From the very first moment at Moorepark open day, farmers heard “if you don’t have a plan, don’t expand”. They were told they needed to do more “heads-up farming”, where more time has to be spent on developing new skills and planning the success of the business.
While many of the simple key messages revolved around growing and utilising grass, it was clear that developing managerial skills throughout their dairying careers was a new mantra.
It was the final forum where that message came through the strongest. Every stage of the potential career in dairying was on show. At one end, lifelong dairy farmer Jim O’Leary talked through starting as a student 40 years ago when he had to look up the definition of a heifer to where he is now milking 60 cows in his retirement. Ciaran Fogarty left a career as a professional chef to get into dairy farming just four years ago.
The forum was chaired by Cork dairy farmer Kevin Twomey, who pointed to the fact that the CSO shows farmers have, on average, the longest working week.
“And that is average – some are working substantially more, which is not sustainable. If we are trying to attract the next generation, we have to adjust the system for ourselves and our families. To do this, we need to develop and broaden skills as people,” said Kevin.
“Owning just one cow is the next step on my career path,” Ciaran Fogarty said.
He walked out of his career as a professional chef to start a new career in dairying four years ago. He is currently doing the Teagasc Professional Diploma in dairy farm management and has worked on large herds in New Zealand and Ireland. Ciaran said there are similarities between the kitchen and the farm when it comes to managing staff, but he said he had no doubts since he made the decision to change his career.
Sean O’Donnell from Mayo did have doubts in his first year of taking over the home farm. After leaving a career in construction, he got a baptism of fire in 2009.
“I had a herd of cows which wouldn’t go in calf and a farm which didn’t grow grass,” he said.
He set aside a day a month to learn new skills and applied for a Nuffield scholarship and used the trip to further progress his career.
After Andrew Cronin’s parents said the farm would not be there for him to go back farming, he set about targeting developing the skills needed to identify his own dairy opportunities. He sought out jobs where farm owners and managers were open-minded and willing to share all aspects of the business so he could develop his skills. It’s a path that has seen him take on a share-milking position on a newly converted 400-cow operation in Cork, where he owns 200 of the cows.
Jim O’Leary from Ardfinnan, south Tipperary, started off from a non-farming background and inherited a farm. “I did an interview for the farm apprentice scheme at the time and was told I was unsuitable for farming,” he said.
Despite that, he went to Ag College and when he got on the farm apprenticeship scheme he was hugely appreciative of the life skills he learned.
Starting on a greenfield site in 1977, he went about building a low-cost profitable dairy farm.
“It was not all easy. My debt doubled in the first five years when interest rates went to 20%,” he said.
“Looking over the last 40 years, I cleared the debt, raised my family and I have lived the dream, doing something I have really loved,” Jim said.
He encouraged parents to send their children away to develop new skills and experiences before bringing them home. That was also a key message from Padraig Keane, who took over a dairy farm in Offaly and increased to 67 cows this year.
“I travelled to New Zealand to see what the hullabaloo was all about,” Padraig said.
Farm manager Esther Walsh went to New Zealand for two years after doing the farm apprentice scheme. After being exposed to the skills needed to run larger herds, she returned to be assistant manager on a 350-cow herd for Shane Maxwell in Lismore, Waterford. She is now managing the two herds of 400 cows there.
Managing six staff, she stressed the need to keep systems simple and set out ways to develop the skills, especially with new people who come to work on the farm.
“One of the biggest challenges is to work around holidays and days off and to plan the jobs when there are more staff around,” said Esther
The other key message was the need for all the family to be involved in expansion decisions. David and Tory Baker told their story on how they built up to owning 450 cows on a leased farm in Birr, Co Offaly.
They showed the strength and challenges of a couple working together. “We had to tighten our belts at the beginning and invested mainly in livestock. We worked hard when we were younger but were careful to have a good work-life balance,” he said.
They told the audience how they set goals and did a lot of planning.
“We always wrote down our targets – that is important. We saw it as essential if we wanted to develop a large herd that would allow us to educate our family and allow us to accumulate wealth for retirement,” said David.
Their three key messages were to set goals, work hard at building strong relationships and realise that you might have to leave the parish to get the opportunity that is right for you.
“Success is anyone who sets a target and works hard to achieve it.”
– Padraig Keane
“Don’t be in a hurry to go home. Travel and broaden the mind as the farm will be still there when you return.”
– Esther Walsh
“Get into the best dairy course and concentrate on personal growth rather than your initial wage. I was guilty of worrying about how much I was getting paid at the start. As long as the wage is fair, it is vital to learn from open-minded people to set yourself up for a successful career.”
– Andrew Cronin
“You need to build up relationships and trust. One argument can mess up a whole relationship, so I always go away and sleep on it before reacting.”
– David Baker
“If you can’t manage yourself, you will find it difficult to manage others. You must keep a balance in your own life and not get stressed when busy.”
– Tory Baker
“The dairy industry is lucky in that farmers are so open and willing to share information. You just have to go out and ask.”
– Padraig Keane
Managerial skills are vital to grow a businessThere is huge opportunities in dairying but changes are needed to ensure careers are attractiveYoung people need to travel to broaden their mind and develop new skillsSet aside time to develop the skills you needIdentifying mentors to learn from.
