Mayo native Padraig Cunnane believes there are still plenty of farming opportunities for those who will not inherit land or a family farm. He knows from experience, given that the Ardmore man is now farming in a straight seven-year leasing model at the other end of the country, in Co Cork.
With an ambition to set up his own dairy herd, he built his own educational pathway, working on different farms and completing farm management courses over the years. Now, Padraig is a year and a half into a leasing structure with Conor Murphy, a dairy farmer who has two sons.
“We had a farm at home, my father was milking 20 cows, the plan had always been to go home and take over the farm and drive that on. The more education I got and the more things I saw, I realised that probably wasn't an option as it was a fragmented farm. I had younger siblings and my brother is now suckler farming at home,” explains Padraig.
With a huge interest in farming, Padraig firstly went to Mountbellew Agricultural College and completed the Green Cert. At the time, he had to do a nine-month placement block as part of the Level 5 course, so he headed to a dairy and beef farm in Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary.
“I worked with Sylvia Powell, the farm manager, and loved the placement. You're working and getting paid while learning a lot. She encouraged me to do the farm management course, so I went to Kildalton and completed that across two years at the age of 20,” he explains. Building up experience on different farms, he knew he wanted to go into dairy farming for himself.
“I was only supposed to stay in west Cork for a year. I joined Macra at the time, and I had made a good few friends around the place. No other students were coming to work on the farm through the farm management course, so I asked the guy I was working for if I could continue working on the farm. I ended up staying there five and a half years,” says Padraig.
The milking parlour that Padraig has leased. \ Donal O' Leary
Access to farms
Later, wanting to challenge himself more, Padraig applied for a farm manager role in Nenagh, Co Tipperary and spent two years managing a herd. The biggest benefit to Padraig working on a wide variety of farms was "building up a great network of people to talk to at any time".
“The long-term goal was always to set up my own herd. It wasn't really until quotas were removed I could see the possibility of going out on my own. That was due to land availability. I could never see myself buying a farm, nor had I ever planned on buying a farm with the sheer price.”
Padraig knows others who are availing of different leasing and shared farm structures, saying there are now different avenues into farming. “There is huge support now to get these structures up and running because people can see their value,” he emphasises.
Initially, he looked into different arrangements and, despite a couple of false starts with the bank, he came across a shared farming opportunity at Gurteen Farm, Co Cork.
“I had more knocks than positives but found that working with good people picked me back up.”
“I was very lucky. I went through the application process for the shared farm. Part of that was having a letter of intent from the bank that they would finance me.
"I felt that there was a lot of learning in dealing with the banks. I talked to three banks and finally got financing,” he says.
Padraig really enjoyed his experience in the shared farming structure and gained valuable insights from it. One of the big lessons he learned was that every action you do and decision you make had a reaction on the herd and affects the farmer's pocket directly.
He also realised the importance of keeping his accounts up to date and making sure bills were paid on time.
"I learned a lot about myself [from shared farming]. I wanted to be milking my own cows," he says of the transition to leasing. "I'll never forget after the spring cows were calved and I was out locking them into a field, I had a pinch me moment, where you stand there and think 'they are my cows.'"
After five years, he decided to move on. Padraig then spent some time walking farms as he was on the lookout for somewhere to lease. He stresses the importance of taking time to get to know the farmer and the farm you will be leasing as you want to make sure you have a good relationship.
After a lot of wondering if anything would materialise his advisor contacted him asking to get in touch with Conor Murphy. "I had worked on this farm nine years ago for six months. We were supposed to do something that time, but it wasn't the right time for either of us."
Conor told Padraig he was interested in leasing the farm in Clonakilty, Co Cork in June of 2023.
Padraig Cunnane on the farm he has leased at Clonlea, Clonakilty, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary
"I nearly came down the phone to take the hand off him. He told me what he wanted and what he was hoping for, and I told him what I wanted and what I was hoping for. Conor is a very active man; he kept his side farm for beef.
"I knew he wasn't going to be selling all his machinery. He now does my fertiliser, the mowing for bales, and brings my calves to the mart when he is going off buying cattle."
The pair are currently a year and a half into a seven-year lease, with Padraig milking 120 cows.
"Conor has two sons, they don't show an interest in farming at the moment. He didn’t want to see the farm idle or turn it into beef, or he would be as busy as he was before and decided to take a step back," says Padraig.
For any farmer who isn’t going to inherit a farm or someone looking to get into farming, Padraig advises them to get a good education and get their qualifications.
“Be positive about it and let people know that you are looking for a farm or will be looking for a farm because word of mouth does spread. If you get going, a good discussion group is vital, along with a good advisor and accountant,” he says.
In Padraig's case, he is delighted that he started with a shared farm structure before leasing as it allowed him to build up his own herd without the full financial risk. “I was able to bring 90 cows with me. I enjoyed the shared farming because you had backup and support from the farm owners and your advisors.
