ICBF has developed a new and improved Co-Op Performance Discussion Group Report that advisers can use to assist their dairy farmer clients. This is based on feedback from both advisers and farmers to help plan ahead for upcoming changes to Ireland’s nitrates derogation requirements from 2023 onwards.
In particular, this report calculates the litres per cow produced on average in 2020 & 2021. This indicates the organic nitrogen band catergory a dairy farmer falls into for future nitrates calculations. This is based on co-op data from the dairy herd performance report that is available to dairy farmers on ICBF .
| Below listed are the proposed nitrates bands.
Banding categories (DAFM) |
||
| Average Milk Yield (kg)/cow | Total Nitrogen (kg/cow/year) | Total Phosphorus (kg/cow/year) |
| <4500kg | 80 | 12 |
| 4500 – 6,500kg | 92 | 13.6 |
| >6,500kg | 106 | 15.8 |
* Milk density factor: 1.0297 ratio factor used to convert between volume in litres and kilograms of milk, i.e., 1 litre of milk corresponds to 1.0297 kg of milk.
This report also allows for comparison and analysis of milk performance such as Butterfat and Protein % as well as SCC and milk solids per cow. This report helps farmers and advisers quickly identify any areas that have not improved, as well as areas of increased performance in milk supplied to the co-op in the corresponding time.
ICBF has generated recent dairy herd co-op performance reports where advisers and farmers can monitor their litres produced for the first 6 months of the year (January to June 2022). This will allow comparison in litres for the corresponding period in both 2021 & 2022. This will highlight any areas of improvement or areas for attention for the remainder of the year.
Dairy discussion group farmers can now view and forward plan in conjunction with their farm advisers their perspective nitrates positions going forward. If you have any query on the Dairy Herd Performance report, please contact the HerdPlus team on 023-8820452 or email [email protected] .