Succession

The conference hall at the Radisson Blu hotel in Cork was packed with close to 500 farmers attending each day of the Positive Farmers conference. There appeared to be a large number of young Irish farmers in attendance, along with farmers and industry personnel from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Michigan.

Getting into and out of farming was one of the topics discussed. Succession planner Sian Bushell said it’s never too early to start talking about succession, or about who is going to take over the farm and how the changeover will be structured.

“The three D’s are death, divorce and dementia and while we don’t want any of them to happen, they should be discussed when everyone is healthy and well. Who is to pay for nursing home care is often a huge problem. It’s important to talk about all of these things in plenty of time. If the family can’t talk about them, bring in an independent facilitator to orchestrate the discussion,” Sian said.

Shared vision

Next up were three members of the Shared Vision discussion group. Half of this group are from beef or non-farming backgrounds, yet they are all now dairy farming, either though partnerships, leases or share-milking.

One of the farmers who spoke is Jerry Murphy from Macroom who is a chartered accountant. He worked as an accountant with a large firm for about 10 years before returning home to farm with his parents in 2013. They initially converted a leased outfarm to a milking block and have since taken on another leased farm. Total cow numbers have increased from 115 cows in 2013 to 345 cows in 2018.

He said: “It’s not about taking farms off people. There wasn’t enough income from 115 cows to keep two families going so we had to grow the farm and we decided to do this as a family in a partnership,” Jerry said.

He said that when he was young, he remembers his mother, who was working off farm, coming home from work at 5pm in the evenings.

“That was the lifestyle I aspired to at the time. I thought dairy farmers were eejits for having to work into the evening and at weekends so I went off to become an accountant. But the reality is that no matter what industry you’re in, if you want to make a good living, you have to put in the hours. Large corporations all want their pound of flesh.

“I remember when I was 27, working as an accountant in a big firm and in at weekends looking at spreadsheets and I said to myself that farmers aren’t the only eejits in the world. February and March are hard going but we’ve designed it that way so the rest of the year is easy,” Jerry said.

He was joined on stage by Joe Deane, who is from a small beef farm in east Cork. Joe is now leasing a bigger farm in Carrigaline and will milk close to 160 cows in 2018. Diarmuid Scannell is from a hill farm near Macroom on the Cork/Kerry border. He is now a lower order share-milker with the Bateman family in Crookstown. Diarmuid and Joe’s fathers are now contract-rearing heifers for their sons on the home farms.

Labour problems

Leadership consultant Nollaig Heffernan suggested dairy farmers were suffering from vanity problems if they think they are the only ones struggling to find good employees.

“Every business in the world struggles to find good people and the dairy industry is no different. But the problem is dairy farmers are competing with other sectors that are more advanced in managing people and creating good work environments. For example, it’s ridiculous to think that dairy farms in Ireland can still be differentiated based on health and safety standards.”

She outlined nine areas that farmers need to improve in if they are to become employers of choice. Key to this is to put as much importance and effort into managing people as they do into managing cows and grass.

Each of the nine areas outlined were all basic housekeeping-type things, such as having respect for employees’ time, removing ambiguity from their role by having clear guidelines and instructions and giving feedback.

Strategic thinking

The importance of good feedback was a key part of John Moloney’s paper on strategic thinking. John is the former head of Glanbia plc and is now chair of Coillte and DCC, a large company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

He said that feedback is an essential part of running a good team.

“Giving and getting feedback is the breakfast of champions. It’s crucial to set up a system to give it. People working in silos is no longer tenable. I’d sit down twice a year with someone and have a chat. Discuss what’s going well and what they are good at. Then discuss what they are not good at and ask if they need more help at it and then prioritise what they need help at,” John said.

“When I was in Glanbia we implemented 360° feedback, so people above you, below you and beside you had to give feedback on your performance and what you are like to work with. Some of the comments were very honest and helped to improve overall performance. In the farming context, I’d look for feedback from people that work for you and maybe colleagues in a discussion group or the GAA committee etc,” John said.

He also said there comes a time when some people need to “get off the bus”.

“Usually people that get a sense of ownership of a project or a task will drive it on, but not everyone is up for it or suitable for the job. It’s always better in such circumstances to act earlier rather than later,” John said.

Big move

New Zealander Chris Proctor explained why he sold his farm and properties in New Zealand in 2013 to move to Mount Gambier in Australia. Today he owns four dairy farms in Australia, milking over 3,000 cows in a number of equity partnerships with farm managers.

He said he never expands to be “the biggest boy in the room”. Instead, he has grown the business around people who are working with him.

“When I employ someone I am not really looking for skills. I think the type of person is more important. I ask myself if I could go for a beer and a chat at the end of the day with that person and talk about things non-farming. Skills can be taught,” Chris said.

He said he targets a 10% cash return whenever looking at a new venture. This is around 5% above interest rates so it reduces risk and helps with repayment capacity. His farms operate at only 11 hours per cow per operator per year. The average in Ireland is around 30 hours per year. Chris operates a simple spring-calving grass-based system with contractors doing a lot of the work.