Born and bred in Mayo, Lynne O’Malley is manager of a dairy farm that’s located just three miles from where she and her husband Brian live in Glencorrib. Originally from Moygownagh in north Mayo, Lynne was raised on a suckler farm, which began her love of farming.

She went on to complete her Green Certificate in Mountbellew Agricultural College, Co Galway, where she also undertook an apprenticeship in farm management. As part of this, Lynne had to complete a 12-week work experience placement.

“I worked on Tony Mohan’s dairy farm. He went on to offer me a job there. I had no interest or knowledge in dairy before this, but from working there I came to love it.”

Lynne’s husband, Brian, and his brother run a cold food distributing business, covering a wide area from Achill to south Clare.

Lynne has been farm manager here for 10 years. It is an 86 head dairy herd of purebred Holstein Friesians. The farm is 48.8 ha, with a 10-unit parlour.

“It is very early days, but we are in discussion about starting a partnership between myself and Tony. I would bring in some heifers of my own to expand the herd. We carry 4.7 cows/ha at the moment, but we complete a lot of reseeding and soil analysis each year, so we have the ability to expand some more.”

Lynne does all the work during the year, with Tony, who also has an accountancy business, joining her during the busy times, such as the calving period.

“I much rather the dairy than the beef, the cows are so much easier to handle and work with than the sucklers,” says Lynne, “we perform AI for six weeks, and then let out a stock bull to clean up.”

Lynne came second in the Mayo Macra’s Young Farmer of the Year Competition. She has a huge involvement in Macra.

“I am chairperson of South Mayo Macra and county treasurer. Our club is made up of 30 members and is only just over three years running. Macra is a great social outlet for young farmers and there is something for everyone. We hope to organise a Know Your Neighbour event in the next few weeks, maybe a walk and talk day out.”

As well as this, Lynne is a huge football follower, supporting Mayo all the way to Croke Park.

“I used to play football and rugby, and even some basketball in college. Age isn’t on my side anymore for those things – as well as spare time.”

Lynne is looking forward to a bright farming future: “The dairy enterprise looks very promising. There is more progress to be made, unlike in other sectors.

“With beef, the farmers never know where they stand with prices and they are ruled by the factories and rely on exports and world markets. I am very excited about our future plans here.”