I farm: “24ha with 29ha leased. It’s mainly hilly, heavy enough ground.”
Family: “I went into partnership with my father, Mark, in 2015. We farmed sucklers and beef until last year, when we converted to dairy.”
Education: “I have a level eight degree from Dundalk IT. I took an interest in dairy while in college and I decided to give dairy farming a go myself.”
Cows: “Cows started calving down from 10 February, and they should all be calved by 15 April. Our cows are all high EBI Friesians and Jersey-crosses. We chose those breeds for their higher milk yields, fertility, milk solids and because they suit a spring calving system.”
Breeding: “We AI all of our cows, mostly with Friesian and Jersey-cross bulls. We use straws from whitehead bulls for the cows we don’t want to keep replacement heifers from. Currently we don’t have a stock bull, but I’m considering buying a whitehead bull next year to mop up after AI.”
This week: “We were getting set up for calving this week. I had all the general maintenance to do, from power washing to disinfecting to washing the parlour. I spread some urea too.”
Future plans: “Going forward, the plan is to focus on breeding and get the most profit out of the cows that we can. We can’t increase the stocking rate too much more unless we find some more suitable land.”
Last year: “I learned that on-off grazing in the spring is tough, but it’s worth the extra effort. If we hadn’t grazed the cows during the wet spring last year we would have run out of silage. We didn’t have the parlour finished as early as we would have liked, which didn’t help. Last year was definitely a learning curve.”
Quotable quote: “When you’re working on someone else’s farm, you just have to look after the cows. Farming at home, it’s a different story. You have the cashflow to look after, bills to pay and have to think about reinvesting in things like reseeding.”
Read more
My Farming Week: Bernadine and Jimmy Mulhall, Coolanowle, Co Carlow
My farming week: Michael O’Neill, Camolin, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford
My farming week: Lauren Kinsella, Carrigmore, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow
I farm: “24ha with 29ha leased. It’s mainly hilly, heavy enough ground.”
Family: “I went into partnership with my father, Mark, in 2015. We farmed sucklers and beef until last year, when we converted to dairy.”
Education: “I have a level eight degree from Dundalk IT. I took an interest in dairy while in college and I decided to give dairy farming a go myself.”
Cows: “Cows started calving down from 10 February, and they should all be calved by 15 April. Our cows are all high EBI Friesians and Jersey-crosses. We chose those breeds for their higher milk yields, fertility, milk solids and because they suit a spring calving system.”
Breeding: “We AI all of our cows, mostly with Friesian and Jersey-cross bulls. We use straws from whitehead bulls for the cows we don’t want to keep replacement heifers from. Currently we don’t have a stock bull, but I’m considering buying a whitehead bull next year to mop up after AI.”
This week: “We were getting set up for calving this week. I had all the general maintenance to do, from power washing to disinfecting to washing the parlour. I spread some urea too.”
Future plans: “Going forward, the plan is to focus on breeding and get the most profit out of the cows that we can. We can’t increase the stocking rate too much more unless we find some more suitable land.”
Last year: “I learned that on-off grazing in the spring is tough, but it’s worth the extra effort. If we hadn’t grazed the cows during the wet spring last year we would have run out of silage. We didn’t have the parlour finished as early as we would have liked, which didn’t help. Last year was definitely a learning curve.”
Quotable quote: “When you’re working on someone else’s farm, you just have to look after the cows. Farming at home, it’s a different story. You have the cashflow to look after, bills to pay and have to think about reinvesting in things like reseeding.”
Read more
My Farming Week: Bernadine and Jimmy Mulhall, Coolanowle, Co Carlow
My farming week: Michael O’Neill, Camolin, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford
My farming week: Lauren Kinsella, Carrigmore, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow
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