April Newsletter

June Newsletter:April Newsletter 13/08/2009 14:23 Page 1
Issue 6 Vol 10 June 2009
CONNACHT GOLD
QUALITY MILK AWARD WINNERS
ELECTORAL GROUP MEETINGS
Tuesday, 23rd June 2009
Bornacoola - Community Centre
Castlebar - Welcome Inn
Kiltoghert - Bush Hotel
Riverstown - Parochial Hall
Ballymote - The Mart Premises
Croghan - Croghan Old Creamery
Ballinrobe - Mart Premises
Wednesday, 24th June 2009
Back Row L-R: Philip Doonan - Farm Services, Arthur Bredin - Progressive
Genetics, Padraig Gibbons - Chairman Connacht Gold, Pat Duffy - Vice
Chairman Connacht Gold, Aaron Forde, C.E.O. Connacht Gold, Seamus
Rooney - Sligo Dairies.
Kinlough/Kilbarron - Dorrian's Imp.
Hotel
Achonry - Canteen Achonry
Kilmactranny - Community Centre
Westport - The Castlecourt Hotel
Tireragh - Enterprise Centre Easkey
Claremorris - Town Hall Claremorris
Ballaghaderreen - Durkin’s
Ballyhaunis - The Hazel, Ballyhaunis
Front Row L-R: Michael Cully, Tubbercurry; Michael Cleary, Claremorris;
Austin Lyons, Louisburgh; Kevin Gunn, Strokestown & Brian Costello, Boyle.
Thursday, 25th June 2009
Five Connacht Gold milk suppliers have been rewarded for outstanding
achievement in the co-op’s 2008 Milk Quality Awards.
The awards, which recognise excellence across all areas of milk production,
were presented at a function in the Abbeyfield Hotel, Ballaghaderreen on
Thursday, 28th May.
REMINDER
Closing date for Temporary Leasing is 26th June 2009
Application forms are available from: Connacht Gold Lab.
Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon. Tel: 094 9860143.
Mohill - Clarke’s Hotel
North Sligo - Store Office Ballintrillick
Belmullet - Western Strands Hotel
Castlerea - Tully’s Hotel
Rathscanlon - Yeat’s County Inn, Curry
Gurteen - Ceol Aras Coleman
Killala - Community Centre
Athleague - Angling Centre
All meetings commence at 9pm
All shareholders are invited to attend
the most suitable venue for them
this issue
Milk
Award
Winners
Joint
Teagasc
View
Milk
League
DIY & GARDEN
Summer
Promotion
www.connachtgold.ie
June Newsletter:April Newsletter 13/08/2009 14:23 Page 2
2 Connacht Gold News
CONNACHT GOLD / TEAGASC JOINT PROGRAMME
By Peter Comer - Teagasc Dairy Adviser - Mayo South
Mid Season Grassland
Management
The recent open-day at Teagasc,
Moorepark focused a lot on how
to get the most out of your
grazing area. Researchers are
targeting to get up to16t of grass
DM utilised per hectare and
indeed our top farmers also
have this figure in their sights.
If this performance could be
achieved on a consistent basis,
it would have the effect of
doubling our output from grass,
considering that the current
utilisation level is only around 7
or 8 tonnes/ha. Each extra
tonne of grass DM utilised is
worth €200, so there is potential
there to make much further
gains from grass.
To help
farmers get to grips with this,
a new Grassland Booklet was
launched at the openday.
This booklet is designed to
encourage as many farmers as
possible to take up the challenge
of Grass Budgeting and I would
strongly recommend all dairy
farmers to embrace the idea.
Grass budgeting courses are
being run on an ongoing basis
by Teagasc advisers as part of
the joint programme, and if you
want to learn more about grass
budgeting, give your adviser a
call.
After the horrendous May,
growth rates for June returned
somewhat close to normal,
but with aftergrass now coming
on stream, grass supply can
get back into surplus fairly
quickly. You need to assess your
winter fodder supply versus
requirements before making
any major decisions. If you
made a much smaller first cut
than normal, then keep going
with nitrogen (up to 30
units/ac) and take out surplus
paddocks as they arise. This
will have the effect of improving
grass quality as well as building
up silage reserves for next
winter. It is important to keep
pre-grazing cover in the region
of 1200 - 1500 Kgs. DM/ha and
this can be done by removing
surplus paddocks where grass
too plentiful, or by reducing
demand where grass is limiting.
