John Collins knows only one way, and that’s the right way. He has worked with so many farmers already at this stage in his young career that he has picked up lots of helpful hints and tips. His farm development just outside Skibbereen is testament to the time and effort John puts into the dairy business.

In 2020, John fulfilled a childhood dream to milk cows in his own right and supply Drinagh Co-op, the largest of the four West Cork co-ops. John said it was an opportunity his parents never got, as EU milk quotas prevented them from starting up in milk. Prior to milking, John was relief milking and machine contracting.

John still sprays and spreads fertiliser on contract, but now he is milking close to 50 cows, up from 40 cows in 2021. The system is spring milk, with calving starting in February and milking finishing up in November.

In 2020, John fulfilled a childhood dream to milk cows in his own right and supply Drinagh Co-op

Starting out with very little in the farmyard in 2020, John installed a 14-unit parlour into an existing old silage slab area and it has worked out really well.

The 14 units allow John to get through milking efficiently, but with due care to allow him to produce excellent quality milk.

There are 42ac available for grazing around the farmyard and a further 21ac rented over the road. John has to be thrifty, because access to land is tight in this part of the country, so you make the most of what you have.

The milking machine cost €20,000, the frame for the parlour another €10,000, the bulk tank €7,500, €5,000 for feeders and bins, €7,500 for wiring and about €1,000 for plumbing. This got him up and going along with €35,000 on slurry storage.

The intention is to use the new crops to reduce the dependence on chemical nitrogen

In 2021, John fed mostly grazed grass with 900kg of meal fed per cow and in total delivered over 260,000kg of milk (21,100kg MS) to Drinagh. That’s not bad going for a fledgling dairy enterprise.

John has developed the grassland and sown new hedging along new roads. He brought us to see red clover and multispecies swards on an out-farm. The intention is to use the new crops to reduce the dependence on chemical nitrogen, yet grow good-quality replacements.

John is aided by his parents, who help out with herding, tending to calves and any other work as required around the farm.