In south Kerry, a template for a successful suckler system has evolved in a region where fragmentation is the norm, rainfall is high and land quality can vary with every bend in the road.
There’s top-notch grazing ground interspersed with rugged mountain and soft bogland.
A summer calving system suits best, allowing ground to be closed up for silage once cows are weaned in early spring and can be sent off to graze on rougher ground ahead of calving.
It’s an area where suckler herds and drystock have always reigned but now, even on the Iveragh Peninsula, cow numbers aren’t immune from slipping and one final fallout from the economic crash of the Celtic Tiger is starting to be felt.
Recently, I sat down with Paddy Fitzgerald, Fionan Kissane and Colm Mangan to gauge the views of younger suckler farmers in the area and see where the challenges and opportunities are.
“Age profile is the biggest thing,” says Fionan.
“There’s a lost generation there somewhere. There’s probably only one or two more of my own age group [early thirties] farming here. Those a few years older, in their late thirties to early forties, who had a trade, after the economic crash they all went away to Australia or places like that and never came back. And if they did come back they never got involved with farming. That’s showing now.
“Their fathers are now pushing into their late sixties or early seventies, and they have to cut back. It’s not their fault but they can’t be expected to be out calving cows.”
The Minister for Agriculture has recently announced a generational renewal commission for farming. It’s timely, but is it a bit late in the day?
All three farmers felt current policy was providing a road block for any younger farmer looking to improve their business.
‘No incentive to produce’
“There’s no incentive to produce,” adds Paddy. “All the ground is drawing something between ACRES and the organic scheme, so a farmer can keep the bare minimum and they’re less inclined to hand over to the next generation if they’re interested. You have some farms that might have five or six cows now but had 20 when the reference years were there.”
Colm Mangan was born after the 2000 to 2002 reference years on which the BISS payment is still largely based.
At 21 years of age, he is one of the youngest farmers in the area.
“You could probably count on one hand the amount of people my age with an interest in farming. It’s not easy starting too when you’re trying to get ground and entitlements sorted.”
All acknowledged that being able to get entitlements from the National Reserve was a big help.
The catch is those were available on naked acres, but with most ground tied up in long-term schemes, it’s difficult to find them.
Fionan feels that an incentive needed to be there for those farmers to get out.
South Kerry suckler farmers, Paddy Fitzgerald, Fionan Kissane and Colm Mangan at Iveragh Co-operative Mart in Cahersiveen.
“If they don’t have a family member interested that they could lease to, a young trained farmer or something; it needs to be looked at.”
All three believe that a production element is needed in any future schemes as this allows for money to be spent in the locality on other services. Options are limited in the area with drystock farming and tourism the two bigger economic activities.
Paddy
Fitzgerald,
Waterville
Paddy farms at Waterville, where he runs a weanling system selling the progeny of his 40 Charolais- and Limousin-cross cows.
The farm was a dairy farm until 2010 but the area around the yard was limited, so he switched to sucklers.
This allowed him to up his cow numbers and to optimise his land base and facilities. Calving is equally split between summer and spring calving.
He previously used all Limousin bulls but now has a Charolais stock bull as he found he was able to sell a heavier weanling.
Based in Renard, west of Cahersiveen, Fionan calves down over 120 cows and runs a sheep flock of a few hundred ewes as well.
The cows are a mix of well-bred red Limousin or Charolais cross cows. It’s all stock bulls, most of which are Charolais, but a Limousin is used for the heifers.
All calving takes place within two months beginning in late June. Bull weanlings are sold at close to 12 months of age.
Calves are weaned in spring, with cows going to different outfarms before returning to the home yard at calving time.
Colm runs the family farm at Dromid, where he has about 40 cows and a flock of ewes.
There are some Limousin cows but most of the herd are Charolais and they are crossed back to a Charolais bull.
His current bull was purchased at the Charolais Society sale in Elphin, Co Roscommon.
It’s a spring-calving system selling weanlings.
All cows are calved at home and kept there for breeding before being split up and going to different bits of ground for the rest of the year.
He purchased a baler in recent years and began contracting.
Next week, in part two of the south Kerry conversation, we’ll discuss:
What can be done to address the decline in numbers and incentivise younger farmers to stay involved.On-farm breeding decisions, including replacement heifer options.Making the best of farm fragmentation.How a reducing population is impacting the area.
