Listen: Mayo man takes Young Farmer of the Year crown

“I always wanted to milk. That feeling you get first thing in the morning when going to get the cows, that morning smell – I knew that’s what I wanted from 11 or 12.”

So says Kevin Moran, just crowned the FBD Young Farmer of the Year for 2016. The 23-year-old can be claimed by two counties. A proud Mayoman, from Claremorris, he is farming in Caherlistrane across the Galway border, from where his father hails. His story is truly extraordinary, as from a standing start he is now milking 220 cows, and has won Macra’s most coveted award.

“I’m the youngest of 11: five brothers, five sisters, 23 nieces and nephews – I’ve a fantastic family”.

Kevin went to Mountbellew agricultural college straight after his Leaving Cert. “I owe Mountbellew an awful lot,” he says, paying tribute to people like Vinny Flynn, Tom Burke and Brother Michael Burke, who sadly lost his life in a car crash a couple of weeks ago.

They nominated Kevin for the Teagasc Student of the Year, which he won – a game changer, he admits. During the second year of his Green Cert, he agreed to lease his uncle Joe’s (36 ha) farm, which was ready to milk cows on, complete with parlour and paddocks. Kevin was going straight into business.

He now needed to purchase a dairy herd. He was refused finance nine times before securing the necessary funds, but wasn’t deterred.

“I never thought it wasn’t going to happen – there is always a way,” he says.

It didn’t feel that long a process – it was effectively two banks rejecting four proposals each.

“In hindsight, I can fully see the reason behind it: I had no collateral and no experience,” Kevin admits.

So what made the difference? “I’d got references from people in Aurivo, I brought my Teagasc adviser Mike Donoghue along to the interview, and ultimately met Eamon O’Reilly, an agricultural adviser with AIB, who walked the farm with me and backed the proposal.”

Were the banks conditioned by the quota era to be risk-averse?

“Yeah, but a bit of context is required too. This was in 2013 and the whole mood around lending was completely different to what it is now, but there was no appetite for risk at all. I feel that has improved; maybe they trust me more now.”

He took on a second block of land on a lease from his uncle Michael and this year more than doubled cow numbers again. The downside is that milking this year has been hard on cows and farmers alike. Two-hundred-and-twenty cows in a 12-unit parlour means five hours a day spent milking.

“It’s not fair to the cows, but rapid expansion means everything can’t be done at the same time. We are currently planning a new greenfield parlour.”

Kevin milks eight times a week himself at present, ensuring he has enough time carry out the many management tasks. Grass growth and utilisation is and has always been the focus, with cow type key to turning grass into milk and money. Kevin explains that one of the motivations to expand again this year was the opportunity that presented to radically increase the genetic merit of the herd. The 72 original cows had an average EBI of €94. Now, the first calvers have an average EBI of €173, and the heifer calves this year have an average EBI of €216.

Is aware of the demands his career is placing on him?

“Absolutely, Timmy Quinn, the man I did my placement with, and from whom I learned so much, told me: ‘If you let it, the job will consume you 24 hours a day,’ so I’m very conscious of that,” Kevin reveals.

“The calving and breeding season is very demanding – I won’t pretend otherwise. For the first six months of the year, you’re setting the farm up for that year, and for most of the next year, so it’s all hands on deck. Once the breeding is finished, I know I need downtime.

“Even in spring, I need one day a week where I can get away. I milk in the morning, walk the cows back, and then I can head away,” he says.

“I was living on the farm, and I found it difficult to switch off, there was no such thing as head space. One way I found around that was to move to the outskirts of Galway city, about 14 miles from the farm.

“I share a house with a marine biologist and a quantity surveyor. I go home in the evening and we talk about stuff a 23-year-old should be talking about: football and girls and the like.”

The interview is over, and I realise we never discussed the current poor milk prices. It’s probably fitting. For a 23-year-old with his whole life in farming ahead of him, day-to-day prices are merely a pothole in the road.

There is no calculating how important the new generation of farmers are to the agri-food sector, the economy, and to rural Ireland’s future. Kevin Moran is right at the vanguard of that generation, and is a wonderful ambassador for Irish farming.

Timeline

September 2011

Eighteen-year-old Kevin Moran starts in Mountbellew Agricultural College, having completed his Leaving Cert.

2012-13

While completing the second year of his Green Cert, Kevin undertakes to lease his uncle Joe’s farm. He secures finance to purchase over 72 cows, and starts milking. He wins the Teagasc Student of the Year award – a national competition.

2014

Kevin expands to 100 cows, from heifers reared on his uncle Michael’s adjoining farm. The farm is already making money – the profit monitor in the positive to the tune of 5c/l.

2015

Kevin is selected as a Nuffield scholar, with his task being to identify sources of finance for landless or poorly secured young and developing dairy farmers. He plans to visit New Zealand, Australia, Chile, the US and Europe to research his topic. He leases a second block of land, across the road from the farmyard, from his uncle Michael.

2016

A second rapid expansion of the herd takes place, with cow numbers brought up to 220 on 79ha, of which 65ha is the milking platform. The purchased cows are high-EBI crossbreds, rapidly improving the genetic merit of the overall herd. Kevin purchases 8ha of land.

September 2016

Kevin wins the FBD Young Farmer of the Year crown, at the age of 23.