Leaving space for someone else’s dreams

When Frank Coffey took over the family farm in Killeentierna, near Farranfore, Co Kerry, in 1994, he was milking 40 cows on 48 acres. His ambition was to be a big farmer and milk 100 cows.

In order to achieve that goal, he needed to grow the land area. Surrounded by progressive dairy farmers, in order to access land, he had to rent outside blocks.

Turned upside down

“It was all running and racing, bring silage in and slurry out and checking cattle every day. It took an hour a day to check cattle when things went well, but it could be six hours if things went wrong,” Frank says.

In 1999, the Coffeys' lives were turned upside down when Frank’s brother died from cancer aged 33. The following year, his father died from cancer and two years later the herd was wiped out with BSE.

His work life balance was tipped in favour of work, but he wanted to have more time for living

The three events were a catalyst for Frank to take a step back and analyse what he was at. He says his work life balance was tipped in favour of work, but he wanted to have more time for living.

The extra land he was leasing allowed him to increase to 50 cows. After being depopulated with BSE, he had to buy in a new herd. The cows he bought were the wrong type of cow for the system he wanted to run.

Great start

“I bought back 40 high-yielding Holstein Friesian cows. They were big cows and cost big money. They were all calved by 17 March in the first year, so we got off to a great start.

"The thing I noticed about them though was that they didn’t like having calves. The six-week calving rate went from 100% to 60% by year two.

"Then in order to hang on to the late-calving cows, I started milking over the winter. There was no structure to the work, I was calving at the same time as breeding. It just wasn’t suiting me.”

Frank is now living the dream with 104 cows being milked

Extra land came on stream in 2006, with 38 acres leased next door to the farm. Then, in 2008, Frank got the opportunity to purchase 18 acres and in 2010 another 24 acres was leased next to this purchased land, bringing land farmed to 128 acres today. Frank is now living the dream with 104 cows being milked.

However, the goal in terms of cow numbers was only half of Frank’s life goal. He didn’t want the farm to take from family time.

Married to Siobhan, they have four children who are all mad into sport. Frank got involved in the underage GAA club and managed the u12 football when eldest son Gearoid was on the team.

Working backwards

“The u12 matches were always on at 6pm in the evenings, meaning there would be 25 kids waiting in the bus for me at 5pm. That meant I needed to have the cows milked by then, so I worked backwards.

"If it took me an hour and a half to milk, it meant I needed to go for the cows at 3.30pm, or 3pm if the cows were in a far-away paddock,” Frank says.

While the extra land allowed Frank to expand the herd, achieving this goal of more cows would have been counter-productive if it meant he hadn’t the time to attend games and matches and go on holidays with the family.

Cow type

He describes trying to run a simple grass-based block-calving system with the high-yielding cows as akin to digging a grave with a pitchfork – it just wasn’t working.

In 2010, members of the CFS Discussion Group, of which he is a member, decided to go crossbreeding with Jersey. Frank says it has changed his farm inside out.

Within four years, the six-week in-calf rate went from 61% to 90% and his calving and breeding periods are defined, allowing him to take a holiday during the breather period in April.

Asked whether he would go crossbreeding now, considering that the black and white cow has improved greatly over the last decade, he said he would: “The smaller cow suits my farm, the crossbred cow is the ideal cow for Kerry.”

I’ve achieved my goals, I think I’ll leave space for someone else to achieve their goals

All slurry spreading is carried out by a contractor, with fertiliser spread by a contractor in spring also. The 20 yearling heifers are all contract-reared, further reducing the workload. A new parlour was built in 2016, so milking takes less than an hour, with Gearoid doing four or five milkings a week.

“The spring is busy, but we cope well. I find that having enough calf housing is critical. Not having enough space is a nightmare, as it leads to more health problems and there’s no harder work than dealing with sick calves.

“One of the things that really reduced the workload on the farm has been woodchip. It completely changed the labour structure.

"I put one foot of woodchip in the calving pen at the start and only have to change it after all the cows are calved. We put woodchip under the calves also and put straw on top and it works great."

Asked if he has plans to expand the herd further, Frank says that getting to 100 cows has been his dream. Increasing cow numbers further would require more investment in the yard and facilities: “I’ve achieved my goals, I think I’ll leave space for someone else to achieve their goals."

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