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a Year in the life of
Coolbreene dairy farm
June/July
Our year begins in the winter months of June. Coolbreene is a seasonal dairy farm so the cows and farmers have a 12 week break from milking. The cows stay on the farm and are fed on winter fodder crops and grass. New grass is planted once the crops are finished. The farm does all its own tractor work.
August
The cows start calving around the first week of August and the farm swings in to its busy time. Over half the cows calve in August so we have 650 calves to look after as well as milking. Lots of feed is fed out by tractor in the form of grass silage. We keep the heifer (female) calves in a big calf rearing shed and they are fed colostrum from the cows for at least 4 weeks before moving to milk as they would in natural rearing.
September
Most of the remainder of the cows calve and the farm gets very, very busy with staff working long hours making sure all the stock is well cared for.
October
By now we hope the farm is growing more grass than the cows can eat so our silage ground is closed up. Effluent is spread over 100 hectares of the farm to provide natural fertilizer.
The last calves are born and we start to prepare to get the cows back in calf.
At the end of the month the Artificial Insemination technician arrives daily to inseminate cows on heat. The previous year's heifers are mated naturally.
November
Summer crops are planted on the farm to provide feed for cows in the hotter summer months.
Mating continues. Calves are getting bigger, and are weaned from milk at about 10 weeks. The calves live outdoors with shelter and lots of meal to eat as well as straw and grass.
December
Artificial breeding finishes and the bulls are put out to make sure all the cows get in calf. Silage is made and stored in pits. Winter crops of Swede are planted for winter feed for cows. The farm staff members take well deserved holiday breaks, but make sure cows are milked and weeds are sprayed. All calves weaned by the end of the month are out on the farm enjoying a diet of summer grass.
January
The bulls are finished with the mating by end of January and are kept over for two years. The cows are milked daily and farm weeds are an important part of the day. We have nodding thistle and ragwort to control and our staff do this daily once the cows leave a field.
February
Cows are now eating the summer turnip crops and a second cut of silage can be made if there's plenty of rain. The calves are still on the farm and growing about .6kg a day. The cows are scanned by vets to make sure they're in calf and older cows are culled if not in calf.
New grasses are planted once crops are finished.
March
The younger cows that show signs of losing body condition are dried off and are grazed away from the farm to make sure they are in good shape for the next season. Milking still continues for the rest of the herd.
April
Cows are gradually dried off as body condition dictates. Autumn fertilizer is applied and farm starts to prepare for the next dairy season.
May
The young heifers go away to be grazed on another farm. They come back in May the following year. The herd is dried off by the end of May and the farm moves in to winter mode with maintenance a priority.
Click here to contact us to find out what iwill be happening during your stay at Greenfields Lodge.
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