Good calf rearing to improve cow performance – Netherlands dairy study tour

Date published: 28 January 2019

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is offering dairy farmers who rear their own herd replacements, the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands to learn about innovative management practices in calf rearing.

The rearing regime for a calf in the first 60 days of its life is key to dairy cow lifetime performance.

A particular focus of the study tour will be the impact of higher pre-weaning growth rate on subsequent milk yield throughout the cow’s life. 

This study tour is part of the Farm Innovation Visits Scheme which is being delivered by DAERA’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

The tour will include visits to several progressive dairy farms that implement stringent protocols on their calf rearing units and will also include input from Leonel Leal, Trouw Nutreco researcher. The farm visits are being co-ordinated with the assistance of Ceesjan Huiden of VDK Products, a supplier of calf housing products. Participants will see a range of calf housing options in operation across the units visited.

Seeing advanced management practices and hearing directly from farmers in the Netherlands will help participants reflect on their own practices and consider the opportunities to improve the performance of their heifer rearing enterprise and the long term performance of their dairy herd. 

The group will leave from Belfast International Airport on 17 March and will return on 19 March and will be led by CAFRE advisers Michael Garvey and Alan Hopps.

Fifteen places are available and will be awarded on a competitive basis.

Applications are invited from one member or employee of a farm business who is 18 years old on the application closing date and not in full-time education. To increase the benefits arising from the study tour, all applicants must identify a group of farmers to share their findings with upon their return. 

The Farm Innovation Visit scheme, which is part of the NI Rural Development Programme and part funded by the EU, will cover the costs associated with setting up the visit, accommodation, travel outside of Northern Ireland, breakfast, lunch and evening meals when in the Netherlands. Participants will be expected to meet any additional costs including farm relief and travel insurance.

Dairy farmers who rear their own replacement heifers and who are interested in participating can find out more details and complete an application on the CAFRE website.

Applications open on Wednesday 30 January and close on Wednesday 13 February at 4pm.

 

Notes to editors: 

 

  1. The department may take photographs and videos at announcements and events to publicise its work. Photographs, interviews, videos or other recordings may be issued to media organisations for publicity purposes or used in promotional material, including in publications, newspapers, magazines, other print media, on television, radio and electronic media (including social media and the internet). Photographs and videos will also be stored on the department’s internal records management system. The department will keep the photographs and recordings for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which they have been obtained. The department’s Privacy Policy is available on our website.
  2. Follow DAERA on Twitter and Facebook.
  3. All media enquiries to DAERA Press Office or tel: 028 9052 4619.

Share this page

Back to top