There was a great turn-out for the first FBD Young Farmer of the Year farm walk on Maighread Barron’s farm in Co Waterford. The Irish Farmers Journal asked some of the attendees about their plans for the future, access to finance and if they think dairy farming is the way forward.

Maighread Barron

After spending some time in New Zealand milking cows on her college work placement and working on a 1,000 cow dairy farm in Cork, Maighread made the leap to leasing her own farm with the help of her parents in January 2018.

“I always had it in the back of my mind that I would eventually lease or buy a place, my father actually saw this place being advertised for lease in the paper and we came down and did a farm walk. We got on really well, put in an offer and the next day the farmer rang us up saying the place was ours if we wanted it. It all happened really fast.”

The young dairy farmer who is currently in the second year of her 15-year lease, opened up her farm to the public to showcase how the operation is working.

“I am currently milking 92 cows on 100ac and hope to get the herd up to 108 in the near future.”

Maighread has recently installed a 12-unit DeLaval parlour and widened the pit.

“In terms of finance my mother and father went and acted as guarantors and they put up some of the farm at home as collateral in case anything did go wrong. On paper, it's down as an 80:20 partnership. It is my responsibility to pay back the banks but them being down as partners made it easier for me to get access to finance.”

Cian Jobe

“I am from a small beef farm in Longford and at the moment I am keeping dairy heifers there. Next year, I will look into share-milking and then leasing in two or three years’ time. Access to funds will be the tell-tale to whether I get into dairy or not.

"I already have funds to purchase the heifers, so I am repaying that at the moment. It was a very simple process with the bank, however, it won’t be as simple the next time as there will be a lot more money and planning involved. I think you need to show repayment capacity and the ability that you can manage a farm."

Michael Carey

“In terms of finance, a good track record is very important. I have been borrowing money since I was 18 and it’s the ability to pay it back from your own wages the banks are looking at and are looking at very closely.

"If you have any red marks on your name the banks will pick it up. Even a simple thing like betting on the Grand National, they will pick it up, just have a clean account and know where your money is going and having a good track record of things.”

David Kehoe

“I am from a drystock farm but as of March this year we have 52 dairy heifer calves bought and we hope to be calving down 70 heifers in March 2021.

"My main reason for getting out of sheep is money. Last summer sickened me; we were still paying for the feed bill and not making a penny.

"I think dairy is the way forward for any young person.The likes of the Young Farmer Scheme would be a great opportunity but it is all talk at the moment. I think for me the only way I could have access to finance is to have security on the farm.

"Anyone starting out like myself, instead of going nuts year one, maybe do the parlour year one and do it right. Then bit by bit after that, instead of putting yourself under a lot of financial pressure.”

James Kavanagh

“I come from a dairy background and we recently installed a 20-unit Dairymaster parlour at home. The money is in dairy and it is good enough at the moment that you can keep re-investing back into the farm.

"Ireland is only a dot in the water in the worldwide dairy industry, I don’t think that too many people can get into dairy farming. I done my Green Cert in Coláiste an Átha with Paul Doran which is in Co Wexford.

"My advice to anyone thinking about getting into the industry is get as much experience as you can working on dairy farms, think about it strongly because it is a seven day a week job, but there is money to be made in it. It was great to see on the farm walk here this evening how it can be done, how you can rent your own farm and take the jump to do it yourself.”