In south Kerry, a template for a successful suckler system has evolved in a region where fragmentation is the norm, rainfall is high and land quality can vary with every bend in the road.
There’s top-notch grazing ground interspersed with rugged mountain and soft bogland.
A summer calving system suits best, allowing ground to be closed up for silage once cows are weaned in early spring and can be sent off to graze on rougher ground ahead of calving.
It’s an area where suckler herds and drystock have always reigned but now, even on the Iveragh Peninsula, cow numbers aren’t immune from slipping and one final fallout from the economic crash of the Celtic Tiger is starting to be felt.
Recently, I sat down with Paddy Fitzgerald, Fionan Kissane and Colm Mangan to gauge the views of younger suckler farmers in the area and see where the challenges and opportunities are.
“Age profile is the biggest thing,” says Fionan.
“There’s a lost generation there somewhere. There’s probably only one or two more of my own age group [early thirties] farming here. Those a few years older, in their late thirties to early forties, who had a trade, after the economic crash they all went away to Australia or places like that and never came back. And if they did come back they never got involved with farming. That’s showing now.
“Their fathers are now pushing into their late sixties or early seventies, and they have to cut back. It’s not their fault but they can’t be expected to be out calving cows.”
The Minister for Agriculture has recently announced a generational renewal commission for farming. It’s timely, but is it a bit late in the day?
All three farmers felt current policy was providing a road block for any younger farmer looking to improve their business.
‘No incentive to produce’
“There’s no incentive to produce,” adds Paddy. “All the ground is drawing something between ACRES and the organic scheme, so a farmer can keep the bare minimum and they’re less inclined to hand over to the next generation if they’re interested. You have some farms that might have five or six cows now but had 20 when the reference years were there.”
Colm Mangan was born after the 2000 to 2002 reference years on which the BISS payment is still largely based.
At 21 years of age, he is one of the youngest farmers in the area.
“You could probably count on one hand the amount of people my age with an interest in farming. It’s not easy starting too when you’re trying to get ground and entitlements sorted.”
All acknowledged that being able to get entitlements from the National Reserve was a big help.
The catch is those were available on naked acres, but with most ground tied up in long-term schemes, it’s difficult to find them.
Fionan feels that an incentive needed to be there for those farmers to get out.
South Kerry suckler farmers, Paddy Fitzgerald, Fionan Kissane and Colm Mangan at Iveragh Co-operative Mart in Cahersiveen.
“If they don’t have a family member interested that they could lease to, a young trained farmer or something; it needs to be looked at.”
All three believe that a production element is needed in any future schemes as this allows for money to be spent in the locality on other services. Options are limited in the area with drystock farming and tourism the two bigger economic activities.
Paddy
Fitzgerald,
Waterville
Paddy farms at Waterville, where he runs a weanling system selling the progeny of his 40 Charolais- and Limousin-cross cows.
The farm was a dairy farm until 2010 but the area around the yard was limited, so he switched to sucklers.
This allowed him to up his cow numbers and to optimise his land base and facilities. Calving is equally split between summer and spring calving.
He previously used all Limousin bulls but now has a Charolais stock bull as he found he was able to sell a heavier weanling.
Based in Renard, west of Cahersiveen, Fionan calves down over 120 cows and runs a sheep flock of a few hundred ewes as well.
The cows are a mix of well-bred red Limousin or Charolais cross cows. It’s all stock bulls, most of which are Charolais, but a Limousin is used for the heifers.
All calving takes place within two months beginning in late June. Bull weanlings are sold at close to 12 months of age.
Calves are weaned in spring, with cows going to different outfarms before returning to the home yard at calving time.
Colm runs the family farm at Dromid, where he has about 40 cows and a flock of ewes.
There are some Limousin cows but most of the herd are Charolais and they are crossed back to a Charolais bull.
His current bull was purchased at the Charolais Society sale in Elphin, Co Roscommon.
It’s a spring-calving system selling weanlings.
All cows are calved at home and kept there for breeding before being split up and going to different bits of ground for the rest of the year.
He purchased a baler in recent years and began contracting.
Next week, in part two of the south Kerry conversation, we’ll discuss:
What can be done to address the decline in numbers and incentivise younger farmers to stay involved.On-farm breeding decisions, including replacement heifer options.Making the best of farm fragmentation.How a reducing population is impacting the area.
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