Soon after he set up a separate dairy herd on an out farm his father gave him. With low investment and rapid expansion Seamus now milks 109 cows with plans to milk 200. Grass growth, is monitored and grass budgeted according to availability. Rotation length in September was 29 days. The herd is late spring calving with calves reared out doors.
Cows are tail painted and a strict culling policy is observed.
A yield of 4394 litres is achieved on 200 kg of concentrates. Resulting in a net margin of 10.3 ppl .The costings are set out below. With returns per litre at 28.3 ppl this gives a net margin of 10.3ppl. Seamus had a clear strategy to produce as much milk as possible to generate a net margin above 10 ppl. Seamus views leasing in land and quota as his only route to growth.