Milking 150 cows on a 210ac farm, the Fox family beat off stiff competition to take home the prize.
They impressed the judges by not only producing high-quality milk with a low carbon footprint, but for also taking action on farm to improve water quality.
A small-scale reed bed system was installed last year to filter grey water leaving the farmyard, while a reseeding programme incorporating clover has enabled the farm to substantially reduce its chemical nitrogen usage.
Attention to detail on the Fox farm is high and all three family members are actively involved in running the farm.
After initially studying mechanical engineering and then the Green Cert in Clonakilty Agricultural College, Ian Fox returned home to farm alongside his parents John and Mary in 2018.
Since then, the farm has been in development mode with the construction of a new 24-unit milking parlour and additional cubicle housing.
Land purchase has been the most recent development and Ian hopes to milk 180 cows next year as a result of some recent acquisitions.
The herd of cows are black and white Holstein Friesian with an EBI of €231 and they typically deliver an average of 540kg MS/cow to Kerry Agribusiness from about 1t of meal per cow.
The EBI is made up of €66 for milk and €110 for fertility.
When the judges visited the farm in early July, the Foxs were feeding 3.5kg of meal per cow as the farm, like a lot of other farms this summer, was tight for grass.
Ian takes responsibility for measuring grass and deciding where the cows are going to go next, but John is the one to allocate grass, setting up wires while Ian is milking.
It’s a three-way partnership that’s going well, with mutual respect and a “can-do” attitude evident between the generations.
Both John and Ian are mechanically minded and there are lots of little nifty ideas dotted around the farmyard.
Of particular note is their approach to calf feeding, with John making a 30-teat calf feeder that can be lifted over gates and into fields by a front loader. This means that calves can be fed quickly and easily.
He also made a device for scraping away leftover silage from the feed face each day. This silage is then fed to dry cows that are in too-good body condition score over the winter.
Body condition scoring
Regular body condition scoring is a key part of herd management on this farm, with Ian saying that there could be up to 30 low body condition score cows on once-a-day milking in early spring.
Fertility performance is generally good, with 83% calving in six weeks last year and a 10% empty rate the usual result. All heat detection is carried out by visual assessment using tail paint.
There is a big emphasis on getting clover established, with all new reseeds sown with clover and managed appropriately to ensure clover remains in the sward.
Chemical nitrogen
These high-clover swards get limited chemical nitrogen during the summer months, but are targeted with soiled water, along with additional phosphorus and potash, if required by soil sample results.
The land is good, mostly free-draining, fertile and level, growing 14t to 15t DM/ha annually.
Speaking at the announcement of the winners at an awards ceremony in Limerick on Tuesday night, general manager of Kerry Agribusiness James O’Connell said: “We are proud to honour the Fox family as our 2024 quality and sustainability award winners.
“John, Mary and Ian exemplify the way forward in sustainable dairy farming with their ingenuity around the farm in areas such as labour-saving and carbon reduction.
“We look forward to showcasing the Fox family farm to our milk supplier base over the coming year as part of our knowledge transfer programme.”
Competition judge Brendan O’Neill, MTU, with farmers John and Ian Fox, along with competition judges Aidan Brennan, Irish Farmers Journal and Sean McCarthy, Kerry Agribusiness.
Runner-up
The runner-up family farm business in the competition was Patrick and Danny Cremin, Ballyagran, Co Limerick.
Other finalists in the competition were John Joe, Joseph and Hannah O’Connor from Ballyheigue, Co Kerry; James and Caitriona Mangan from Beaufort, Co Kerry; and Brian, Pat and Marian Culligan from Kilimer, Co Clare.
At the awards event held at the Woodlands Hotel in Adare, Kerry Dairy Ireland CEO Pat Murphy commended the exceptional work being done by farmers, particularly around environmental sustainability.
He noted that the outstanding milk quality standards showcased at these annual awards exhibit the ongoing work and progress being made across milk supplier farms year on year.
In addition, Murphy emphasised the company’s commitment to continuously enhancing the value of the high-quality milk supplied by their farmers, citing the recent opening of the new Cheestrings facility in Charleville as a prime example of this evolution.
