Bill
E: edit@farmersjournal.ie
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 01 Jul 2020
Farmer Writes: doubling-up the parlour and Bord Bia audit
Bill O'Keeffe has decided to go for the double-up option instead of building a new rotary parlour.
Bill O'Keeffe on 17 Jun 2020
Farmer Writes: farming remains in the grip of a drought
Bill O'Keeffe is hoping for rain as a reprieve from the drought over the coming days.
Bill O'Keeffe on 03 Jun 2020
Farmer Writes: a biodiversity payment to all and sundry
Bill O'Keeffe is worried about water and less than impressed with Glanbia's new biodiversity payment being paid to everyone.
Bill O'Keeffe on 20 May 2020
Farmer Writes: Glanbia after-tax margin dictating decisions for the year
The model of setting the after-tax margin at the start of the season and letting that dictate all decisions for the rest of the year needs a lot more investigation and discussion, writes Bill O'Keeffe
Bill O'Keeffe on 06 May 2020
Farmer Writes: thoughts turn to silage
After this week, things should settle down on the breeding front. Hopefully, with the good weather, we will see a high percentage holding to the first service.
Bill O'Keeffe on 22 Apr 2020
Farmer Writes: disappointing to see milk price cut
Outside of COVID-19, it’s business as usual as can be expected on the farm, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 08 Apr 2020
Farmer Writes: food supply chain is completely disrupted
We will also see a reset of people’s values coming out of the recession that we are entering, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 25 Mar 2020
Farmer Writes: farming in extraordinary times
While the dry, sunny weather is welcome for both man and beast, it's difficult to enjoy it with everything else going on in the background, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 16 Mar 2020
Farmer Writes: self-isolation is nothing new to farmers
This coronavirus outbreak is the big worry off farm and how it will affect us all as we move through the stages of the outbreak over the coming months, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 26 Feb 2020
Farmer Writes: grazing 30% by end of February feels like a fool's errand
The extra work and slurry generated by having cattle back in again is just getting a bit tedious at this stage, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 12 Feb 2020
Farmer Writes: grazing off-limits with the weather
There looks to be a few more heavy pulses of rain on the way through the weekend, so it'll be next week at the earliest until we can get animals back out to grass, writes Bill O'Keeffe.
Bill O'Keeffe on 29 Jan 2020
Farmer Writes: almost at the halfway point of intense calving
We have about 120 cows calved now with numbers rising rapidly so we should have half of the herd calved sometime next week, writes Bill O'Keeffe.