Labour Efficient Calf Rearing Systems

Average herd size in Northern Ireland has increased from 40 cows in 1990 to 67 cows in 2005.  Almost 20 percent of herds now have over 100 cows.  These increases in both herd size and levels of milk production have implications for labour use on farm.  The result is less time being available for labour demanding tasks such as calf rearing.

Due to the time taken in calf rearing, many farmers are now considering more labour efficient calf rearing systems rather than the traditional bucket rearing system.  These include:

Research is currently ongoing at AFBI Hillsborough on both computerised and New Zealand style calf feeding systems.  Both systems have led to considerable reductions in the daily labour requirement.  Where calves were reared on a New Zealand style system and fed once daily with milk replacer through a group feeder, labour input per calf per day was only 2.4 minutes compared to 7.1 minutes per day on a conventional bucket rearing system with calves fed twice daily.  There were no effects of feeding system on calf performance.

In a Teagasc Moorepark/UCD study it was also established that it only takes half as long to feed calves once daily with a teat system or computerised feeding system compared to twice daily bucket feeding.  In addition it is likely that the group housing of calves in labour efficient rearing systems would save time in both bedding and cleaning out.

The Teagasc study established that calf rearing accounts for 7 percent of annual farm labour input, peaking at 13 percent  for a 12-week period in March.  This is due to the seasonal nature of calving in the Republic of Ireland, but in Northern Ireland the majority of dairy herds calve over an extended period during the winter.  Therefore it is likely that the proportion of annual farm labour input time spent on calf rearing may be higher here than that reported in the Republic of Ireland.

Labour efficient calf rearing systems are being investigated in a new dairying technology project conducted by CAFRE staff at Greenmount Campus.  This technology project will involve a questionnaire to establish current calf rearing practices and an economic evaluation of the various labour efficient calf rearing systems.  If you operate a labour efficient calf rearing system and would like to be involved in this project, please contact Greenmount  Campus on 028 9442 6861.

National Diploma students Darren and Aidan O’Hare discussing labour efficient calf rearing systems with David Jones and Dr David Mackey, Dairying Technologist.