Milking 150 cows on a 210ac farm, the Fox family beat off stiff competition to take home the prize.
They impressed the judges by not only producing high-quality milk with a low carbon footprint, but for also taking action on farm to improve water quality.
A small-scale reed bed system was installed last year to filter grey water leaving the farmyard, while a reseeding programme incorporating clover has enabled the farm to substantially reduce its chemical nitrogen usage.
Attention to detail on the Fox farm is high and all three family members are actively involved in running the farm.
After initially studying mechanical engineering and then the Green Cert in Clonakilty Agricultural College, Ian Fox returned home to farm alongside his parents John and Mary in 2018.
Since then, the farm has been in development mode with the construction of a new 24-unit milking parlour and additional cubicle housing.
Land purchase has been the most recent development and Ian hopes to milk 180 cows next year as a result of some recent acquisitions.
The herd of cows are black and white Holstein Friesian with an EBI of €231 and they typically deliver an average of 540kg MS/cow to Kerry Agribusiness from about 1t of meal per cow.
The EBI is made up of €66 for milk and €110 for fertility.
When the judges visited the farm in early July, the Foxs were feeding 3.5kg of meal per cow as the farm, like a lot of other farms this summer, was tight for grass.
Ian takes responsibility for measuring grass and deciding where the cows are going to go next, but John is the one to allocate grass, setting up wires while Ian is milking.
It’s a three-way partnership that’s going well, with mutual respect and a “can-do” attitude evident between the generations.
Both John and Ian are mechanically minded and there are lots of little nifty ideas dotted around the farmyard.
Of particular note is their approach to calf feeding, with John making a 30-teat calf feeder that can be lifted over gates and into fields by a front loader. This means that calves can be fed quickly and easily.
He also made a device for scraping away leftover silage from the feed face each day. This silage is then fed to dry cows that are in too-good body condition score over the winter.
Body condition scoring
Regular body condition scoring is a key part of herd management on this farm, with Ian saying that there could be up to 30 low body condition score cows on once-a-day milking in early spring.
Fertility performance is generally good, with 83% calving in six weeks last year and a 10% empty rate the usual result. All heat detection is carried out by visual assessment using tail paint.
There is a big emphasis on getting clover established, with all new reseeds sown with clover and managed appropriately to ensure clover remains in the sward.
Chemical nitrogen
These high-clover swards get limited chemical nitrogen during the summer months, but are targeted with soiled water, along with additional phosphorus and potash, if required by soil sample results.
The land is good, mostly free-draining, fertile and level, growing 14t to 15t DM/ha annually.
Speaking at the announcement of the winners at an awards ceremony in Limerick on Tuesday night, general manager of Kerry Agribusiness James O’Connell said: “We are proud to honour the Fox family as our 2024 quality and sustainability award winners.
“John, Mary and Ian exemplify the way forward in sustainable dairy farming with their ingenuity around the farm in areas such as labour-saving and carbon reduction.
“We look forward to showcasing the Fox family farm to our milk supplier base over the coming year as part of our knowledge transfer programme.”
Competition judge Brendan O’Neill, MTU, with farmers John and Ian Fox, along with competition judges Aidan Brennan, Irish Farmers Journal and Sean McCarthy, Kerry Agribusiness.
Runner-up
The runner-up family farm business in the competition was Patrick and Danny Cremin, Ballyagran, Co Limerick.
Other finalists in the competition were John Joe, Joseph and Hannah O’Connor from Ballyheigue, Co Kerry; James and Caitriona Mangan from Beaufort, Co Kerry; and Brian, Pat and Marian Culligan from Kilimer, Co Clare.
At the awards event held at the Woodlands Hotel in Adare, Kerry Dairy Ireland CEO Pat Murphy commended the exceptional work being done by farmers, particularly around environmental sustainability.
He noted that the outstanding milk quality standards showcased at these annual awards exhibit the ongoing work and progress being made across milk supplier farms year on year.
In addition, Murphy emphasised the company’s commitment to continuously enhancing the value of the high-quality milk supplied by their farmers, citing the recent opening of the new Cheestrings facility in Charleville as a prime example of this evolution.
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