I hope to be milking: “Thirty-one cows this year, my first year in dairy, and hope to grow this up to between 60 and 70 cows alongside my father Pat, my mother Majella and my brother Adam. It is the three of us working together here, and the show wouldn’t run without any one of us.”
Calving: “There are 22 calves on the ground and I am happy with how the calving has gone so far, even though the weather had been tricky for a week or two.”
Getting set up: “I got the farm ready for dairy bit by bit, it was a gradual process of doing the cubicles one year and the parlour the next. We bought heifer calves to rear from three local dairy farmers and put half to Friesian bulls and half to Angus.”
Sucklers: “We had between 30 and 35 suckler cows previously and would have kept on some of the weanlings to run as bullocks. We put none of these cows in calf last year and sold them, bar a few pedigree Charolais that we will keep going alongside the dairy. The sucklers were always good to us but I just had the grá for dairy that I wanted to make happen.”
New cows: “A well-managed Holstein Friesian can average over 500kg of solids, and that is what I would be looking at in terms of making up a herd a year ahead. The Jerseys seem to suit some people but they’re not my cup of tea. The calves can be a downer with the Jerseys.”
Interest in dairy: “I did the Green Cert in Darrara, went on to do dairy herd management then before completing a level seven in agriculture at Cork IT. I would have worked with Corney and John Buckley over these years, and then with Donal McCarthy local to me. I loved it and getting into dairy was always something I wanted to do, with staying at it on a full-time basis being my end goal.”
Quotable quote: “I would advise anyone looking to go down the same road as me switching from sucklers to dairying to keep it simple. There’s no point getting carried away, you should look to do things one step at a time and always be comfortable with the numbers you carry.”
The herd was sourced from local dairy farmers as calves. \ Donal O'Leary
Some of the first dairy calves to be born on the farm since the early 2000s. \ Donal O'Leary
Gavin Burke with his father Pat on the farm in Aughaville, Bantry, Co Cork. \ Donal O'Leary
I hope to be milking: “Thirty-one cows this year, my first year in dairy, and hope to grow this up to between 60 and 70 cows alongside my father Pat, my mother Majella and my brother Adam. It is the three of us working together here, and the show wouldn’t run without any one of us.”
Calving: “There are 22 calves on the ground and I am happy with how the calving has gone so far, even though the weather had been tricky for a week or two.”
Getting set up: “I got the farm ready for dairy bit by bit, it was a gradual process of doing the cubicles one year and the parlour the next. We bought heifer calves to rear from three local dairy farmers and put half to Friesian bulls and half to Angus.”
Sucklers: “We had between 30 and 35 suckler cows previously and would have kept on some of the weanlings to run as bullocks. We put none of these cows in calf last year and sold them, bar a few pedigree Charolais that we will keep going alongside the dairy. The sucklers were always good to us but I just had the grá for dairy that I wanted to make happen.”
New cows: “A well-managed Holstein Friesian can average over 500kg of solids, and that is what I would be looking at in terms of making up a herd a year ahead. The Jerseys seem to suit some people but they’re not my cup of tea. The calves can be a downer with the Jerseys.”
Interest in dairy: “I did the Green Cert in Darrara, went on to do dairy herd management then before completing a level seven in agriculture at Cork IT. I would have worked with Corney and John Buckley over these years, and then with Donal McCarthy local to me. I loved it and getting into dairy was always something I wanted to do, with staying at it on a full-time basis being my end goal.”
Quotable quote: “I would advise anyone looking to go down the same road as me switching from sucklers to dairying to keep it simple. There’s no point getting carried away, you should look to do things one step at a time and always be comfortable with the numbers you carry.”
The herd was sourced from local dairy farmers as calves. \ Donal O'Leary
Some of the first dairy calves to be born on the farm since the early 2000s. \ Donal O'Leary
Gavin Burke with his father Pat on the farm in Aughaville, Bantry, Co Cork. \ Donal O'Leary
SHARING OPTIONS