What milk and concentrates should be in the diet of the calf?
Teagasc advice
);
As part of the Animal Health Ireland & Teagasc Calf Care Virtual Week, Teagasc researcher Emer Kennedy and Joe Patton, Teagasc nutritionist, discussed the guidelines for feeding milk and concentrates to calves.
The primary goal of the rearing phase is to double the birth weight of the calf by 56 days of age. Good nutrition is fundamental to animal health, welfare and productivity.
The type of liquid feed given to calves following colostrum is transition milk. The feeding of this depends on the farm targets, milk price, milk availability, disease status of the farm and labour availability.
Milking three times in two days can reduce the number of milkings by 25%.
The popularity of once-a-day (OAD) milking in Ireland has increased dramatically over the last decade, with Teagasc now estimating that there are over 200 farmers practising it all year round.
Many hundreds more are practising it for parts of the year, either at the start or end of lactation or both.
A recent survey of New Zealand dairy farmers found that just 45% of farmers there practise twice-a-day (TAD) milking for the full season.
The proportion milking OAD for the full season is still relatively low at 8% so most of those who aren’t milking TAD all year are carrying out some version of OAD or flexible milking.
15 January 2021
Type Event Proceeding
Once a Day Milking Conference 2021 took place virtually on Thursday, 14 January. The theme of this year’s online conference centred on the latest research about the impact of once a day milking on milk production and how to manage this effect. Speakers at this conference included: Emer Kennedy, Teagasc Moorepark; dairy farmer MJ Delaney and Nick Sneddon, Fonterra.
Once a Day Milking is currently only practised on around 200 Irish dairy farms. But the interest in the practice of once a day milking continues to grow. It’s considered as a viable alternative in situations where labour is in short supply, where the farm layout results in long walks to and from the parlour for cows, or where reducing the number of daily milking s is attractive from a lifestyle perspective. The big challenges farmers face when considering the option of once a day milking are the risk of increased somatic cell count and reduced milk yield. This howeve
Launch of the January 2021 Once A Day Milking webinar
Teagasc will address the practice of once a day (OAD) milking with a webinar on Thursday 14th January starting at 10.00am. While currently practised on an estimated 200 Irish dairy farms, interest in OAD milking continues to grow.
It’s seen as a viable option in situations where labour is in short supply, where the farm layout results in long walks to and from the parlour or where reducing the number of daily milkings is attractive from a lifestyle perspective.
Speaking at the launch of the OAD webinar, Brian Hilliard, Teagasc said, “This is the fourth time we’ve organised the Conference which will be delivered this year online, as a webinar. The big challenges farmers face when considering the option of OAD milking are the risk of increased somatic cell count and reduced milk yield. This, however, is counterbalanced by improved cow fertility and farmer lifestyle”. Three speakers will address this year’s webinar