Dairy farmer Bill O Keeffe on his farm in Kilkenny.
Dairy farm families in the southeast are welcoming the news this week that the High Court has rejected the challenge to the Kilkenny cheese development at Belview, Co Kilkenny. Hopefully this project can move forward now through the second half of 2021 and help to secure the incomes of thousands of families across the region.
With no more delays, we could have this plant up and running for peak milk in 2024 and reduce the impact of the peak supply restrictions introduced by Glanbia last month.
These restrictions imposed by Glanbia indicate that this plant is needed for current cow numbers in the country, rather than an increase in cow numbers in the future. Hopefully farmers get the opportunity to engage in some meaningful dialogue with An Taisce on the best route forward for the Irish dairy industry and for the farmers involved in that industry, before any more objections are lodged with our legal system.
SHARING OPTIONS:
With only four sheep left to lamb, this mule hogget gave birth at bedtime on a Saturday night. She lambed a medium-sized single herself, stood up and galloped to the far side of the pen, wanting nothing to do with the lamb. I dragged her into a small pen with her new-born, and suggested to her that it would be best for all concerned if she quickly learned to love her baby. It’s never like that on the TV.
Guess what? It turns out that I am a trendy farmer, currently at the cutting edge of farming fashion.
Joe Collingborn is a dairy farmer in England.
There is an old Wiltshire saying - “When the wind is in the northeast on 21 March, he will stay there until 21 June.”
No grass will grow in these low temperatures and drying winds. It is usually accompanied by a blackthorn winter, when the hedges are decked with prolific blackthorn blossom.
This is what we are experiencing at the moment and although cows are on their second rotation of the paddocks, regrowth is very slow and we have to buffer feed.
Most of this is being bought in and judging by the price rise, there must be a lot of people in the same boat as me.
SHARING OPTIONS:
Karen McCabe farms with her father Michael McCabe on their farm in Drumlegga, Cloone, Co Leitrim. \Philip Doyle.
After a six-week break, we had two calves born within hours of each other.
The first cow calved on Mother’s Day last year and I was beginning to think she had a calendar hidden under the straw in order to do the same again this year!
However, she popped out a pair of quite large feet on Friday morning and upon handling her, it felt like it was going to be a tight squeeze getting the calf out.
I’m thankful we’re so familiar with both our cows and the bulls we use, as having experience of the same bull in previous years, I knew he had a habit of bringing large shoulders on a calf.
James Strain on his farm with his daughter.
My last cow just calved a couple of days ago, almost six weeks after her nearest counterpart.
Calving lasted exactly 12 weeks start to finish excluding this last girl, unfortunately she’s going to mess up my figures slightly. My breeding season officially ends at the end of April, normally most cows are severed well before.
As soon as they go to grass the bull does the work and for pure simplicity, he gets to stay with the herd all summer. It’s just easier than taking him away and keeping him on his own in a shed - it never seems fair.