Build up experience and increase your skillset by working across many areas - that was the key advice for young people looking to get started in farming, according to the hosts of Kinisla’s recent on-farm event. Hosted by the 2025 Milk Quality and Sustainability winners, the Casey family in Causeway, Co Kerry, on Thursday last; about 320 people attended the walk, where they heard from host John Casey and his twin brother, Micheál.
John has been farming at home since the end of 2014 and is milking 136 cows. There is a 44.06ha milking platform on the 77.9ha farm, which has a whole farm stocking rate of 2.18LU/ha. After a number of years working on other farms, Micheál leased a farm at nearby Ballyheigue at the end of 2023 – where he is now farming in his own right.
Building up as much experience as possible has stood to the pair and, along with a focus on labour efficiency, good genetics and grass management, has seen them succeed.
Being skilled at all of those aspects of dairy farming was evident in the performance of John’s herd. In 2024, they produced 517kg MS/cow and this was surpassed last year, as John’s cows delivered an average of 540kg MS/cow. Milk solids of 4.89% fat and 3.89% protein put his farm in the top 1% of milk price received from Kinisla last year.
Attention to detail and always ensuring cows were well fed played a big part in this increase in solids. John did 34 grass measuring walks last year and grew 11.2t DM/ha, with an average pre-grazing cover of 1,302kg DM/ha.
Weather has made getting those covers right for cows a challenging task at times. Tucked into the north Kerry coastline and looking across at Loop Head, Casey’s farm is within 500m of the sea, with some paddocks going out to the cliff top. There are advantages and disadvantages to the proximity to the Atlantic.
John said: “In autumn 2024 we closed up with an average farm cover (AFC) of 850kg DM/ha and we opened up in spring 2025 with a cover of 650kg DM/ha. That was due to storm Éowyn in January 2025.
We get a lot of wind here anyway, but because of that storm we had a couple of paddocks that weren’t in the first or second rotations, so we gave it a bit of fertiliser – that wouldn’t be uncommon in this area; it’s not that we’d get salt burn as such, it’s more wind burn.”
Skill building
Following his Leaving Certificate, John left for Clonakilty Agricultural College and Cork Institute of Technology (CIT)’s agricultural science course. While, Micheál’s interest in woodwork saw him do a joinery course in Letterfrack.
John said: “That would have been 2008, so it was during the recession and my year in college was the first big burst back into farming.
“I did three years of that and it was really good in that it was more of a business course. We were very lucky, we had a lecturer there, Michael O’Donoghue, and he was fanatical about grass. He sowed the seed about grassland management and we started going to farm walks.”
As part of that course John did a six-month work placement in New Zealand for the end of their milking season. He went back out there with Micheál in July of 2012 for a full season.
He worked on a dairy farm in Limerick after returning to Ireland, before coming home to farm at the end of 2014. He sees plenty opportunity for young people looking to enter dairy farming in the next few years, but encouraged them to build up their skills.
“The way things are going now, there are going to be plenty of farms out there, but it mightn’t necessarily be the one farm, especially when leasing, so you have to be prepared for that.”
Micheál went back for another year to New Zealand and upon his return in 2015 he got a job with Kevin and Margaret Twomey in Fermoy. Starting in January 2016, he spent the next eight years there.
“I took on the management job there in 2021 and in mid-February 2023 an opportunity came up to take lease of a farm in Ballyheigue, about 10 minutes from home. The farmer there was stepping back and I was one of about six people to walk that farm.”
Ultimately, he was successful in securing a 15-year lease on a farm with a good yard and dairy facilities.
“I leaned on the fact that I was a local and I was going to be the one working the farm, and that appealed. There were no cows there and I didn’t milk any cow on that farm in 2023 because I was fully committed where I was.”
Reseeding and getting the paddock infrastructure to suit his herd have been the main investments. Calves and maiden heifers were reared there the first year and Micheál purchased 50 heifers through Grasstec.
These, along with cows that he owned on the Fermoy farm, enabled him to start milking in 2024.
He is currently milking 180 cows on this farm and following a suggestion from his discussion group, he uses beef sires only on the cows. This enables him to streamline labour and only have one group of stock on the farm.
“I sell all the calves and buy in-calf heifers and it works for me. The breeds I’m using are Angus, Simmental, Hereford and Charolais, and there’s no issue calving and no issue selling the calves either.”
Having a few years of managing other farms under your belt is his main advice to those who are looking to start farming in their own right.
“You build up a pile of experience, managing cows, grass, people and dealing with contractors, merchants and accountants. Grass budgeting and financial management, getting used to all these things doesn’t happen overnight.
“I could have made the move sooner, but I was waiting for the right opportunity and I was happy now that I did.”
SHARING OPTIONS