I farm: “A tillage, grassland and dairy enterprise alongside my father, Martin. We grow both winter and spring cereals and produce haylage for horse feed. Kehoe Farming is our animal feed and bedding business. On top of that we do some agri-contracting.”
The switch: “We are going into our second year of dairying. We’re currently milking 65 Holstein Friesian cows in an indoor robotic system.”
Feeding: “Cows are housed all year round and their diet is mainly maize silage, which we grow ourselves.”
This week: “We are spraying off stubbles and getting ready for tilling. We hope to plant 30 acres of beans next week. We use a min-till system that really benefits soil structure.”
Next job: “We have farmyard manure and slurry to put out and we also have a few cows due to calve. This time of the year is particularly busy in the feed mill, with a high demand for calf starter products.”
Tillage: “We have 50 acres of winter wheat and 80 acres of winter barley growing. These were sown later than usual so yields are back a bit from the targets for this time of year. We have spring barley, oats and beans to go in over the next few weeks, if the weather permits.”
Business: “After the sugar beet industry finished up, we set up Kehoe Farming to add value to our products. We started off producing animal bedding from the straw. We then progressed into producing animal feed, and we now produce cattle and horse rations. The business employs 10 people.”
Best investment: “The dairy system we run is really going well. A lot of work and time went into it and choosing to go down a continental-style, indoor system was a challenge. But it works really well and it gives us a steady income.”