16 April 2009

C.R.E.A.M. students have been commended on the improvement in milk butterfat and protein observed for the dairy herd that they manage at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus. The students leading the project hosted the second of their biannual C.R.E.A.M. project Advisory Board day meetings this week, briefing industry representatives.  

C.R.E.A.M. students provided updates on recent performance from their feeding, breeding, finance and promotion, and milking and health teams. Herd rolling averages are currently 10,108 litres at 4.00 percent butterfat, 3.18 percent protein, SCC 86,000/ml and bactoscan 85,000/ml. Margin over concentrate has fallen significantly over the past twelve months, moving from £1602/cow (15.85ppl) in February 2008 to £1297/cow (12.84ppl) in February 2009. This decrease was inevitable with the decrease in milk price and increase in concentrate costs, which will ultimately reduce gross margins on dairy herds for the financial year. As a result this may prove to be a challenging year for the CREAM herd and many commercial dairy units throughout the province; however the Advisory Board were pleased to note the extremely positive outlook for the future from the students working within the project.

C.R.E.A.M., one of several student-led enterprise management projects, provides Higher National Diploma Agriculture and Agricultural Technology Degree students with the unique opportunity to manage a high genetic merit Holstein herd. The herd is milked three times a day, with students carrying out all routine tasks including milking, feeding and breeding decisions.

At the CAFRE Greenmount Campus CREAM Board Day, left to right; HND student Mark Beattie (Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone), Alec Brown (Moneymore, Co. Derry/Londonderry), David Reynolds (HND student, Co. Meath), Dr Stephanie Woods (CREAM project co-ordinator), John Henning (Northern Bank), Alan Irwin (Benburb, Co. Tyrone), Robert McConaghy (HND student, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim), Dr Sam Campbell (AI Services), and Martin Mulholland (CAFRE)