When Else Furney approached Michael Hayes to manage this coastal farm in partnership with her she knew exactly what she was doing.

He is a trusted and efficient operator who could deliver results for the farm and all those working on the farm. The farm is on the coast between Kinsale and Clonakilty, so there is breathtaking scenery for all to see.

Michael Hayes points the way to the Quality Milk judges with Else Furney, Hugh Holland, Barryroe and Michael’s son in the background.

Almost 1m litres (82,000kg of milk solids) were delivered in 2017 from 160 cows with 800kg of meal fed per cow and quality grazed grass and silage. The total area farmed is 80ha and in total 58ha are available for grazing. The environment is important to Else and Michael and a 5.5ha forestry plantation acts as a carbon sink and preserves local habitats, which Else and Michael are keen to maintain.

The herd has evolved from Holstein and Dutch Friesian genetics to more New Zealand genetics in the last number of years. Herd EBI is €152, which puts it in the top herds in the country when ranked on EBI. Cows are vaccinated for Salmonella and IBR.

To manage the workload Michael is helped by Tom, who has completed his professional dairy diploma and is now 10 months working on this farm. This summer milking the 170 cows (11 rows of cows in the 16-unit herringbone) is taking one hour and 30 minutes to complete the job properly. Milk recording takes place every six weeks. The normal milking routine on this farm is to pre-spray with Deosan teatfoam (especially in the spring), wipe dry and wash teats if very dirty. If conditions are good during summer, the pre-spray routine sometimes is dropped. Post-milking, teats are sprayed except when cows are milked indoors and then Michael will cup teats with mastocide rather than spraying.