In the fourth and final episode of season two of Agriland's limited series 'The Dairy Trail', technical dairy journalist, Hugh Harney takes a trip to dairy farmer Joe Healy's farm in Athboy, Co. Meath.
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.
What is The Dairy Trail?
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.