I farm: “110ha in Kill, Co Waterford, in partnership with my father. It’s mostly family-owned, with some rented ground. We milked 175 cows this year and we’re hoping to go to 190 next year. We were new entrants in 2018. We had sucklers before that. I always had it in my head to go milking.”
New Zealand: “When I finished college in Waterford Institute of Technology, I went to New Zealand. I was milking on a farm in Ashburton, which is south of Christchurch.”
In 2016: “I came home and worked on a dairy farm up the road there. I bought heifer calves in 2016 as well. I reared them and calved them in 2018, so I had my own stock in the parlour when I started milking. It’s all New Zealand genetics I have here, crossbred cows. I weighed the cows last year, they’re about 480kg, a small cow.”
Kieran Dunphy, Lissahane, Kill, Co Waterford, with his fiancee Hannah Houlihan and dog Gigi. \ Donal O'Leary
This week: “I’m finishing drying off cows. By Friday of this week, I’ll have them all dried off. I was milking 175 once a day until now. I’m feeding out silage and doing the cubicles as well. I still have weanlings outside, so I have to move the wires for them. They’re getting meal and a small bit of silage.”
This time of year: “I like it. I milked through last year. It was just long and always busy, but this year it’s grand. You can get the jobs done early in the morning and do maintenance work during the day or go off and do what you want.”
Uncertainty in dairy: “It does bother me I suppose, the uncertainty in dairy at the moment. There’s a lot of regulation and red tape. A lot of it doesn’t make sense, a lot of it is not backed up by science.”
Quotable quote: “You can’t go wrong with keeping it simple. I milk a small cow; they don’t really get lame and they utilise grass well. I wouldn’t be importing feed or anything like that. I don’t feed that much meal either.”
Kieran Dunphy will have all his cows dried off this week. \ Donal O'Leary
Kieran Dunphy moving the fence to give fresh grass to his outwintered replacement heifers. \ Donal O'Leary
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My Farming Week: Paudie Hanafin, The Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry
My Farming Week: Gerard and Paula Lalor, Rhode, Co Offaly
I farm: “110ha in Kill, Co Waterford, in partnership with my father. It’s mostly family-owned, with some rented ground. We milked 175 cows this year and we’re hoping to go to 190 next year. We were new entrants in 2018. We had sucklers before that. I always had it in my head to go milking.”
New Zealand: “When I finished college in Waterford Institute of Technology, I went to New Zealand. I was milking on a farm in Ashburton, which is south of Christchurch.”
In 2016: “I came home and worked on a dairy farm up the road there. I bought heifer calves in 2016 as well. I reared them and calved them in 2018, so I had my own stock in the parlour when I started milking. It’s all New Zealand genetics I have here, crossbred cows. I weighed the cows last year, they’re about 480kg, a small cow.”
Kieran Dunphy, Lissahane, Kill, Co Waterford, with his fiancee Hannah Houlihan and dog Gigi. \ Donal O'Leary
This week: “I’m finishing drying off cows. By Friday of this week, I’ll have them all dried off. I was milking 175 once a day until now. I’m feeding out silage and doing the cubicles as well. I still have weanlings outside, so I have to move the wires for them. They’re getting meal and a small bit of silage.”
This time of year: “I like it. I milked through last year. It was just long and always busy, but this year it’s grand. You can get the jobs done early in the morning and do maintenance work during the day or go off and do what you want.”
Uncertainty in dairy: “It does bother me I suppose, the uncertainty in dairy at the moment. There’s a lot of regulation and red tape. A lot of it doesn’t make sense, a lot of it is not backed up by science.”
Quotable quote: “You can’t go wrong with keeping it simple. I milk a small cow; they don’t really get lame and they utilise grass well. I wouldn’t be importing feed or anything like that. I don’t feed that much meal either.”
Kieran Dunphy will have all his cows dried off this week. \ Donal O'Leary
Kieran Dunphy moving the fence to give fresh grass to his outwintered replacement heifers. \ Donal O'Leary
Read more
My Farming Week: Paudie Hanafin, The Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry
My Farming Week: Gerard and Paula Lalor, Rhode, Co Offaly
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