Cork farmer focuses on increasing milk yields

John Shanahan, his wife Anne and son Jack farm with a pedigree Holstein herd in Ballintotis, Midleton, Co Cork, with 100 cows on a 60-acre grazing platform. This is very much a family enterprise with Anne and Jack being hands-on with their spring and autumn calving herd.

For two and a half years, John Shanahan has been using the high protein and high energy feed Eornagold from Specialist Nutrition for his pedigree Holstein cows. John, to his own surprise, saw an immediate change in his milk yields as well as an increase in daily intakes, improved fertility and a reduction in workload.

Feeding with Eornagold

In previous years, John fed a mix of maize silage, fodder beet and grass silage along with a high protein blend to balance the diet. For John and the family, there was a lot of work involved in handling and feeding the beet. John wanted to reduce wear and tear on machinery and reduce the time spent in preparing and feeding out the buffer feed.

Eornagold was recommended to him by a neighbour, and once he experienced the ease of storage and incorporation into the feed mix, he was converted. John also wanted to reduce costs on farm and Eornagold offered a more cost-effective way of incorporating protein in the diet.

When Eornagold was introduced into the diet, John saw an immediate increase in milk yield. Over time this has solidified into an increase of 3L per head per day over the last couple of years. The increase in milk yield is linked to the high energy content and protein density of the feed.

As Eornagold is a moist feed, it will make the overall substrate of the mix wetter, thus increasing consumption. It is also highly palatable and as John says himself, “the cows just love it.” These key characteristics of Eornagold increase dry matter intakes and enhance production.

What's in the diet?

At the moment John is buffer feeding 5kgs of Eornagold, 15kgs of grass silage, 0.33kg of straw. John also feeds 2-4kgs of 18% nut in the parlour, depending on the stage of lactation. This diet is being used to buffer feed at autumn grass.

Rachel added, “I would describe this as a straightforward diet but you can see how effective it is in the results achieved on the farm since its introduction.”

Succeeding with Eornagold

Improvement in fertility - prior to feeding Eornagold, John had an empty rate of 20% in the herd. What he noticed since using Eornagold, is the empty rate has now dropped to 14%.

John maintains that the extra protein and energy that Eornagold provides post-calving is vital to the cow. It plays a major part in meeting the increasing energy demands of the cow following the onset of lactation and ensures she will be back in calf quickly.

More information

Specialist Nutrition is an experienced animal feeds company, supplying a comprehensive range of high-quality feeds and supplements to progressive dairy, beef and pig farmers.

Specialist Nutrition has an experienced nutritional team who are available to advise you on your diet specification and the storage of moist and liquid feeds.