| 693 acres (277 ha) |
| 290 dairy cows |
| 200 dairy young stock |
| 84 acres barley & wheat |
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For its first meeting of 1998 the North Down Grassland Management Team visited the Carrowreagh group of farms owned by the Blakiston Houston Estate Company and managed by team member Ivor Lowry. The farm is situated near Dundonald on the outskirts of Belfast. As can be seen in this photograph it is right against the city limits. | |||
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| The Carrowreagh group is split into three farms which take up a side of one of the Craigantlet Hills.
Carrowreagh (150 feet above sea level)
Reynolds (500 feet above sea level)
Glenmoore (400 feet above sea level)
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Farm Staff
All three farms are managed by Ivor Lowry. In addition there are three full time herdsmen and three tractor men / relief milkers.
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Dairy Cows |
Paddock Area |
Accessible Silage Area |
| Carrowreagh Herd 100 spring calving cows - calving (Jan-Mar) Grazed on one day paddocks Self feed silage Flat rate feeding - max 7kg/head/day |
75 acres | 80 acres |
| Reynolds Herd 200 Autumn calving cows Grazed on one day paddocks Diet fed silage No meal at grass |
106 acres | 70 acres |
The first farm the group visited was the main Carrowreagh farm. This is right on the Belfast city limits. Grass grows considerably earlier here than at Reynolds which is some 350 feet further up the hill. Because of this the spring calving portion of the herd is kept here. This farm also houses the calf rearing facilities. The calves are fed whole milk twice a day for two weeks and then fed powdered milk once a day until weaning. After weaning they are placed in a cubicle shed until turnout.
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Extended Grazing Work is ongoing to improve the grazing system, new lanes have been constructed and the paddocks are currently being refitted with electric fencing. In addition to this there is a conservation programme of hardwood planting has been ongoing for some time. Ash, Beech and Oak are being used. |
| Housing Facilities The Carrowreagh herd have a very simple system of cubicle houses with two self feed silos. In addition to these ring feeders and trailers are also used. The cubicles are well bedded down with straw which Ivor believes is very important. Ivor raised the question as to whether the 3' 9" cubicles needed replaced but the group thought the cows looked very comfortable. Ivor told the group that the cows are walked through a foot bath regularly. The group then traveled up to Reynolds farm at the top of the hill. |
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Winter Feeding During the winter period the 200 autumn calving cows at Reynolds farm are fed with a diet feeder. Since there is no space for the storage of straights on the farm this meal bin had been mounted on RSJ's to allow easy filling of the diet feeder with a bought in blend. This is then dispensed through a hole in the wall of the shed were it drops into a feed bunker below. Ivor's reason for choosing a diet feeder was that it made it easy to ration silage so that none was left when it came to feeding the following day. He said this was vitally important as it was very hard to clean out the feed bunker. |
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Autumn Calving Ivor also said that he found the loafing area to the front of the cubicles very useful as cows that were in heat tended to congregate there making heat detection easier. |
Breeding Management
Nominated AI Services Bulls are used e.g.: Gibbon, Cash, Mascot. With emphasis laid on reliability and protein
Silage
4,500 tonnes of grass silage is made each year by farm staff. An inoculant additive is used.
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Silage Analysis 1997
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Whole Herd Performance
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