Over 120 delegates at the Macra na Feirme Rally, being held in Cork this weekend, attended the dairy farm walks on Saturday morning. The theme of this year’s rally is “Inspiration for this generation” and those on the dairy tour were certainly inspired by the host farmers.

The first walk was held on the farm of Michael and Shirley Bateman, in Crookstown. Michael is milking 500 cows on a 170ha farm. He outlined how he and his family have expanded in farming over the years.

In 1988, his father Norman sat down with Michael and his two brothers, Barry and Donald, and asked which of them wanted to farm. Three hands were raised. From that day on, Michael says the whole family worked together on a plan for the three Batemans to be dairy farmers.

In 2005, Michael went into partnership with a tillage farmer on what was then the outfarm in Crookstown and began setting up a dairy farm there, bringing 80 cows from the home farm near Bandon and over the past 10 years he has increased land area and cow numbers to 500 cows.

Visitors to Michael’s farm saw the investments he has made in milking and low cost cow housing, along with roadways, fencing, water and grass varieties. Total investments around the farmyard came to €1,250, excluding the cost of the cow.

Michael also explained the new arrangement he has set up with Cork dual star Briege Corkery and her fiancé Diarmuid Scannell, who have come on board as share-milkers.

The second farm walk was held on the farm of Gerard and Gretta Buckley near Coachford in Co Cork. The Buckleys are milking 170 cows on a 52ha block, having grown cow numbers from 80 cows in 1997 and, together with farm manager Vicky, are planning to increase cow numbers to 280 over the coming years.

EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan was among those who visited the farm and heard Gerard speak passionately about grassland management and animal breeding and how focusing on improving in both of these areas has made a big contribution to increasing farm profitability.

Setting goals and planning for the future was a common theme throughout both farm walks. Visitors to the Buckley farm got an insight into the Buckley family’s future goals, both on and off farm. The dairy farm walks were facilitated by Aidan Brennan of the Irish Farmers Journal and he encouraged those in attendance to start setting goals for themselves and to begin by writing down their goals and referring back to them over time.