan 26	80
Mark Lonergan	Rosegreen	27	4.47	3.42	2.13	180	4.5	28	70	895	22	1st Apr	28th Jan 26	75
Sean Barry	Pallasgreen	24	4.48	3.49	1.91	110	7.0	2	3	1037*			8th Feb 26	68
Sean Moher	Mitchelstown	28	4.67	3.39	2.26	96	5.5	20	66	753	14	10th Apr	20th Jan 26	80
Tim Leader	Rathcoole	27	4.65	3.31	2.15	205	5.0	0	15	1078*			27th Jan 26	75
Tom O’Connell	Inniscarra	26	4.78	3.42	2.13	152	5.0	22	54	895	22	8th Apr	23rd Jan 26	86
Raymond Goggin	Templemartin	27	4.61	3.29	2.13	172	5.0	14	30	936	18	10th Apr	29th Jan 26	80
Average		26.8	4.62	3.43	2.16	144	4.8	16	44	904	17			77
* Cover completed over a week ago

Farm Updates

We are finally seeing a spell of dry weather, along with longer daylight hours, which is helping ground conditions dry out quickly.

Although the percentage of the platform grazed is still behind target, many cows are now approaching peak performance and are moving through grass at a faster rate. It is important to walk the farm now and decide when to begin the second rotation. This plan can be reviewed and adjusted again in around 10 days, depending on grass growth and utilisation.

The key focus from here is to steadily reduce the amount of silage in the cows’ diet.

Pictured:

A 2025 reseed on Tom O’Connell’s farm was grazed 22 days ago and is now at a cover of approximately 850 kg DM/ha.

Walsh’s 2025-born high CBV beef heifers on their first day out grazing this season. This grazing system is helping them achieve daily liveweight gains of over 1 kg, compared with being housed on variable-quality silage and meal.

6th March 2026

Farmer	Location	Litres	Fat %	Prot %	Kg milk solids	SCC ‘000	Kgs Meal	% Grazed in Feb	Average Farm Cover (kgs DM/ha)	% milking platform that has got slurry OR chemical Nitrogen by    March 1st	Calving Start date	% Cows calved by March 1st
John Walsh	Ballylooby	26.7	4.52	3.25	2.14	91	3.0	23	953	94	20th Jan 26	80
Tim O’Riordan	Mourneabbey	25	4.65	3.63	2.13	129	5.0	5	990	70	5th Feb 26	64
Jimmy Cotter	Coachford	25.5	5.23	3.6	2.32	118	3.5	12	957	40	29th Jan 26	85
Joe Morrissey	Rostellan	27	4.59	3.31	2.20	293	4.0	30	875	100	22nd Jan 26	80
Mark Lonergan	Rosegreen	26.5	4.74	3.5	2.25	130	4.5	28	898	85	28th Jan 26	75
Sean Barry	Pallasgreen	24	4.94	3.77	2.15	161	4.0	2	1037	0	8th Feb 26	68
Sean Moher	Mitchelstown	27.2	4.62	3.43	2.26	87	4.0	20	779	30	20th Jan 26	80
Tim Leader	Rathcoole	25	4.78	3.39	2.10	146	6.0	0	1078	0	27th Jan 26	75
Tom O’Connell	Inniscarra	26	4.94	3.39	2.23	122	4.0	22	1111	100	23rd Jan 26	86
Raymond Goggin	Templemartin	27	4.45	3.34	2.17	153	5.0	14	907	18	29th Jan 26	80
Average		26.0	4.75	3.46	2.19	143	4.3	16	959	54		77

Farm Updates

Walsh’s soil temperature was at 9.6 °C last Monday. Due to recent weather conditions, fertiliser and slurry applications are behind the 1st March target.

Nitrogen should be spread as soon as ground and weather conditions allow. Apply a smaller amount than normal and avoid wet patches where possible.

Many cows are now up to five weeks calved, and feed demand is increasing. The best way to improve the diet is to increase grass in the diet. Where conditions allow, cows are grazing for a few hours after milking.

13th February 2026

Farmer	Location	Closing AFC (Kgs DM/ha) 2nd Dec	Date Grass walk	Opening AFC (Kgs DM/ha)	Overwinter Growth (kg DM /ha/day)	Pre-grazing yield (Kgs DM/ha)	Kgs Meal	Fat %	Prot %	SCC ‘000	% milking platform that has got slurry OR chemical Nitrogen	% Cows calved	Number of grazings achieved
John Walsh	Ballylooby	638	31-Jan	790	2	1550	4	4.46	3.62	122	9	57	10
Tim O’Riordan	Mourneabbey	627	01-Feb	798	3	1300	4	–	–	–	50	18	0
Jimmy Cotter	Coachford	630	28-Jan	775	3	1450	4	5.06	3.77	154	0	48	0
Joe Morrissey	Rostellan	870	03-Feb	1030	2	1650	6	4.91	3.63	310	0	60	5
Mark Lonergan	Rosegreen	707	01-Feb	845	2	1500	4.5	4.41	3.79	336	37	43	4
Sean Barry	Pallasgreen	748	02-Feb	859	2	1800	4	–	–	–	0	5	0
Sean Moher	Mitchelstown	802	31-Jan	830	2	1600	4	5.17	4.32	133	16	47	1
Tim Leader	Rathcoole	762	31-Jan	918	2	1650	5	4.79	3.81	144	0	40	0
Tom O’Connell	Inniscarra	899	22-Jan	1058	2	1700	4	5.16	3.75	218	25	58	6
Raymond Goggin	Templemartin	642	30-Jan	786	1	1300	6	4.66	3.82	116	10	48	0
Average		733		869	2	1550	4.6	4.83	3.81	192	15	42	3

Farm Updates

At Walsh’s farm, the daily routine includes walking the paddocks to take advantage of every opportunity, whether for grazing management or slurry application.

Joe Morrissey recently identified two milky cows, each with quarter infected and driving up the somatic cell count (SCC). One of these cows is a repeat case from last year and will be culled.

The first paddocks have been grazed by Tom O’Connell and Sean Moher. They have highlighted the importance of multiple access points.