The second stop of the Irish Grassland Association (IGA) summer tour took us to the farm of father and son, Roy and Trevor Cobbe, where they have found their farm partnership very successful.

The Cobbes manage a 120 spring calving, grass-based cow herd on a total land block of 81ha, with the milking platform consisting of 43ha and is stocked at 2.7LU/ha. 

The land is half owned and half leased with an element of tillage in the background with 17ac of malt barley which is a "bit of a tillage hangover", according to Trevor.

The Cobbe family have a long history of farming, with this being the third and fourth generation farming at Doolagh, outside Portarlington. 

The father and son's focus is to perfect their system and to pay close attention to detail.

Trevor told attendees: "A lot of what we do, it's not like we're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We probably are not terribly enterprising in a lot of ways, but we like what we would have done.

"We have went to a lot of discussion groups and saw what worked for lads and what types of cows lads had, and tried to pick the best out of any of the systems."

Roy said when he first came home to the farm, they were only milking 12 to 14 cows at the time with "a lot of spring barley, turnips and everything you want".

Roy was previously in a milk partnership before Trevor decided he wanted to come home, so, he finished up that partnership by splitting the cows between them.

When Trevor wanted to come home, the Cobbes decided to "go into the cows in a serious way", by increasing their numbers and improving the efficiency on the farm.

"But we decided to try and build it with breeding, rather than buying. We bought very little stock down the years and we bought nothing in the last 10 years," Roy added.

Trevor finished his leaving cert in 2007 and did architectural technology for three years in which he "absolutely hated", came home in 2010 and did the green cert in 2012.

Trevor studied architectural technology for three years. He then completed the Green Cert in 2012.

He came back to the farm to dairy farm in a partnership with his father Roy in 2015 and said it was the best thing they've ever done.

"I suppose it allowed me to see the future for myself here and the fact that we're able to build up to what we have has meant that there is enough in it for the two of us here", Trevor added.

Trevor told Agriland on the day that "the farm partnership has been very successful. We have a good relationship with each other and we don't shut down each others ideas, even if they are mad".

Trevor was the 2021 FBD Young Dairy Farmer of the year and since returning home, has consistently adopted best farming technologies on the farm to maximise productivity.

Trevor said this would not have been possible if he was not supported by his father Roy, where they are together running the Doolagh pedigree registered Holstein Friesian herd.

There has been a strong focus on EBI with the current EBI of the herd at €235, a fertility value of €125 (top 2% of herds) and a milk figure of €49.

The cows produced 540kg/milk solids (MS) last year, but Trevor is aiming for anything over 500kg/MS this year, as they did not hit peak milk production.

Trevor told the crowd that: "Cow type is important and grass is very important to us. It's just about trying to tweak things to get them right. We're happy with our cow numbers and everything else".

Fertility performance of the herd was excellent with textbook key performance indicators (KPI’s) of 89% calved in six weeks and a 370-day calving interval with PastureBase records showing 15.2 t/DM/ha grown in 2023.

The Cobbes have 130 cubicles with plenty of feed space and with plenty of slurry storage, enough for 170 cattle, so in that regard, the Cobbes are very comfortable.

The Cobbe family are milking in a six unit double up parlour which needs to be upgraded and the crowd on the day had the chance to participate in the decision making process.

Trevor said told the attendees that: "There are 20 rows of cows going through the park at the moment, which would break your heart - when cows are at peak, it is torture."

Two milking facility options were presented to the Cobbe partnership on the day, with the costs associated by putting in a 20-unit herringbone parlour versus putting in two robots.

Trevor expressed his concerns with the robot as he fears it could interrupt his grassland management, while Roy was a bit more optimistic with the system, as he felt it could bring a better work-life balance to the farm.

There was an opportunity for attendees to vote on whether they would go with a conventional parlour or a robot, with the majority voting for the conventional system.

Crowds opted for the conventional system, as many felt that it would not hinder with his grassland management as the robot would require a rearrangement of paddocks.

Another reason was that the conventional system allowed for easier expansion, as it is easier to add a few milking units, rather than buying another robot.

There were plenty of arguments for the robot with many saying it is a better option from a work-life balance perspective.