To say Kevin McGarry has led a tumultuous life is an understatement. At the ripe old age of 30, the Roscommon native has been through more ups and downs than most normal people have gone through in a lifetime. From a beef farm in Kilnamanagh, Co Roscommon, the third child in a family of four brothers, Kevin always had a passion for farming and dairy farming in particular.
At the age of 18, Kevin left his beloved Roscommon for the opportunity to travel and work around New Zealand, which was then seen as a rite of passage for any young Irish farmer looking to get a foothold in the dairy sector.
Kevin started working on a 600-cow dairy farm in Timuka in Canterbury belonging to the Guiney family from Cork and then on a farm owned by Crafars, who at the time milked 1,100 cows just outside Hamilton.
Kevin drifted in and out of consciousness, as a fire, fuelled by nearby spilled petrol, raged around him
However, in August 2007, when on the Crafar farm, disaster struck. One morning, when he was getting the cows in for the morning milking, he lost control of his motorbike and crashed into a nearby electric fence. With his legs caught in the fence wire and his bike stuck on top of him, Kevin drifted in and out of consciousness, as a fire, fuelled by nearby spilled petrol, raged around him, until hours later a co-worker found him and raised the alarm.
Kevin was placed in an induced coma after the accident and did not regain consciousness for another four weeks. As a result of the accident, he had to have both of his legs amputated below the knees and also sustained severe burns to 45% of his body.
However, in a typical statement of the defiance and courage that has since become synonymous with Kevin, he vowed that if he was ever to return to Ireland, he would walk on his own accord – rather than be pushed in a wheelchair – on to Irish soil.
So after three years and over 40 procedures at the National Burns Centre in the Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, Kevin was fitted with two prosthetic legs and fulfilled his promise to return to Ireland a walking man. In September 2010, he was greeted by a large contingent of friends, family and neighbours upon his arrival in Dublin Airport.
Instead of being satisfied with learning to walk again, which in itself was a momentous achievement, Kevin decided in order to get ahead in life he would need to improve his education, so he applied as a mature student to UCD’s dairy business course, for which he was successful. Despite coming from a beef background, he chose to do a dairy course as it had always been his passion.
When asked about his decision to choose a dairy course, he said: “I always had an interest in dairy farming. I always felt it allowed for more scope for expansion.”
Going to college for the first time is a daunting experience for anyone at the best of times, never mind someone who had endured something as harrowing as Kevin did. He took it in his stride and started the dairy business course in 2011 at the age of 24, alongside a host of relative youngsters, the oldest of whom was yet to turn 19.
Having to start college and work alongside a bunch of kids was difficult initially. Kevin said: “It was initially a bit awkward, but after a few nights out we broke the ice and formed a bond which still exists to this day.”
Having been away from formal education for so long, Kevin initially found it difficult to adjust to college life, but his experience working on dairy farms in New Zealand stood to him. He said: “I was never the most academic, but my experiences in New Zealand really stood to me when I went to college and I was also more mature at the age of 24 so I realised the value of study and work rate.”
At the beginning of third year, students commence work placement, where they are encouraged to go to New Zealand to experience what it is like calving and milking cows on a large scale. While going to the Land of the Long White Cloud is encouraged, it is not mandatory and students have the option of staying in Ireland provided they can source a placement on an autumn-calving herd.
Having endured such mental and physical anguish on his last trip there, nobody would have blamed Kevin for not wanting to go back to New Zealand, but he had other ideas. “I was really looking forward to getting away. New Zealand is a place I really enjoy going to. I’d go back again in a heartbeat,” he said. However, he also says that despite his love for the country and for farming, if he was to go back, it would only be as a holiday.
He said: “There is a pretty poor work-life balance out there. I’d have to be awake to check the cows at 3am and I would do my last check at around 9pm and if there was a problem, I could be up even later.”
I didn’t plan on buying a farm so soon, but when something so close to me came up at the right price, I couldn’t turn it down
After returning to Ireland in January 2014, Kevin spent the second semester learning from some of the world’s leading dairy experts in Teagasc research facility.
“It was great to go and learn from some of the leading dairy experts, not just in Ireland, but the world in general. They reaffirmed what I already knew and also opened my mind to a world of new technical information.”
Then it was back to Dublin for final year and the last hurrah before entering the world as what he set out to be four years previously – a university graduate.
In September 2015, Kevin graduated from UCD, a feat many thought would have been impossible eight years previously when his accident occurred. However, in typical McGarry style, he was not going to let the grass grow under him. Within weeks of finishing, he took up a job as a sales rep and a technical adviser with Grassland Agro, one of Ireland’s leading agri supply companies.
In January 2016, he bought a 32ha farm and purchased 200 Angus heifers (with plans to go to 500 by next year) which are bought in at one year old and taken through to finishing under 24 months, on a mixture of grass finish and winter finish in Strokestown, Co Roscommon, not far from a new house he is renting.
“I didn’t plan on buying a farm so soon, but when something so close to me came up at the right price, I couldn’t turn it down. I was slightly apprehensive at first, but I received good support from both IFAC and Teagasc, which really took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and allowed me to focus more attention on the farm itself, rather than all the extra stresses and strains associated with buying somewhere new.”
As for his future plans, he is remaining coy. As for his future plans he is remaining coy. He currently has his hands full with his recent farm purchase and his sales job. However having overcome so many obstacles in his life so far, it’s fair to say that for Kevin McGarry, nothing is impossible.
The Irish Farmers Journal will host National Dairy Day on Thursday 23 November 2017 in Punchestown Event Centre, Co. Kildare. The event promises to offer solutions for a growing sector. The day aims to showcase all that is good about the dairy industry and find solutions for farmers to emerging challenges and trends. To get a FREE ticket for Dairy Day, simply collect 3 tokens from the Irish Farmers Journal and bring them along with you on the day or BUY YOUR TICKET HERE
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