Co. Antrim dairy farmer, Conor Casey, believes that an A+B-C pricing model complements a high input-high output dairy production system.
Speaking at an AgriSearch conference on high input milk production, he said that switching to A+B-C with Aurivo last year had generated an additional £10,000 of income for his business over a 12-month period.
The Casey herd is currently averaging 10.000L of milk at 4.6% butterfat and 3.5% protein. The 250 cows are robotically milked, with the current compound feed rate at 0.42kg/L.
Calving takes place predominantly between August and April. The four-month gap when cows are not calving gives the Casey team an opportunity to get a break from calf-rearing while also allowing them to thoroughly clean out and refresh the calf rearing unit.
The current calving index is 383 days.
High input milk production
The Casey family farms close to the village of Cloughmills. Conor told the AgriSearch conference that he had his mind set on building up the family’s dairy enterprise from an early stage.
Initially, this had seen the family getting out of sheep altogether and committing to increasing dairy cow numbers.
This decision was marked by a corresponding investment in new dairying technology. This process has culminated in the establishment of a fully robotic GEA milking and feeding system.
The installation of the robotic feeding system was the most recent investment on the Casey farm, with expenditure to date has totalled £280,000.
Conor justified the cost on the back of the improved cow performance the system is delivering and the more efficient use of manpower on the farm.
He also pointed to the fact that the decision was made easier because the alternative option would have been to invest in a new tractor and diet feeder.
Other investments on the farm have included the development of improved calf and heifer-rearing facilities.
All of this has been facilitated by an absolute commitment to the use of genomics as the key development driver within the business.
Each calf born is genomically assessed. According to Conor, the information this delivers is allowing the immediate and accurate identification of those heifers that will deliver improved performance improvements in the most effective way possible.
And it is not always the best-looking heifers that will deliver this commitment to change.
Moreover, Conor said genomics can be used to improve all aspects of dairy farming: output, milk quality, fertility, and cow longevity.
