The Davern family are milking a herd of Fleckvieh-cross cows on a once-a-day milking system.

The farm is based in a unique area of the Burren, bringing its own challenges when it comes to grassland management, conservation and farming alongside an important part of Ireland’s natural landscape.

Paul and Judith talk us through their decision to move away from British Friesian cows, the benefits of Fleckvieh breeding, the move to once-a-day milking, the difficulties of a tough grazing season, and supplying milk for locally made Burren cheese.

The Lynch family is a milking just over 300 water buffalos as well as rearing all replacements and stock bulls themselves.

The farm does not supply any milk co-op, with all the milk processed into cheese and yogurt on farm.

Kieran talks us through the decision of ditching the cows for buffalo, as well as explaining the what is involved in farming a herd of buffalo, from breeding and calving, to grassland management and cheese making.

Michael is milking 118 Montbéliarde cows through two robotic milking machines just outside of Tullamore alongside his wife Concepta, and his son Kevin.

He talks us through the decision of moving to robotic units back in 2021, and how they have integrated in to the farm system since. 

We hear about the upcoming breeding season, and the criteria used to deliver optimum calves that suit the system.

Michael also talks us through his grazing season so far and how he has got on with spreading nutrients beside the Grand Canal. 

The Curtins run a busy operation, balancing the dairy herd alongside shift work, with both Domnic and Edel active members of An Garda Síochána

We chat to the duo about their farm system, navigating a tough grazing season, planning for the upcoming breeding season, as well as reflecting on the recent calving season. 

And with three children on the farm, we hear about the farms desire for top notch safety, which has led them to their recent decision to install an underpass.

John is milking 220 cows just below the Comeragh Mountains in Dungarvan. 

He tells us what protocols are place for his to maintain his exceptionally low somatic cell count levels (SCC), in which he has won awards for.

John also talks us through the farms system, the infrastructure in place, breeding, grazing, and herd health.

We hear about the winter feeding system, the farm's dry off routine and what he is doing to push the herd to 560kg milk solids a year.

The father and son partnership are milking 230 Montbéliarde's in a split calving system, with 40-50 cows calving down in autumn.  

Dan talks on how they got into Montbéliarde's and how the herd is working out for them on their farm.

He tells us about the diet they feed over the winter months to achieve their target of 7000 litres at 557kg/MS.

Dan also talks about the current tasks at hand on farm, between drying-off and calving down.

We hear about balancing issues with banding, and dive into calf care, breeding, grass management, lameness, and the farms infrastructure. 

John is in a liquid milk contract, with 45% of the 320 head herd milking through the winter.

John talks about the feeding and breeding routines in place on the farm that allow them to achieve their 580kg of milk solids target.

John also speaks on calf management, drying off and housing the spring calving herd, and looks at the year in review in terms of grass management and lameness monitoring. 

The Tipperary man spoke on the end of the grazing rotation, preparations for a successful dry-off, breeding and much more.

Agriland's limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail' takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

Joe Healy is milking 97 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows, where the use of American Holstein genetics, embryo transfers and intensive breeding selection is driving his herd towards 700kg of milk solids/cow. 

Joe is hugely enthusiastic about breeding and genetics as he started off milking cows with a strong base of Economic Breeding Index in 2020, and is now driving towards more type, more milk and cows that he enjoys milking twice a day.

Joe keeps his three children involved on the farm as they are proud members of the Irish Holstein Friesian Association young members association and Joe's long term goal is to make the farm more attractive for the next generation. 

Joe also talks about current cow performance, managing rapid grass growth rates and improving his farm business through genetics, infrastructure and lifestyle.

Mike also has a full-time job off farm as the director of the genetic company, Bullwise CRV and is able to manage dairy farming with his job with the help of the robot. 

Mike talks about his breeding programme and how he wants to breed a cow with good capacity, with an ability to intake large quantities of grass and can convert this to 600kg of milk solids a year. 

The Limerick man discusses the grassland management on the farm through an ABC robotic grazing system, time-off, plans for the future and a potential increase in cow numbers and robots.

Sam Dudley is a third year agricultural science student in UCC, currently doing his work placement in Dovea Genetics and working away on the farm with his father Henry at every chance he gets.

The father and son duo are milking 82 pedigree British Friesian cows, known as the Dekeana herd across a 20ha milking platform with the rest of the land being fragmented into six blocks for silage, heifer rearing, and the pedigree Angus and Shorthorn cattle.

In this podcast, Sam talks about how the pure British Friesian herd are pumping out solids for them, his love for genetics and breeding, his future plans and future investments as well as growth rates and grazing management.

Eugene is farming alongside his son Eoin and his family in Ballitore, Co. Kildare where a simple grazing system is proving very effective for them.

Eugene Lawler was a new entrant into dairy in 2015 after moving from sucklers to dairy cows and has built his herd up to be a well balanced Holstein Friesian with a small bit of Jersey running through them to keep down size.

At this time of the year, Eugene aim to "keep quality grass in front of them [the cows], keep grass in the diet and keep the meal lorry out of the yard."

Linda Hanbidge is farming in partnership with her brother Gordon, her mother, Rosemary, and her father, Alan, where they all together seamlessly.

The Hanbidges are aiming to milk 130 montbeliarde cows at peak this year, which will be the most cows they have ever run on the farm.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Larry Hannon has 235 cows to calve down this spring and has over 70% of the herd calved. The aim is to have 220 cows milking strong at the peak of the lactation.

The focus on the farm is to get the cows out to grass for a few hours every day and to maximise the cow's dry matter intake in the early lactation. 

In the episode, Larry explains how he has been managing his calving season from colostrum feeding to the dietary requirements of the cow.

Larry goes through how he went from having about 20% of his herd calving down in the autumn and filling his winter milk contract, to going to a fully spring-calving herd.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Eoin Kennedy has 170 Jersey-cross cows to calve down this spring where his focus is top get them out grass at every given opportunity.

In the episode, Eoin explains how he has been managing his calving season from colostrum feeding to the dietary requirements of the cow.

The brand new limited podcast series ‘The Dairy Trail’ takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Brian Rushe who is also the former deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is set to be milking over 360 cows on two milking platforms in 2025.

In the episode, Brian explains how he is managing his calving season as he has over 130 cows calved down to date.

Agriland's brand new limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail' takes listeners inside the yard of dairy farms across the country to hear what is happening on the ground.

The new four-part series will cover everything from calving down cows, managing calves, herd nutrient requirements, getting cows out to grazing, and spreading slurry and fertiliser.

Listeners will get to hear how other farm systems operate, how different genetics perform, how different land types grow grass and how each farmer puts milk in the tank and money in their pocket in their own unique way.