River Blackwater Catchment Series: 480 cows with water quality at helm
Dairygold milk supplier, Kevin Twomey is milking 480 cows in Ballyhooley, Co. Cork alongside the River Blackwater valley, on 450 acres of land.
The milking platform is stocked at 2.7 cows/ha, with cows out at grass by night since the latter stages of February.
The main driver of Kevin's system is maximising days at grass while minimising meal and extra supplementation fed.
Genetics and herd performance
For the last couple of years, Kevin has introduced Jersey genetics to his herd of high economic breeding index (EBI) Holstein Friesians, to further build on the great fertility and production traits brought by the Holstein genetics.
For the coming breeding season, Kevin will return to using high EBI Holstein Friesian bulls, to ensure a more balanced cow going forward.
The herd has an average EBI of €257 (top 2% in the country), with a milk sub-index of €74, fertility sub-index of €117, and maintenance sub-index of €21. The average EBI of the 2025 spring-born calves was €299.
Even in a challenging year like 2024, the cows performed very well in Kevin's system, delivering over 450kg of milk solids/cow at 4.53% fat and 3.83% protein.
The gathering yard leading into the rotary in Kevin's yard The cubicle shed and open top cubicles on the farm
Kevin's aim is to produce a cow that can deliver high milk solids, with good health traits and a maintenance of between €15 and €25.
This breeding protocol will also help Kevin deliver on his sustainability targets, reducing his Nutrient Balance figure, as his cows can effectively convert grass to milk solids without much extra costs.
River Blackwater Catchment
The River Blackwater runs right through Kevin's farm. Therefore, implementing effective nutrient management and protective measures is key for the Co. Cork farmer in maintaining and improving the water quality status in the river.
Kevin believes that 'everyone has a role to play in this', as there are a lot of cows and a lot of tillage in the areas surrounding the River Blackwater.
He feels that it should not just be down to individual farmers to take up these practices and measures and said: 'We need all farmers involved along the way'.
Kevin partakes in the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) with Dairygold and has qualified for European Innovation Partnership (EIP) funding, through the 'Farming for Water' initiative, which he describes as 'easy to draw down, as it is easy to understand it'.
Kevin is currently taking the following action on his farm through the EIP funding:
Measure Min Max Unit Payment rate 1 Rainwater Management plan 1 1 /plan €250 2 Farmer Training Course 1 1 /course €156 4 Nitrogen Surplus 4 4 /plan €250 23 Water Bars 1 6 /unit €213 24 Sediment Traps 1 6 /unit/year €120 30 Bovine exclusion from water bodies 10m 1000m /m €2.77 39 Host Farmer Payment 1 5 /farmer €180 40 Contractor Mobilisation Fee 1 1 /applicant €200 42 Farmyard bucket and brush 1 1 50% of cost to max of €2,000 €2,000 43 Slurry Testing 1 4 /farmer €70
Nutrient management
Kevin's farm is a light soil type, where retaining nitrogen (N) in the soil can be a challenge.
Maximising the utilisation of this nitrogen is crucial for driving returns in production, grass growth, calf weight gain, and milk sales, which Kevin can achieve by applying fertiliser at the right rates, at the right times, and in the right places.
This careful balance between nutrient inputs and outputs clearly demonstrates how farming with water quality in mind can be both environmentally and economically sustainable, even in an intensive, high-performing system.
The cow going out to grass after milking
Kevin has a nitrogen balance of 187kg of N/ha and a phosphorus balance of 4.5kg of P/ha, and is consistently working towards improving these figures.
He is improving them though implementing numerous practices, including the following:
Getting soil fertility right by correcting soil pH and maintaining optimal P and K indexes; Effectively utilising low emission slurry spreading (LESS); Limiting his N usage; Timing his N applications to get the full value of nutrients, as going out too early or in the wrong conditions with slurry or chemical fertiliser wastes a lot of the nutrients and limits the grass growth response; Investing in slurry storage, both for slurry and soiled water, to give him a better window to hold slurry and improve utilisation by applying it at the right times.
The cows out grazing after milking
Kevin noted the 67% good to high quality status in the River Blackwater, which has its catchment in a dense agricultural area, according to a catchment report produced by the EPA in 2024.
The Dairygold supplier believes it is in everyone's interest to improve water quality and is reaching out to fellow farmers, saying: 'Do a small bit more to get the moderate quality status waters into a good quality status.'
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