Farm Sustainability 2021

Dairy Cow Numbers

*To 10th November** Estimate

• Since 2016 dairy cows have increased by 41% at Salesian Agricultural College
• Since 2016 whole farm organic nitrogen loading has increased by 10%
• Since 2016 grass grown has increased from 8 T DM/ha to over 15 T DM/Ha, an 87% increase
• Purchased fertiliser & concentrates have reduced by 18% from 2016 to 2020

EBI

• In last five years we have moved from being in the bottom 5% of herds nationally based on EBI to now being in the top 1%
• Each €10 improvement in EBI is associated with a reduction of 61.7 kg CO2 equivalents per Lactation
• Our herd is emitting 370kgs less CO2 equivalent per cow per lactation compared to the national average dairy cow

Grassland

• Annual tonnage grown last year was 15.36 Tonnes Dry Matter per Hectare (PastureBase), more than enough to sustain our stocking rate of 2.2 LU/Ha
• We have incorporated Mixed Species Swards (ryegrass + plantain) but have found that the persistency of the plantain has been an issue so we are changing to oversowing clover into existing swards, targeting 15% of the grazing area per annum.
• Despite experiencing drought in the last three years, we have always been able to grow sufficient forage and have in excess of 25% of our winter silage requirements in reserve

Slurry

• All slurry is applied by Low Emissions Slurry Spreading systems, using an umbilical cord with dribble bar
• This has been the case since 2019 and is applied by contractor using a flow rate meter where precise application rates can be achieved based on soil analysis and slurry nutrient analysis
• 75% of slurry is applied in the spring and this further reduces our use of chemical nitrogen
• In 2021 the purchase of chemical nitrogen was reduced by 10% from the previous year
• Yet 2021, a total of 14.25 tonnes of protected urea (9.5 pallets) remained in stock at the end of the year, and more grass has been grown in 2021

Fertiliser

• The Farm has a Nutrient Management Plan, with the entire farm soil sampled every three years up to now, most recently sampled January 2021

  • 91% of the farm is at pH 6.2 or above
  • 79% of the farm is at index 3 or greater for Phosphorus
  • 66% of the farm is at index 3 or greater for Potassium
• Annual soil sampling of the entire farm will commence from December 2021
• Carbon measurement will be included also
• The estimated whole farm stocking rate for 2021 is 198Kgs Organic Nitrogen per hectare (2.3 LU/Ha) and the farm is in derogation
• All chemical nitrogen application is by way of protected urea and this has been the case since 2019
• All fertiliser applications are applied where both the tractor & fertiliser spreader have GPS and variable spread width technology.  This typically leads to a 5-8% saving in fertiliser use as there are no overlaps.

ASSAP

• Padraig Fitzgerald (Teagasc Kilmallock) and Kevin O’Sullivan (Teagasc Killarney) both ASSAP advisers undertook a comprehensive assessment of the farm and farmyards in September 2020.
• No issues were identified

Biodiversity

• A full farm Habitat Survey & Biodiversity Assessment was completed in November 2019 by Forest, Environmental Research and Services (FERS) Ltd.

• This established out baseline position and from this we have a plan in place to

1. maintain and enhance all current habitats/biodiversity
2. strategically develop new habitats and biodiversity for maximum benefit

Selective Dry Cow Therapy

• We have been pioneering the use of Selective Dry Cow Therapy since 2017 and have participated in the Teagasc/Kerry Agribusiness on farm trials
• Over the last two years, we have managed to have 75% of out cows dried off at the end of lactation without the use of antibiotics
• The above coupled to our Herd Health Plan drawn up in conjunction with our veterinary practice has led to a substantial reduction in antibiotic usage and forms part of our overall AMR strategy

Energy/Water

• Our milking parlour is fitted with a heat recovery system and variable rate pumps to minimise energy usage
• All was water used in the plant is recycled to wash the collecting yards
• All water use is metered and this quickly identifies any leaks that lead to waste

Beef

• We operate a dairy calf to beef system using AI sires by utilising the Dairy Beef Index with an added emphasis carcase weight within the index
• To this extent we are participating in the Dawn Meats / Teagasc – Dairy Beef Project (DBP)

Sheep

• The breeding policy is to breed to high replacement index rams (Belclare) and consequently the maternal index of the flock has increased linearly over the last five years.

• A high level of data recording is giving us a Data Quality Index (DQI) of 95.4%
• 80% of lambs are finished off grass without any concentrates being fed