Dairy Centre
The 180 cow dairy herd at Greenmount Campus aims to demonstrate an efficient dairy production system with a focus on environmental sustainability.
The herd performs to a very high level with rolling average performance figures updated and published every month, click here to view. With the target of improving efficiency, performance from forage continues to be a key priority. Linked to this are Technology Projects on grazing management of high yielding cows, production of high quality silage and the management of forage maize and whole crop wheat.
Sustainable production is also a key target. The Dairy Centre continues to be an exemplar of best practice in relation to slurry management with a range of ammonia emission reduction technologies. This includes flooring systems in all of the livestock buildings, covered slurry stores and the use of trailing shoe slurry spreading equipment.
Key facilities and technologies installed within the CAFRE Dairy Centre include:
- Straw bedded transition cow management facilities
- Cubicles with unrestricted forward lungeing
- Mechanical cubicle cleaning and bedding
- Safe bull handling pens
- Drafting gates
- Walk over weighing
- Cow grooming brushes
- Herringbone crush systems
- Safe slurry mixing
- Ammonia emission reduction floors
- Automatically controlled natural ventilation
- Photoperiod lighting systems