Edward Donovan graduated from Agriculture in UCD in 2000 and went working off-farm for a number of years before returning to develop the home farm. This is Edward’s sixth year milking cows.

Before that, Edward’s parents John and Eileen farmed in Cloyne, mainly growing cereals.

Edward started planning the switch to dairying in 2012 and with a successful application for milk quota from the Department, he started converting some of the cereal ground to grass in 2013. In 2014 he milked 47 first-calved heifers and the conversion to grass continued until 2018, until the 78ha all had been reseeded. There are 203 cows being milked through the 24 unit herringbone parlour in 2019.

The progress and development of the farm over the last five years has been exceptional, as the herd has grown from 47 to over 200 milking cows. Some of the best farm roadways we saw on tour were on this farm and Edward said the red sandstone on the surface was sourced locally in Ballincollig.

Farm roadway on Edward Donovan's farm in Cork.

Milking and wintering facilities had to be developed more or less from a standing start. There were some existing sheds modified for calving and straw storage, but the parlour, collecting yard and cubicle shed have all been developed from scratch.

Edward has stocked the farm with good cows and herd EBI is a very respectable €146 on average, with young stock up to on average €192 (see Key Stats). He purchased wisely, looking for milk solids, fertility and high EBI.

While Edward feels it’s still not a uniform herd with a mix of cow sizes, I think it’s a very respectable herd for a new growing business and with 520kg of milk solids delivered last year there is plenty of milk in the herd.

The farm is located near Midleton in East Cork, with large fields and a favourable farm road network. Soil type is very good, with mainly dry, free-draining soils. Edward bought 55 heifers into the herd this year. He has 68 in calf for next year and 72 heifer calves, so there is room for further expansion in cow numbers. Edward has had a full-time employee, but is back on the look out for another person to help with general workload.

This is a spring calving operation, so calving happens in early February with little or no milk supplied to Dairygold in December or January each year. In 2018 170 cows were milked, up to 203 for 2019. See key stats.