From the very first moment at Moorepark open day, farmers heard “if you don’t have a plan, don’t expand”. They were told they needed to do more “heads-up farming”, where more time has to be spent on developing new skills and planning the success of the business.
While many of the simple key messages revolved around growing and utilising grass, it was clear that developing managerial skills throughout their dairying careers was a new mantra.
It was the final forum where that message came through the strongest. Every stage of the potential career in dairying was on show. At one end, lifelong dairy farmer Jim O’Leary talked through starting as a student 40 years ago when he had to look up the definition of a heifer to where he is now milking 60 cows in his retirement. Ciaran Fogarty left a career as a professional chef to get into dairy farming just four years ago.
The forum was chaired by Cork dairy farmer Kevin Twomey, who pointed to the fact that the CSO shows farmers have, on average, the longest working week.
“And that is average – some are working substantially more, which is not sustainable. If we are trying to attract the next generation, we have to adjust the system for ourselves and our families. To do this, we need to develop and broaden skills as people,” said Kevin.
“Owning just one cow is the next step on my career path,” Ciaran Fogarty said.
He walked out of his career as a professional chef to start a new career in dairying four years ago. He is currently doing the Teagasc Professional Diploma in dairy farm management and has worked on large herds in New Zealand and Ireland. Ciaran said there are similarities between the kitchen and the farm when it comes to managing staff, but he said he had no doubts since he made the decision to change his career.
Sean O’Donnell from Mayo did have doubts in his first year of taking over the home farm. After leaving a career in construction, he got a baptism of fire in 2009.
“I had a herd of cows which wouldn’t go in calf and a farm which didn’t grow grass,” he said.
He set aside a day a month to learn new skills and applied for a Nuffield scholarship and used the trip to further progress his career.
After Andrew Cronin’s parents said the farm would not be there for him to go back farming, he set about targeting developing the skills needed to identify his own dairy opportunities. He sought out jobs where farm owners and managers were open-minded and willing to share all aspects of the business so he could develop his skills. It’s a path that has seen him take on a share-milking position on a newly converted 400-cow operation in Cork, where he owns 200 of the cows.
Jim O’Leary from Ardfinnan, south Tipperary, started off from a non-farming background and inherited a farm. “I did an interview for the farm apprentice scheme at the time and was told I was unsuitable for farming,” he said.
Despite that, he went to Ag College and when he got on the farm apprenticeship scheme he was hugely appreciative of the life skills he learned.
Starting on a greenfield site in 1977, he went about building a low-cost profitable dairy farm.
“It was not all easy. My debt doubled in the first five years when interest rates went to 20%,” he said.
“Looking over the last 40 years, I cleared the debt, raised my family and I have lived the dream, doing something I have really loved,” Jim said.
He encouraged parents to send their children away to develop new skills and experiences before bringing them home. That was also a key message from Padraig Keane, who took over a dairy farm in Offaly and increased to 67 cows this year.
“I travelled to New Zealand to see what the hullabaloo was all about,” Padraig said.
Farm manager Esther Walsh went to New Zealand for two years after doing the farm apprentice scheme. After being exposed to the skills needed to run larger herds, she returned to be assistant manager on a 350-cow herd for Shane Maxwell in Lismore, Waterford. She is now managing the two herds of 400 cows there.
Managing six staff, she stressed the need to keep systems simple and set out ways to develop the skills, especially with new people who come to work on the farm.
“One of the biggest challenges is to work around holidays and days off and to plan the jobs when there are more staff around,” said Esther
The other key message was the need for all the family to be involved in expansion decisions. David and Tory Baker told their story on how they built up to owning 450 cows on a leased farm in Birr, Co Offaly.
They showed the strength and challenges of a couple working together. “We had to tighten our belts at the beginning and invested mainly in livestock. We worked hard when we were younger but were careful to have a good work-life balance,” he said.
They told the audience how they set goals and did a lot of planning.
“We always wrote down our targets – that is important. We saw it as essential if we wanted to develop a large herd that would allow us to educate our family and allow us to accumulate wealth for retirement,” said David.
Their three key messages were to set goals, work hard at building strong relationships and realise that you might have to leave the parish to get the opportunity that is right for you.
“Success is anyone who sets a target and works hard to achieve it.”
– Padraig Keane
“Don’t be in a hurry to go home. Travel and broaden the mind as the farm will be still there when you return.”
– Esther Walsh
“Get into the best dairy course and concentrate on personal growth rather than your initial wage. I was guilty of worrying about how much I was getting paid at the start. As long as the wage is fair, it is vital to learn from open-minded people to set yourself up for a successful career.”
– Andrew Cronin
“You need to build up relationships and trust. One argument can mess up a whole relationship, so I always go away and sleep on it before reacting.”
– David Baker
“If you can’t manage yourself, you will find it difficult to manage others. You must keep a balance in your own life and not get stressed when busy.”
– Tory Baker
“The dairy industry is lucky in that farmers are so open and willing to share information. You just have to go out and ask.”
– Padraig Keane
Managerial skills are vital to grow a businessThere is huge opportunities in dairying but changes are needed to ensure careers are attractiveYoung people need to travel to broaden their mind and develop new skillsSet aside time to develop the skills you needIdentifying mentors to learn from. 
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: