Setting up a new dairy
farm
Teagasc, Moorepark
Introduction
 Income
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Scale
Debt
Land Rent
 Labour efficiency
 Capital costs/cow
Income/Scale/level of debt
 Assumptions
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420 kg ms /cow
2.8 cows/ha
€2 /kg ms cost
€400 /ha land rental
Income
milk price €/kgms =
Level of
debt/cow
60
€4.00
100
140
180
own land
€0
50,400
84,000
117,600
151,200
own land
€2,000
38,400
64,000
89,600
115,200
own land
€4,000
26,400
44,000
61,600
79,200
rented land (€400/ha)
€0
41,829
69,714
97,600
125,486
rented land (€400/ha)
€2,000
29,829
49,714
69,600
89,486
rented land (€400/ha)
€4,000
17,829
29,714
41,600
53,486
Income
milk price €/kgms =
Level of
debt/cow
€3.20
60
100
140
180
own land
€0
30,240
50,400
70,560
90,720
own land
€2,000
18,240
30,400
42,560
54,720
own land
€4,000
6,240
10,400
14,560
18,720
rented land (€400/ha)
€0
21,669
36,114
50,560
65,006
rented land (€400/ha)
€2,000
9,669
16,114
22,560
29,006
rented land (€400/ha)
€4,000
-2,331
-3,886
-5,440
-6,994
Labour efficiency targets
 Target 20 hr/cow/yr
1
operator + relief : 125 cows
 Family farm+ relief: 170 cows
 2 operators minimum relief : 200+ cows
 3 operators minimum relief : 300+cows
Features of Labour efficient systems
 Simple system
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Calving to grass
Compact calving
Robust cows suited to system
Minimum supplement
Single enterprise
Contract heifer rearing
Contractor for all machinery operation
Suitable infrastructure
Capital costs of a dairy farm
 Stock
 Milking facilities
 Paddocks, Roadways, Water (tunnel)
 Soil fertility, Reseeding
 Slurry storage
 Winter accommodation
 Machinery/Other housing
Soil fertility/ reseeding
 1 cow requires 4.8 t feed/yr
 Old non-ryegrass pasture (6-10t/ha/yr)
 New ryegrass, high fertility (12-18 t/ha/yr)
 Soil Fertility
 Soil test €25/sample
 Lime €22/t- (5 t/ha)
 K 40-120 kg/ha (~€1.00/kg)
 P 0-70 kg/ha (~€2.50/kg)
 Reseeding
 Grass seed €100/ha
 Tilling €100-300/ha
 Sprays €50/ha
Milking parlours
 Costs steel& concrete work - €4,000 - €7,000/unit
 Plant - €1,200-€8,000 /unit
- Milk tank €1.7 - €2.5/l
- Feeders €400-€1,500/unit
- ACR’s €400-€1000/unit
No. of units
 <100 cows
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Second hand 10-12 units
 100-200 cows –

16-22 units : 1 person milking
 200-300 cows –
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22-30 units : 1+ ACR’s or 1.5 milkers
 300-450 cows –
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30-44 units : 2 +/- ACR’s
 >450 cows – Rotary + €1,500-€2,500/unit
Grazing infrastructure
 Layout
 Mapping €15-20/ha
 Paddock size
 Roadways-cow flow
 Water
 Roads
 Width – 100 cows : 4m, +50 cows: +1 m
 Length – 25 - 50m/ha (shape & size)
 Depth 0.3 m (2 t/m3)
 Surface dust .05 m
 Cost €12-€16/m3 material
 Digging/laying €4/m3
 Tunnel
 €30-€50K
Grazing infrastructure
 Water
 Troughs (2 gals/cow) (€1.50-€1.10/gal)
 Piping (<100 cows:25 mm, 100-200: 38 mm
 Pumps (€1,500)
 Storage (>20 gals/cow)
 Total Cost €350-500/ha
 Fencing
 80-150 m/ha
 Cost 1 strand - €1-1.50/m
Slurry storage
 Slurry storage: 5.28-6.3 m3/cow
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(legal requirement)
EBT €15/m3 : €100/cow (site specific)
Lined lagoon €30/m3: €180/cow
Steel/concrete tanks €50/m3: €300/cow
Slatted tank €125/m3: €660/cow
Winter accommodation
 Feed passage
 €250-€400/cow space
 Cubicles
 €900-€1300/cow
 Wintering pad
 €8-€12/m2 ( 10-18m2/cow)
 Kale
 Similar feed cost
 Eliminate housing cost
 Very useful as part of reseeding programme
Other Capital Investment

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Machinery € 50-€1000 /cow
Other housing €150/cow
Silage pit 7 m3/cow @ €12/m3
Capital costs of a dairy farm/cow
€1,400
 Milking facilities
€1,000
 Paddocks, Roadways, Water (tunnel) €500
 Soil fertility, Reseeding
€310
 Slurry storage
€180
 Winter accommodation
€250
 Machinery/Other housing
€500
 Total
€4,140
 Stock
Conclusion
 Borrowing capacity at high efficiency

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own land - €4,000/cow
Rented land- €2,000/cow
 Capital cost of Greenfield site –
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minimum €4,000/cow
Don’t compromise efficiency
To cut costs focus on non productive assets
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Machinery, Winter housing, milking automation