Farm Visit

Question 1

How many milking cows and cattle has the Bllydehob farmer got?

Answer 1

70 milking cows, 140 cattle altogether.

Question 2

How many acres has the farm and around the house in Ballydehob got?

Answer 2

150 acres of grass, 70 acres around the farm.

Question 3

How many bales does the farm in Ballydehob Produce?

Answer 3

1,000 round bales/year produced.

Question 4

Info about Ballydehob’s milk

Answer 4

Milk: 1.4 kilo solids/day per cow. (5% butterfat, 4.2% protein). Highest would be 2 kg solids/day per cow at other times of the year.

Question 5

Grass in Ballydehob

Answer 5

Really wet, so no need for supplementary feed

Question 6

Dairy Parlour (Ballydehob)

Answer 6

Dairy parlour – 14 units. Takes 50 minutes to milk the 70 cows.

Question 7

Farm Forest (Ballydehob)

Answer 7

Forest plantation – Sitka spruce only. 24 years old. Poor biodiversity, but soft wood more economical and grows easier in poor land. Government keeps the carbon credits, so not a great ‘deal’ for farmers to devote land to this?….

Question 8

Mushrooms in the Ballydehob Farm

Answer 8

Some fungi are decomposers which mean that they break down plant and animal debris, thus cycling nutrients and increasing their availability in the soil.