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“I was very fortunate to learn from the best. My mother and father, John and Joan O’Keeffe, had won numerous milk awards over the years so my foundation in dairying came from them. I wouldn’t be here today without their help and nurturing.”
This was one of the first statements of the newly crowned 2017 FBD Young Farmer of the Year, PJ O’Keeffe, paying tribute to his parents for giving him the opportunity to excel in his dairy enterprise. The 31-year-old from the Callan Macra na Feirme club in Co Kilkenny has overseen quite a transformation on the farm, with a startling increase from milking 72 cows to 430 cows in just three years.
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Having farmed with his parents for 10 years, PJ took over the running of the family farm in 2015 and initially increased from milking 72 cows on 106ha in 2014 to 200 cows in 2015 on 132ha of land.
“Up until 2015 we had been restricted by quotas and were operating a dairy-beef enterprise along with dairying. It was not just an overnight change though – we had been planning the increase for a few years with getting paddocks in place, roadways, infrastructure and a breeding policy that allowed me to hit the ground running once I took over.
“Dairying and milking more cows is something I have always wanted to do and I am lucky that my parents backed me and let me get on and realise my ambitions.” These ambitions fuelled further expansion, with the herd growing to 320 cows on 156ha in 2016 followed by an increase to 430 cows on 198ha in 2017.
I had to sit down and have a good hard look at the farm and see where we could make life easier and introduce a better work-life balance
PJ attributes the expansion that has taken place to a combination of hard work and also some luck. “I won’t say it’s all been plain sailing, there’s been some lessons learned along the way but it has been brilliant. Some of it [expansion] has come from hard work but you also need some luck too and I have been very fortunate to have got access to land from people who believed in what I was doing.”
The growth achieved is impressive and even more so when PJ explains some of the key performance figures. Expansion has been driven with a focus of maximising performance from a grass-based system with the total volume of grass produced increasing from 13.5t/ha in 2015 to 14.2t/ha in 2017. The crossbred herd is achieving a six-week calving rate of 85% and produced an average of 450kg milk solids per cow in 2016 and is on target to repeat this performance in 2017 from a concentrate input of 500kg/cow.
PJ attributes attaining a high level of performance to having a good team of people working on or with the farm. “It’s been exciting. There is no such thing as a quiet day but I’m lucky number one to have a good family around me and number two to have some really good people involved and working on the farm from the people who work day-to-day to our accountant, vet and contractors, for example. Everyone who has worked on the farm in the last three years has bought into the policy and on any given day all we are there to do is do the best we can and look after the cows and the land.”
Change in mindset
According to PJ, one of the greatest challenges faced and one that remains an ongoing challenge is labour. This is an area where he says he had to have a complete change in mindset. “The numbers are gone too big to just hit and hope. Decisions taken on the farm don’t just affect me anymore, they affect everyone involved.
“I had to sit down and have a good hard look at the farm and see where we could make life easier and introduce a better work-life balance. Contractors are now used as much as possible for feeding, fertiliser, slurry etc. There is also more structure and planning which there needs to be with the numbers involved. I am lucky to have Lynda Kingston who helps with management and Alex Okresa who milks on a full-time basis. We utilise part-time relief through JJ Bailey and Paudie McGrath and need to get another person in place to be more comfortable for the year ahead and are working on that.”
PJ highlights labour as a massive challenge that all elements of the industry needs to invest in. “Everybody has a part to play. There is no point having some of the most efficient enterprises if those running them are under pressure. We need to look after our people as good as we look after our cows.”
Family tradition
Having a good work-life balance is something that PJ is very passionate about. “There has always been a rich family tradition with Macra in our family and I am lucky to have been involved and achieved so much with Callan Macra. It is important that people find time to get away from the farm. If you let it, the farm can take up all your time and become your life. I have started adventure running and find that it works for me. I’m passionate about dairying and love what I do.”
The six finalists in the Young Farmer of the Year 2017.
The 2017 awards, held in association with IFA, took place in the Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar. The awards are in the 19th year and have been sponsored from the outset by FBD. Along with the Young Farmer of the Year there were also category awards.
James Greene from Laois claimed the first prize in the beef category, while Martin Cole from Carlow won the sheep category.
Darragh Barron, a young beef farmer from Laois was the winner of the under 23 category award while PJ O’Keeffe was the dairy category winner. The other two finalists in the final six lineup were Simon Cantwell, dairy farmer from Laois, and John Sexton, a dairy farmer from Co Cork.
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