The walk, which was organised by Aurivo Co-op and Teagasc, is the first of three walks which will take place in the next few weeks as part of the farm profitability programme.

Joe Dunphy and his wife Helen told the crowd that in 2008 they were milking 58 cows and finishing cattle on their 65ha holding. They have two sons, Joseph and Michael, both who were showing an interest in farming at the time.

The couple decided to build a new parlour and additional cubicle space with the aim of increasing numbers to 100. This was facilitated by leasing land adjoining the original 23ha grazing platform.

Advice

One key piece of advice from Joe was for farmers to talk to their neighbours. Don’t wait for land to be offered but be proactive and start talking about the possibility of leasing, swapping land or even the possibility of linking up farms through roadways.

Last year a farm, previously used for dairying, came up for lease near their home block. The two farms were divided by a road and a neighbour’s field. After discussion with the owner, they leased the 42ha block of land.

At this stage there was the possibility of running two separate herds. Another neighbour allowed them to build a road through their field. By building an underpass they received direct access to the additional 42ha, creating a total grazing block of 90ha. Today they are milking 230 cows and have plans to increase this to 280 cows in the coming years.