Irish Pure Friesian Open Day ’09

Report: Irish Pure Friesian OPEN DAY 2009 – Saturday 25th July ‘09
Firoda Herd of Peadar and Maureen Healy
Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny

The Irish Pure Friesian Club, had a very successful open day at the Firoda Herd of Peadar and Maureen Healy and family on Saturday 25thth July 2009.

It was a very successful day with a very large attendance despite the present doom and gloom over milk prices .Peader Healy and family are farming in very difficult conditions in Firoda near Castlecomer Co. Kilkenny. The farm ,on the Castlecomer plateau has very heavy soils, to the extent that most of it needs draining as often as more free draining soil would need re-seeding. If neglected for any length of time the land would very quickly revert to rushes and furze. The land is mole drained and gravel filled on a regular basis to make the ground more suitable for Dairy Farming. Grassland management on this soil type is very challenging, especially in a wet spring. Peader tries to keep cows out as much as possible but young stock had to be rehoused a number of times this spring as conditions were just too wet..
It is in these conditions that the Firoda Pedigree herd of Pure Friesian cows has survived and even flourished over the last 60 years. Peader and his father before him have stuck with a Pure Friesian herd of cows over the years as in their experience this is the most suited cow to this farming system.

Added Value:

Peadar uses best practice in breeding of Pedigree registration, Classification, Milk recording and selects high milk Friesian bulls with good EBI to achieve his goals. Peadar commented on the importance of maintaining efficiency of milk yield in the breed.
Peadar has successfully built in Longevity and fertility in his cows, 25 cows on the farm average 5 lactations with an average EBI 105.
This feature of the herd allows him sell 20 to 30 heifers per year. The Teagasc advisor Tom Downey expressed this “added value” as the equivalent of six cent per litre in the milk price. There is always a huge demand for breeding stock from the farm.. Satisfied customers come back year after year with very little advertising needed, a huge endorsement for Peader’s breeding policy. The income from these sales helps to increase overall farm output annually so this is an 80 cow herd punching well above it’s weight.

Longlife Cows at Firoda

Following on was a special presentation of 6 cows from the “ Twink” cow families showing four generation of breeding still milking on the farm.These cows had an average of 40 lactations in total with one cow on her 12th Lactation.
They tipify what the Friesian breed is all about. These are durable, longlife, fertile cows that are capable of producing large volume of milk with excellent solids and breed back in calf every year.
There is great variation in the breed to suit all farming systems.

Herd Average

The herd average for 2008 is 1353 gallons @ 3.63 % Fat, 3.54 %
Grassland management a key factor in profitability
A very large crowd gathered at the Teagasc discussion where the local adviser Tom Downey spoke on the difficult grazing conditions on the farm and showed how the EBI sub Indexes can be used to improve fertility and production.

IHFA:

John Kirby a member of the field staff at IHFA gave a practical demonstration on Linear scoring and how breeding for correct conformation,especially in feet and Legs and udders can improve survivability.
Charles Gallagher CE of IHFA commented on the “ Variation “ the Pure Friesian brings to the Black and White breed and how the Firoda herd is an example to all dairy farmers of what can be achieved by staying within the breed.
This is what makes the breed different and the envy of all other Dairy Breeds.
The Irish Pure Friesian has the fertility ,survivability coupled with efficiency of production.

The evening ended with welcome refreshments provided by the Healy family.