Meath dairy farmers visit County Armagh

Ian Marshall of Markethill recently hosted a visit from a group of Teagasc clients along with their adviser Vincent Treacy, in conjunction with CAFRE’s Michael Garvey.   The group of Meath based liquid milk producers wanted to see at first hand how dairy businesses in N. Ireland had developed under a system where the milk quota system allows rapid business expansion.

When he left Greenmount in the mid 1980s, Ian wanted to expand cow numbers. By the mid 1990s the dairying system was based on two cuts of grass silage and the herd was paddock grazed. As the business continued to expand, Ian’s decisions on farm development were driven by the availability of land for grazing.  A main road divided the grazing area and to avoid crossing this with a large number of cows the decision was taken to develop a high input system. On the Marshall farm dairy cows are now housed “365 and 24/7” and batched according to yield. Their ration is based mainly on high dry matter grass silage and alternative feeds such as brewer’s grains and crimped wheat. Zero grazed grass is fed during the “grazing season” and concentrates are topped up in the parlour.

As well as the dairy enterprise, Ian rears his own replacements and also grows wheat for feeding to the dairy herd.

He has recently completed an M.Sc. at University of Ulster in Agrifood Business Development and is a member of CAFRE’s College Advisory Group.

Teagasc clients visit Co Armagh dairy farm