Farming in ‘clover’ in Ballylooby
Hundreds of visitors, ranging from young to old, visited the Walsh family’s dairy farm in Ballylooby, Co. Tipperary yesterday evening to see the steps the award-winning dairy farm is taking to protect the environment.
Farming in tune with nature, John and Brendan Walsh were the overall winners of the 2024 Teagasc/FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards. They milk 165 cows on a platform of 63 hectares and a total grassland area of 107 hectares, and supply Dairygold co-op.
At the ‘Dairying at Dusk’ event, the effort involved in maintaining and enhancing hedgerows was showcased, with the Walsh family planting new hedges, and managing existing ones, to provide food for the birds, pollen for the pollinators and shelter and shade for the livestock. As part of a biodiversity assessment completed through the Teagasc Signpost Programme in 2022, some 20 pollinators were found on the farm.
Pictured at 'Dairying at Dusk' - An Evening Walk through the Award-Winning Farm of John and Brendan Walsh, Ballylooby, Cahir, Co. Tipperary organised by Teagasc, FBD and Dairygold are: (front row) hosts Claire, Brendan, John, Maria and Helena Walsh with (back row) William Ryan, Dairygold; Rena Ryan, FBD; and Dr Tom O'Dwyer, Head of Teagasc Signpost Programme. Picture: O'Gorman Photography.
John Walsh outlined the care he takes when planting a new hedgerow, from selecting the plant mix, to the pruning in the first three years, and then the management subsequently to ensure a wide base, 8 foot tall and whitethorns flourishing every 50 metres.
Technology adoption
The adoption of technologies is also evident all around the farm. Clover-rich swards allow less chemical nitrogen to be applied while areas of multispecies swards, containing Chicory, Plantain, White and Red clover and ryegrass were planted two years ago to see what they can contribute to the farming system.
Crowds flowing in for 'Dairying at Dusk' - An Evening Walk through the Award-Winning Farm of John and Brendan Walsh, Ballylooby, Cahir, Co. Tipperary organised by Teagasc, FBD and Dairygold. Picture: O'Gorman Photography.
The herd
The herd of cows are the pride and joy of John and Brendan Walsh, this award-winning family partnership. Brendan Walsh spoke about the years of selective breeding using the Economic Breeding Index (EBI) to make informed breeding decisions, which has led to a fine herd of cows producing an average of 524 kilograms of milk solids per cow per year, while the carbon footprint of the milk produced is 10% lower than the national average. The carbon footprint was 0.86 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM in 2024.
Water quality
The Walsh family are also taking action to protect water quality. They have reduced their chemical fertiliser use by 40%, using 130 kilograms of nitrogen (N) per hectare per year across the farm, while producing 13.7 tonnes of grass dry matter. They spread all their slurry using low emission slurry spreading techniques (LESS), have fenced off all water courses, use GPS for precision application and created buffer strips beside water bodies.