This is one of those years where
topping is essential, maybe on
up to a dozen paddocks or
more. The unusual growth
pattern in May and June has left
many paddocks with bad
quality, wirey grass and topping
is the only answer. Top these
paddocks as bare as possible
(<4cm) with a well sharpened
blade. Disc mowers do a much
better job than traditional
toppers.
Somatic Cell Count
(SCC)
July is the month when cell
counts generally start to rise and
this year you should make
every effort to get a cell count
bonus, while of course avoiding
penalties at all costs.
You should note that:
☛ Changing liners in July
increases milk yield in the back
end and helps keep SCC down.
☛ Striping each teat pre-milking helps identify new mastitis
cases.
☛ Teat spraying after milking
reduces new infection rate by
50%.
In Addition, For More
Problem
Herds:
☛ Test all cows to identify the
"millionaires" (check Milk
Recording data).
☛ Use California milk test on
chronic cows to identify worst
quarters and discard the milk.
☛ Culture test to identify
which bacteria are causing the
problem.
☛ Remove very high cell count
cows from the herd.
Cash-Flow Problems?
Many dairy farmers are
experiencing cash-flow problems this summer. If you are in
this situation, don't ignore
the problem and hope that it
will go away. If you do then it's
only likely to get worse.
Teagasc advisers and financial
specialists are available to
consult with you on a one to one
basis to help find a solution.
Two heads really are better than
one, so don't hesitate to take up
this offer. Also the saying
'problem shared is a problem
halved' does have a good deal of
truth in it so don't suffer in
silence.
June Newsletter:April Newsletter 13/08/2009 14:23 Page 3
Connacht Gold News 3
CONNACHT GOLD MILK LEAGUE (May 2009)
PRICE C/L
PRICE C/GAL
PROTEIN %
BUTTERFAT %
TOP PRICE
23.91
108.69
3.57
3.91
AVERAGE OF TOP 50
22.37
101.69
3.43
3.82
AVERAGE PRICE
20.15
91.60
3.28
3.72
AVERAGE OF BOTTOM 50
16.11
73.24
3.04
3.70
PrICE INCLUdES PrOTEIN, SCC, TBC BONUS & EArLY CALVING BONUSES.
Each 0.05% above Co-op average on protein is worth 0.22 c/l extra.
LIVESTOCK & EQUIPMENT
For Sale: 6 Friesian Heifer calves 4 5 weeks. Tel: 087 7768026.
For Sale: Packo Milk Tank - 1800
Lts, 6 unit Alfa Laval milking
machine and a Thermor Water
Heater. Tel; 086 4044291 or 071 96
68250.
For Sale: 6 Friesian Heifer calves 4-5
weeks. Ph; 087 7768026.
For Sale: 3 Friesian cows freshly
calved. Tel; 086 2039448.
REMINDER
IFFPG
UPCOMING
COLLECTIONS
OF PLASTICS
WESTPORT MART YARD
26th JUNE
BALLYMOTE MART YARD
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR CLEANING
OF FEED BINS & STORES
Care of the Silo/Store
Your Silo or Store should be completely emptied every 16
weeks. It is recommended that you then check that no
animal feed is stuck to the inside of the Silo. If it is, you
need to clean it out to avoid it becoming mouldy which could
subsequently contaminate new feed when the silo is being
refilled.
It is particularly important to empty and clean out silos at
the end of the feed season or in summer time when conditions
are ideal for mould growth.
Cleaning the store
Your Silo has an inspection hatch on the roof of the silo.
To access this hatch, a ladder can be inserted into the
ladder guard on the top of the silo. (Normal health and
safety considerations should be followed when working at
height).
17th & 24th JULY
Please Note:
It is very important you bring
your 6 digit label code.
It is displayed on all
invoices/receipts relating to
the purchase of the levied
silage plastic wrap.
It entitles you to have your
waste plastic collected at a
significantly reduced collection fee.
If meal sticks to the inside of the silo it can be removed by
brushing it out.
There is an access hatch on the cone. Simply unscrew the bolts
and remove the panel. It is important that the hatch should
only be removed if you have checked that the store is empty.
Opening the hatch when animal feed is in the store could lead
to the contents falling down on you.
The cone inspection hatch can be replaced by bolting the hatch
back in place.
June Newsletter:April Newsletter 13/08/2009 14:23 Page 4
4 Connacht Gold News