Farming just outside Bandon, Co. Cork, are Patrick and Eilis Ahern and their family. They operate a split-calving, grass-based system milking 240 cows on a 170ac milking platform.

The Aherns calve 150 cows in the spring, starting the first week of February. The other 90 calve down in the autumn, and the aim is to have most of these back in calf before calving-in begins in the spring.

Fertility is a big focus on-farm, with all heifers calving down at 24-months-of-age. The farm has always been split-calving, and Patrick hopes to continue this as it reduces pressure on calf sheds and makes for a lighter spring workload.

Also, since the farm is located in a very strong dairying area with a lot of competition for land, so Patrick’s goal is to increase milk output per cow rather than increasing the number of cows.

With a family of four young children, Patrick wants to use his time well on farm,  and be able to spend as much time as possible raising his family.

Dairy farming always carries a heavy workload on-farm — and with only one other full-time employee and a few part-time workers at certain times of the year, he has to be proactive in meeting production goals without being tied to the farm.

For this reason, he uses a KEENAN MechFiber 370+ in combination with the Alltech InTouch service.

These systems work together to take away guesswork and are simple enough that anyone on-farm can manage the feeding.

There’s even a mobile app for maximum convenience. Patrick has used a KEENAN diet feeder since 2005, he upgraded to a bigger machine in recent years and has found the reliability of both machines to be excellent.

“KEENAN’s are really long-lasting machines that give very little trouble, we wouldn’t want to ever feed cows without the KEENAN," he said.

Regularly, Patrick and InTouch feeding specialist Thomas O’Sullivan discuss possible feeding changes.

These changes are then uploaded to the controller before the feeder is loaded, ensuring consistent feeding day upon day that maximises nutritional benefits.

During the spring and late autumn, when grass availability and quality can be poor, Patrick provides buffer feeds TMR that’s typically made up of grass silage, maize silage, beet, straw and a concentrate blend.

This gets as much energy as possible into the cows, maintaining milk production.

Here again, the KEENAN/InTouch combination is key.

"The feed going into the cows is so dear to buy and to grow, the mix needs to be good," Patrick said.

"The KEENAN helps us take care of the cows, and once the cows are taken care of, everything goes better on farm," he added.

In 2023, the Aherns had produced 582kg milk solids per cow at 3.52% and 4.05% butterfat, with roughly 1.5t of concentrate fed per cow.

The farm has some drought-prone land and some heavier soils in parts. Still, Patrick achieves 280 days at grass, and in 2023, the farm grew 14.2t DM/ha.

To maintain this, a grass walk is completed at least once per week, and twice per week during the main growing season.

Patrick understands the benefit of straw in the dry cows' diet, as well as the need to have a well-chopped, well-mixed and consistent ration during this critical time.

The aim is to get cows out of a negative energy balance quickly, so they can hit the ground running.

This is achieved by including straw in the diet to dilute any high-potassium silages and to stretch the rumen pre-calving, which increases dry matter intakes post-calving.

Once cows are calved, they are fed an energy-dense diet to ensure there are no metabolic issues during transition from pre to post calving.

To manage these dietary requirements, Patrick uses the Alltech KEENAN dry cow programme.

The dry cow mix, including silage, straw, soya and minerals, has been a game-changer for him. By calving time, his cows are fit, not fat.

"Since we’ve used this programme for the cows our metabolic issues have been close to zero, it definitely sets the cows up right for calving," Patrick said.

Patrick values having a truly resilient system in place so that his cows be fed a good, consistent diet, even when stuck indoors.

Having options for high-quality forages reduces workload and stress when spring weather is bad.

He reported feeling protected even during the difficult spring of this year, as he was prepared with a significant surplus of quality forage. As a result, the cows are milking very well,  and were primed for breeding with over 90% submitted after three weeks.

“With the inconsistency of the weather this year in particular, farmers are looking to maximise efficiency,” said KEENAN Southwest regional manager, Ryan O’Leary.

“We find that buffer-feeding through the KEENAN is complementing the grazing system as well as stretching fodder supplies on the other end," he added.

For more information on securing the KEENAN/InTouch combination, contact your local KEENAN sales representative and the InTouch office on 059 910 1320.