This document discusses the dairy farming operations of Kevin Bourke and Thomas Mahon. Kevin Bourke milks 52 cows and achieves high milk quality results, with an SCC average of 133,000 and TBC average of 8,000. He attributes his success to dry cow treatment, lime in cubicles, consistent milking routines, and milk recording. Thomas Mahon milks 44 cows and also has good milk quality, with averages of 139,000 SCC and 14,000 TBC. He and his son are expanding facilities and hope to milk 70 cows after quotas end.

1. 32 DAIRYING Irish Farmers Journal 28 September 2013
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I
f you drive past Kevin
Bourke’s farmyard, you
can immediately see how
clean he keeps everything
and the attention to detail
on farmyard maintenance,
etc. Kevin is spring milking
52 cows supplying almost
280,000 litres to Tipperary
Co-op (5,300 litres/cow deliv-
ered). He has a 39ha block of
land and cows can walk to it
all, if required.
Key ingredients
vital for success
Tkey ingredients which
he feels are essential to
achieving the good milk qual-
ity results on his farm. In no
particular order, he suggests:
Dry cow tubes at drying
off for all cows; he uses
Cepravin for cows with a
long dry period and high cell
count and Boviclox for cows
with a lower cell count and a
shorter dry period.
Lime is spread on the cu-
bicles when cows are housed;
Consistent routine in the
milking parlour.
Keeping the machine in or-
der and especially changing
liners when required.
Milk recording.
Thomas Mahon and his
son, Eanna, were busy build-
ing a new cubicle shed and
slurry storage when we
called. They are farming on
the shores of Camus Bay
near Kinvara, Co Galway.
Supplying Arrabawn Co-op,
they milked 44 cows in 2012,
giving 254,000 litres of spring
milk. When quotas go, they
hope to be able to milk close
to 70 cows. They farm 120
acres, with 80 acres available
for grazing.
Milk quality results are
good, averaging 14,000 TBC
and 139,000 SCC. TBC was
very high for the two months
where milk supply was small
– January, 22,000 and Novem-
ber 43,000. Other than that,
TBC results were mostly less
than 15. SCC results were
also good, only breaching
200,000 for the two small sup-
ply months – December (262)
and January (204).
FACTFILE
Farming system: In 2013,
milking 44 cows in spring
milk production supply-
ing Arrabawn, 120 acres
farmed (48.5ha), 5,780
litres (1,270 gallons) per
cow delivered at 4.23% fat
and 3.49% protein.
Parlour: Five-unit her-
ringbone.
SCC results: Average of
139,000 for 2012.
TBC results: Average of
14,000 for 2012.
Thomas comments:
“Water is a big cost for us
as we don’t have our own
on-farm well. We are so
close to the water’s edge
yet we have to pay over
€11/m3
for water. We must
look into harvesting water
or else researching how we
might take the salt out of
the water.”
Milk quality tip: “Keep-
ing the herd young helps
milk quality. This year, we
have 19 heifer calves and 16
in-calf heifers.”
Judge’s comment:
“Thomas and his son,
Eanna, seem to have a
good routine. While Eanna
works off-farm three days
a week, between father
and son they operate a
spring-calving system that
minimises workload and
SCC on Mahon farm
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
DNOSAJJMAMFJ
SCC on Bourke farm
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
DNOSAJJMAMF
Model
Surrounded by stone walls and Camus Bay in the background,
the Mahon herd are always near the beach.
The new cubicle shed and slurry storage to allow for herd expan-
sion from 50 to 70 milking cows post 2015.
Thomas Mahon (second from left) with his son Eanna (far right) and Jim Kehoe, Arrabawn with the
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Irish Farmers Journal 28 September 2013 DAIRYING 33
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FACTFILE
Farming system: In 2012,
milking 52 cows in spring
milk production supplying
Tipperary Co-op, 96 acres
farmed (39ha), 5,350 litres
(1,180 gals) per cow delivered
at 4.10% fat and 3.58%
protein
Parlour: Six-unit herring-
bone.
SCC results: Average
133,000 for 2012.
TBC results: Average of
8,000 for 2012.
Kevin comments: “Milk
improved by pre-cooling milk
before it reaches the bulk
tank. Learning from what
mistakes I have made down
through the years; in a word,
it’s ‘experience’.”
Milk quality tip: “I use Hy-
drosan Plus which is made up
in the morning and held for
the afternoon rinse. We use a
de-scaler every eight days.”
Judge’s comment: “Kevin
Bourke and his wife have a
nice and clean set-up which,
again, proves that you don’t
need to spend a lot of money
on fancy equipment to pro-
duce quality milk; attention to
detail, experience and cleanli-
ness is delivering.”
farm representing Tipperary Co-op
Milk quality results are
very good, averaging 8,000 in
TBC and 133,000 in SCC. TBC
is mostly less than 10 except
for the months when milk
supply is very small.
SCC is consistently less
than 130,000 and only rose
to 172,000 in November. The
average fat percentage was
4.10% and protein was 3.58%
for 2012.
Tipperary also measures
Thermoduric bacteria and,
for the most part, readings
were around 100 but rose to
1,000 at peak in March.
Kevin uses 90 litres of
water to rinse his plant (15
litres per unit). He uses 270g
of powder detergent for his
six-unit plant. This deter-
gent dilution is circulated
through the plant for eight to
10 minutes and this is then
drained to a holding trough
in the dairy.
He leaves the stain of the
solution on the plant during
the day and rinses the plant
with 90 litres of water before
evening milking. The deter-
gent solution is re-used once
before it is dumped.
Kevin only uses a hot wash
once per week and, when he
hot washes, he has 200 litres
of hot water available at
70°C. A descaler is also used
every eight days. Kevin had
started to cluster dip using
a dilution of peracetic acid.
Once a high cell count cow is
milked, the cluster is dipped
into the solution in an effort
to stop cross infection.
The British Friesian background is clear to be seen
in the Bourke herd near Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary.
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