Milking Once a Day (OAD)

[@johnoconnell3842]

Is there a second part to this? Padraig was saying at the start? Not a lot of info out there of this model in Ireland. Love to find out more…ration strategy, grazing/fence strategy, what you noticed in your herd(legs,body conditions), scc implications, effect on components and yield etc

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Sorry John yes I should have clarified, the next video will touch on SCC & OAD milking (which is the clip of Padraig talking at the start). That should be up next week, all going well. We definitely hope to touch on everything you mentioned there over time. Obviously we're still pretty new to the system so we'll share the challenges that come up as we go along 😊

[@TheOnceADayFarmer]

Joining the revolution haha! great stuff. There's a lot of hidden benefits that come with it, not all cows will convert but strategic culling will minimize it going forward. Good luck on the journey, there's also no reason OAD cant be profitable and efficient

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Haha the OAD revolution - I like it 🤣 Yes you’re dead right. We found some of the Friesians really do not suit the system at all but holding on to them and trying to replace slowly over the years instead of having a huge influx of heifers. It’s a balance isn’t it. Thanks very much, much appreciated 😄🙏🏼

[@plzdont6110]

Oad is very common here in nz.

[@Jerseyhunger]

Hello, I've been milking once a day the whole time and it works great, cell count 70 to 90, but at the moment I'm milking 18/18/12 because my number of cows is still too low and I'm dependent on the money, in the future there will be more animals scheduled once a day. Best regards

[@keanefamilyfarm]

That’s a fantastic cell count on OAD, fair play because that doesn’t happen by chance 😅 Yes the finances really dictate it all don’t they. You have to do what you have to do! Thanks for the comment 😊

[@Jerseyhunger]

yes, there are too many bloodsuckers in this system, 😂. wish you all the best

[@Jerseyhunger]

I know farmers in Australia and New Zealand who have been doing this for a long time with OAD. They produce milk with very little concentrated feed. I think I'm the only one here in Germany, everything here is geared towards performance. 10 kg of concentrated feed per cow is not uncommon, milk production is 30 to40 liters per cow. Almost no one here can do proper grazing with high forage intake anymore. I think it's 30 percent of the animals that are even allowed to graze. A lot of dairy farms are currently going out of business

[@Kate-cr1fz]

Great video, definitely something to think about

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks Kate, glad you liked it 😊

[@damien3278]

How do find your lactose, hard to keep it above 4.30 once the autumn time comes, drops below 4.30 glanbia aint collecting it, cows will be dry for longer

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Yes we’ve struggled with this at the back end of the year so it’s something we need to keep an eye on and hopefully will figure out as we go. We ended up with a couple of lactose penalties and those are hefty 😅

[@damien3278]

Any excuse to take your money, And the defenetly have invented many a way, My experience off it is twice a day is best, best for your pocket, best for your cow in early lactation, I always think its a mindset thing between once and twice, But then ye have the little one in the equation..

[@DjDj-ww6rh]

I have often thought about doing it. Didn’t have nerve to do it

[@keanefamilyfarm]

It is very nerve wracking. Especially with rearing a family and building a house but hopefully we can continue to make it work 😊

[@paddy294]

Cracking video as always

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks very much Paddy, glad you like them 😊

[@Williamfm262]

Fair play. Definitely the way to go. Have ye changed yer breeding strategy since changing. Bulls with higher ms snd lower volune?? Jersey???

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks William 😊 We actually have relooked at things slightly - I’ll probably do a video on it in the future properly but we have actually gone with bulls with higher volume than we would’ve on TAD. We’ll be mainly buying Norwegian Red & Friesian bulls for this season 😊

[@hughflynn5598]

That is a fantastic and informative video, often wonder why you hadn’t post in a long time. 😊😊

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks very much Hugh. There’s never a dull moment around here that’s for sure 😅 Thanks for checking back in with us 😊

[@martinstokkebye659]

Hey, wee are to young lads in Denmark there are doing Grass Basis milk. i am in Ireland from the 11-20 of oktober, an wee need some inspiartion for some upgrand at are milking an would love to see how you milking parlor is designed with Irish eyes. is that posibel.

[@adriant900]

Would you go through the figures please? Without the payment would it be financially better to hire somebody to milk the second time?

[@joecasserly5870]

Assuming you can find relief milkers, A major issue at the moment

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Yes I can do a video if ye would like, no problem 😊 We did look at that but decided OAD would be a better fit. I can go through that in the video 😃

[@brianbrady1993]

Good upload as always😊

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks very much Brian 😊

[@padraiggeaney3167]

Brilliant post considering same ourselves

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks very much Padraig - it’s definitely worth considering I think. There’s lots of farmers around the country doing it now, and for a lot longer than us!

[@briancannon1620]

Good video.

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks a million Brian 😊

[@michaeldoyle6766]

Once a day for 3 years now. Less money in but much better quality of life with three small children

[@keanefamilyfarm]

That’s great to hear Michael 😊 I think it’s a fantastic fit for young family life. Hope it continues to go well for you 🙏🏼

[@drdumbo9830]

i think a video about the data would be pretty interesting.

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Yes it seems people are interested in that. I can definitely do it - I didn’t think there would be much of an appetite for it 😅

[@georgedraper992]

That was a surprise and very interesting

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Thanks George 😊👍🏼

[@seamusmassy7548]

Wat bout calving time?

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Yes we milk OAD throughout the whole season. We used to just milk OAD for the first 6 weeks and last 6 weeks of the season. Hope that answers your question 😊

[@Williamfm262]

Did Ye find a big improvement in cows condition and overall health??

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Nearly too good an improvement in condition 😂 Have to keep an eye on this with the OAD. It’s hard to tell with the health yet. I’m not sure we noticed a drastic improvement but probably marginally 😊

[@JamesOBrien2253]

Would hiring a reliefe milker few evenings in the week not pay at better still have time off

[@keanefamilyfarm]

Great question James - we looked at this but ultimately decided OAD would be a better fit than going that route. I’ll probably do a video on the financials comparing OAD vs TAD and look at the relief milking scenario 😊

[@skbharwad7878]

I will come in job Ireland farming in dairy farm

[@DanielHennessy-uz2mw]

I was thinking about 7 in 10 from post breeding

[@keanefamilyfarm]

I see this is getting popular recently, it’s definitely worth considering if it gives a better quality of life and doesn’t impact the bottom line too much 😊

[@DanielHennessy-uz2mw]

10 in 7 i shiuld say