Bill George, a dairy and tillage farmer from Co. Laois, will host a farm walk as part of the Growing Organics Monitor Farm Programme.
Operating as Coolanowle Organic Farm in Arles, Co. Laois, the conversion to organics was started by Bill’s father in-law, Jimmy Mulhall in 2001. Full organic status was achieved in 2003.
Bill has leased the farm on a long-term lease since 2016, and the main enterprise on the farm of 118ha is dairying, with a mix of tillage crops grown to feed the dairy herd.
The dairy enterprise
The dairy enterprise consists of 150 high EBI cows, with 40% calving in the autumn and 60% calving in the spring. Bill uses sexed semen to breed replacement heifers for the herd. A Hereford bull, along with beef AI, is used to breed non-replacement animals. These animals are kept on the farm and fed whole milk for 13 weeks. They are then sold to his brother in-law, who brings them to slaughter for direct sales at farmer’s markets and online sales.
The milk is supplied to The Village Dairy, Killeshin, Co. Laois – a local processor that bottles milk for retail and supply Gino’s Gelato for Gelato Ice cream. The farm also supplies The Little Milk Company, which produces a range of organic cheeses.
The farm is run as a grass-based system, aiming to graze from February to November each year. The stocking rate on the grazing platform is running at 2.5 LU/ha, with the overall stocking rate on the farm at 1.7 LU/ha.
The tillage enterprise
The tillage enterprise is made up of barley and pea combination crops, which are grown for arable silage or brought to harvest for grain. All of this is used for winter feeding, along with red and white clover silage.
Over the last five years, the volume of feed bought in has reduced significantly due to growing more of his own feed and working with other local organic farmers in a share-farming agreement. Bill buys approximately 10% organic concentrate feed and 40% from other organic farmers. He produces 50% of the feed requirement on his own farm. He is aiming to grow more protein on the farm and is sowing a mixed pea/bean crop in 2024.
The tillage enterprise works well with his red clover silage rotation. He normally gets 4-5 seasons from the red clover silage and then rotates it around the farm with grass-white clover leys or a barley/pea crop. He has recently introduced multi-species grasses to the farm, and hopes these new reseeds will help combat the impact of reduced grass growth during the frequent prolonged dry spells that the farm has experienced in recent years.
In the short clip below, Bill and Joe Kelleher, Teagasc Organic Specialist, provide an insight as to what to expect at the farm walk:
When and where
Bill George will host a Growing Organics Farm Walk at Coolanowle Organic Farm, Arles, Co. Laois, Eircode R93 C3K4, on Wednesday, May 1, at 11am.
More information on the Growing Organics Monitor Farm Programme is available here.
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