Leaving school at the young age of 16 with little farming experience has not stopped Billy Curtin from pursuing his career. Through Austin Finn of the land mobility service, Billy has leased a farm in Waterfall Co Cork, to run a 160 cow dairy unit.

“I always wanted to have my own cows. I can see myself managing multiple dairy units into the future and hopefully working with farm managers to run the farms with me,” he says.

After leaving school at 16, Billy went to work for John Hawe, a dairy farmer in Newtownshandrum. John had 75 cows at the time, and Billy remarks on just how influential John was in providing him with a strong foundation in the dairy industry. “John is a super farmer and an absolutely genuine guy. He convinced me to go and get qualified,” he says.

Billy took John’s advice and decided to go to agricultural college in Clonakilty, Co Cork. There, he completed a one-year Green Cert course, a one and a half year dairy diploma course which included six months work experience, before finishing with the Farm Management course in Kildalton Ag College.

THE JOB SEARCH

With his time in education completed and three certificates under his belt, Billy was ready to begin life as a professional in the dairy industry and he set about looking for a job.

“I was looking for something and a position in Moorepark came up. I never thought I would get it – I didn’t even think I would get an interview – but I’m a very hands-on, practical guy and I think they were impressed by that,” he recalls.

Billy spent a total of six years working in Moorepark. He spent the first three years as a dairy breeding technician, which involved scanning, weighing, blood sampling and condition scoring cows.

The second three years of Billy’s stint in Moorepark saw him managing the Ballydague Research Farm for Teagasc. This was Billy’s first experience of dairy herd management and he developed a taste for it very quickly. “I absolutely loved it,” he says, “I became very familiar with the system and I knew the cows as if they were my own.” After his three years working there, Teagasc decided to close its rented research farm.

A trained scanner from his days as a breeding technician, Billy started up his own scanning business. “The scanning business goes really well for me. I would be flat-out every year from September to November”.

In the spring following his departure from Moorepark, Billy opted to go back to where it all started, with John Hawe. “He was milking 250 cows at that stage and I took over the running of the cows,” he says. This marked his second experience in dairy herd management and it was something he was becoming more and more fond of.

Denis Finnegan, a large-scale dairy farmer in Cork was one of the farmers for whom Billy scanned cows. “Denis knew my plan was to have my own cows, and in 2014 he told me of his plans to take on another dairy unit,” Billy recalled.

By 2015, Billy was managing the unit for Denis, all of which laid the foundations for bigger and better things to come: a partnership. “I spent my time proving myself to Denis. I had several offers to manage farms but it isn’t everyone I’d go into partnership with. He is very theory-based and I am more hands-on. We are a super team.”

In 2017, Billy entered a partnership with Denis Finnegan on the farm Billy leased in Waterfall. Billy owns half of the cows and Denis owns the other half. “I’m up at night calving cows currently. However, I really enjoy having my own herd at last. Everything is super at the moment.”

POWERED BY LOVE

Billy, who hopes to have another unit up and running in the near future, says the love for what he does has got him where he is today.

“I love my job. I play tag rugby in Cork City, and there isn’t one person on my team who loves their job as much as I love mine. If you love your job then it doesn’t even feel like work.”

Billy strongly recommends that those without farming backgrounds should surround themselves with the right people. He also says it is important to be patient.

“I had hoped to be where I am six years ago, but my path took me in a different direction for a while. I think you have to be patient. If you love it enough then you will get there”.

Adding to this, Billy feels that neither land nor money will be the biggest limiting factor for the dairy industry in the future. “I think labour is going to be a big problem.

“On a study tour visit to New Zealand in 2009 I saw professional people who left their jobs and created a much more rewarding family and financial lifestyle dairy farming,” he says.

However, Billy highlights that it is what you make of it: “You need to be able to remove yourself from the business and take time out. People get caught up in doing it all themselves when the reality is that you can set up a system that allows you to take time out, time for a break,” he says.

“That’s what I have done, and I love every minute of it.”