On day two of the Positive Farmers conference in Cork, delegates at the morning session heard from Teagasc adviser John McNamara about performance to date on the Shinagh Dairy demonstration farm in Bandon, Co Cork.
The farm made a cash surplus of €108,000 in 2015 after all leases, labour and bank repayments were made. Established in 2011, the farm is now in its sixth year of production. Some 220 cows were milked last year. The herd produced 425kg of milk solids per cow, 150kg of meal was fed and the farm grew 15.6t/ha on average.
Performance
When questioned on how the good performance was achieved, John and farm manager Kevin Ahern said the key focus on the farm was on good grassland management and financial discipline. Both men do the weekly grass walk together. A financial budget is completed each January and is presented to the board and reviewed after each quarter. Actual figures are compared with what is in the budget.
The farm is owned by the four west Cork co-ops and is held in a 15-year lease by the Shinagh Dairy company. The farm was converted from beef to dairy in 2010 at a total cost, including stock, of €820,000 with €260,000 of this supplied as equity by the landowners.
Over 400 farmers are in attendance at today’s conference. Follow @FJDairy for live tweet updates throughout the day.
Budgeting, breeding and everything in between at Positive Farmers conference