Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
March 14, 2016
Patrick Tinnelly, General Manager for seed and forage experts Germinal NI, said that the increasing reliance on concentrates to produce extra milk over the last 12 years is untenable, and he urged local ruminant farmers to create a more sustainable and efficient production model which will stand up to increasingly challenging conditions. “CAFRE Benchmarking carried out in Northern Ireland between 2013 and 2014 shows that concentrates make up to 70% of variable costs on dairy farms. It is clear that this situation is unsustainable, and whenever you consider that high quality grass is around 25% of the cost of concentrates on a per kg of dry matter basis, the answer is obvious.
Pictured at Germinal NI’s Technical Meeting are (l–r) Germinal Managing Director, William Gilbert; Area Sales Manager for Germinal NI, David Little; Germinal NI General Manager, Patrick Tinnelly and Germinal Ireland’s Technical Development Manager, Dr Mary McEvoy
“We would urge local farmers to get back to basics and realise the value of our most important crop – grass! We need to begin with improved soil management – with soil sampling being carried out every three to four years and action being taken to address deficiencies. Reseeding should be viewed as an investment which will pay off in one to two years. Current reseeding rates in Northern Ireland are less than 3% per year – whereas the aim should be around 10%. It is also vital to choose the best performing varieties on the DARD Recommended List, as the difference in key traits between the best performing and worst performing varieties is significant. We believe there is a huge opportunity for farm businesses here to become more profitable, but action must be taken now.”
Patrick made the comments at a Germinal Technical Day held for its customers at the Armagh City Hotel, where the company also unveiled its new brand. Germinal’s Managing Director, William Gilbert, commented: “Our brand is evolving with the company as we prepare to take our business to the next level. Science and innovation underpin everything we do and we invest huge resources into product research and variety development so that we can offer the very best varieties and technical advice to our customers. Our range of Aber®’ High Sugar Grasses (AberHSG) are consistently coming out as top performers in the DARD Recommended List and in the Irish Pasture Profit Index (PPI). As a leader in the forage sector, we are committed to being the voice of the industry and we will continue to promote the benefits of forage, as evidence shows that it should be at the heart of any efficient production system.”
Topics
Species
