Bill
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T: 01 419 9500
Bill O'Keeffe is a Nuffield Scholar and farms at Clara Co. Kilkenny with his father Philip and uncle Matt. They milk 180 spring calving pedigree British Friesian cows, supplying Glanbia Co-op.
Bill O'Keeffe on 14 Jul 2021
Farmer Writes: TB testing and a lack of rain
Bill O'Keeffe has spent the last few days moving stock around and getting everything as organised as possible for TB testing.
Bill O'Keeffe on 30 Jun 2021
Farmer Writes: grass a scare commodity this week
We have moved very quickly from taking out surplus paddocks to staring down the barrel of a summer of feeding out silage again, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 22 Jun 2021
Farmer Writes: CAP camouflaged under a cloak of environmentalism
The climate action bill has 'unrealistic aspirations for agriculture and still no account of the carbon sequestration taking place on our farms,' writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 02 Jun 2021
Farmer Writes: silage finally being made
It’s been very stop-start for Bill O'Keeffe, with every tractor, mower and harvester flat out on the fine days, trying to catch up on work that has been postponed due to high rainfall.
Bill O'Keeffe on 19 May 2021
Farmer Writes: shooting in the dark on cow numbers for next spring
We are still shooting in the dark a bit with cow number targets for next spring, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 05 May 2021
The woolly hats won’t be put away anytime soon
We should be able to stay on grass and meal only for the moment here and leave the silage in the bales, but heat is urgently needed to bring on grass enough to start producing any sort of surplus.
Bill O'Keeffe on 21 Apr 2021
Farmer Writes: farmers need to meet challenges head on
These restrictions imposed by Glanbia indicate that this plant is needed for current cow numbers in the country, rather than an increase in cow numbers in the future, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 07 Apr 2021
Farmer Writes: moving calving forward to minimise peak milk fallout
We are moving calving forward by 10 days in our case, which will move peak production forward into late March or early April, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 24 Mar 2021
Farmer Writes: a demoralising week to be a Glanbia supplier
There was no indication when milk supply agreements were signed in good faith, that processing capacity would become an issue over the next few years, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 10 Mar 2021
Farmer Writes: milk suppliers have already paid for expansion
Milk has been farmed out to other processors with spare capacity across peak months at a significant cost, writes Bill O’Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 24 Feb 2021
Farmer Writes: on the home stretch with calving
We will try to have most of the replacement heifers for the year trained to the automatic feeder by the end of this week, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 10 Feb 2021
Farmer Writes: a steadier calving than usual
Bill O’Keeffe is heading into week four of calving in Clara, while bulls will be fertility tested.