I farm: “180 acres, with 80 acres being rented land and 60 acres of this being tillage. Dairy is the main enterprise at the moment. I have expanded in the last three years, increasing my herd size from 53 to 75.”
Dairy: “The cows are British Friesian crosses, half Holstein mix and half Friesian, with current protein at 3.55% and fat at 4.3%. Our processor is Dairygold. We rear and breed all our own replacement heifers on our farm. The rest of our calves, which are Aberdeen Angus and British Friesian/Holstein crosses, are reared here until weanlings and sold at one year of age.
Milk price: “The milk price is very poor at the moment. With the
current milk price you couldn’t even think of expanding. It wouldn’t be sustainable.
Tillage: “I have 60 acres of tillage, 13 acres of which is located at home, with the rest about two to three miles away. I have about 50 acres of barley, both winter and spring varieties. We grow on average 20 to 25 acres of spring barley seed for Goldcrop in Carrigtwohill. The winter barley is sold to Dairygold. I also grow fodder beet and I use this as feed for livestock at the end of lactation.”
Harvesting: “The winter barley crop should be in two weeks. We bale all our own straw and use it for bedding sheds. The price is looking very poor at the moment for barley. It’s very hard to make something out of it. We have always had tillage but since the demise of the sugar industry we have seen a huge loss down this side. If the price doesn’t recover we will be phasing out over the next four to five years. There’s just no return.”
Family: “There’s my wife Annemarie and our six children – Joe, 20; Thomas, 19; Michael, 18; Ger, 16; John, 15; Mary, 13; and Enda, eight.”
GAA: “I am a big GAA man. I am heavily involved in our local club Fr O’Neills.”
Quotable quote: “Farming is a grand occupation. However, we are not being rewarded fairly for our produce and work. We can only do what’s inside the gates – it’s up to the Minister and farming organisations to fight the case at national and European levels.”
Read more
Full series: My Farming Week
I farm: “180 acres, with 80 acres being rented land and 60 acres of this being tillage. Dairy is the main enterprise at the moment. I have expanded in the last three years, increasing my herd size from 53 to 75.”
Dairy: “The cows are British Friesian crosses, half Holstein mix and half Friesian, with current protein at 3.55% and fat at 4.3%. Our processor is Dairygold. We rear and breed all our own replacement heifers on our farm. The rest of our calves, which are Aberdeen Angus and British Friesian/Holstein crosses, are reared here until weanlings and sold at one year of age.
Milk price: “The milk price is very poor at the moment. With the
current milk price you couldn’t even think of expanding. It wouldn’t be sustainable.
Tillage: “I have 60 acres of tillage, 13 acres of which is located at home, with the rest about two to three miles away. I have about 50 acres of barley, both winter and spring varieties. We grow on average 20 to 25 acres of spring barley seed for Goldcrop in Carrigtwohill. The winter barley is sold to Dairygold. I also grow fodder beet and I use this as feed for livestock at the end of lactation.”
Harvesting: “The winter barley crop should be in two weeks. We bale all our own straw and use it for bedding sheds. The price is looking very poor at the moment for barley. It’s very hard to make something out of it. We have always had tillage but since the demise of the sugar industry we have seen a huge loss down this side. If the price doesn’t recover we will be phasing out over the next four to five years. There’s just no return.”
Family: “There’s my wife Annemarie and our six children – Joe, 20; Thomas, 19; Michael, 18; Ger, 16; John, 15; Mary, 13; and Enda, eight.”
GAA: “I am a big GAA man. I am heavily involved in our local club Fr O’Neills.”
Quotable quote: “Farming is a grand occupation. However, we are not being rewarded fairly for our produce and work. We can only do what’s inside the gates – it’s up to the Minister and farming organisations to fight the case at national and European levels.”
Read more
Full series: My Farming Week
SHARING OPTIONS