He sees opportunities in certain areas of the country for young people looking to take on farms where there isn't an obvious successor. However, they may need to be willing to move from their home area.
“Patience is a great thing, but don't wait forever if you don't think something is going to happen.
"There needs to be definite timelines on things if you're going in as a manager with the promise of share farming or leasing, so everyone knows where they stand," he adds.
Not everything is going to be smooth sailing, he acknowledges. His biggest challenge was getting everything ready in time to move from his shared farming structure to leasing from Conor. A six month notice had to be given to the other farmer before he could move to the seven year-lease model.
Mayo native Padraig Cunnane believes there are still plenty of farming opportunities for those who will not inherit land or a family farm. He knows from experience, given that the Ardmore man is now farming in a straight seven-year leasing model at the other end of the country, in Co Cork.
With an ambition to set up his own dairy herd, he built his own educational pathway, working on different farms and completing farm management courses over the years. Now, Padraig is a year and a half into a leasing structure with Conor Murphy, a dairy farmer who has two sons.
“We had a farm at home, my father was milking 20 cows, the plan had always been to go home and take over the farm and drive that on. The more education I got and the more things I saw, I realised that probably wasn't an option as it was a fragmented farm. I had younger siblings and my brother is now suckler farming at home,” explains Padraig.
With a huge interest in farming, Padraig firstly went to Mountbellew Agricultural College and completed the Green Cert. At the time, he had to do a nine-month placement block as part of the Level 5 course, so he headed to a dairy and beef farm in Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary.
“I worked with Sylvia Powell, the farm manager, and loved the placement. You're working and getting paid while learning a lot. She encouraged me to do the farm management course, so I went to Kildalton and completed that across two years at the age of 20,” he explains. Building up experience on different farms, he knew he wanted to go into dairy farming for himself.
“I was only supposed to stay in west Cork for a year. I joined Macra at the time, and I had made a good few friends around the place. No other students were coming to work on the farm through the farm management course, so I asked the guy I was working for if I could continue working on the farm. I ended up staying there five and a half years,” says Padraig.
The milking parlour that Padraig has leased. \ Donal O' Leary
Access to farms
Later, wanting to challenge himself more, Padraig applied for a farm manager role in Nenagh, Co Tipperary and spent two years managing a herd. The biggest benefit to Padraig working on a wide variety of farms was "building up a great network of people to talk to at any time".
“The long-term goal was always to set up my own herd. It wasn't really until quotas were removed I could see the possibility of going out on my own. That was due to land availability. I could never see myself buying a farm, nor had I ever planned on buying a farm with the sheer price.”
Padraig knows others who are availing of different leasing and shared farm structures, saying there are now different avenues into farming. “There is huge support now to get these structures up and running because people can see their value,” he emphasises.
Initially, he looked into different arrangements and, despite a couple of false starts with the bank, he came across a shared farming opportunity at Gurteen Farm, Co Cork.
“I had more knocks than positives but found that working with good people picked me back up.”
“I was very lucky. I went through the application process for the shared farm. Part of that was having a letter of intent from the bank that they would finance me.
"I felt that there was a lot of learning in dealing with the banks. I talked to three banks and finally got financing,” he says.
Padraig really enjoyed his experience in the shared farming structure and gained valuable insights from it. One of the big lessons he learned was that every action you do and decision you make had a reaction on the herd and affects the farmer's pocket directly.
He also realised the importance of keeping his accounts up to date and making sure bills were paid on time.
"I learned a lot about myself [from shared farming]. I wanted to be milking my own cows," he says of the transition to leasing. "I'll never forget after the spring cows were calved and I was out locking them into a field, I had a pinch me moment, where you stand there and think 'they are my cows.'"
After five years, he decided to move on. Padraig then spent some time walking farms as he was on the lookout for somewhere to lease. He stresses the importance of taking time to get to know the farmer and the farm you will be leasing as you want to make sure you have a good relationship.
After a lot of wondering if anything would materialise his advisor contacted him asking to get in touch with Conor Murphy. "I had worked on this farm nine years ago for six months. We were supposed to do something that time, but it wasn't the right time for either of us."
Conor told Padraig he was interested in leasing the farm in Clonakilty, Co Cork in June of 2023.
Padraig Cunnane on the farm he has leased at Clonlea, Clonakilty, Co Cork. \ Donal O' Leary
"I nearly came down the phone to take the hand off him. He told me what he wanted and what he was hoping for, and I told him what I wanted and what I was hoping for. Conor is a very active man; he kept his side farm for beef.
"I knew he wasn't going to be selling all his machinery. He now does my fertiliser, the mowing for bales, and brings my calves to the mart when he is going off buying cattle."
The pair are currently a year and a half into a seven-year lease, with Padraig milking 120 cows.
"Conor has two sons, they don't show an interest in farming at the moment. He didn’t want to see the farm idle or turn it into beef, or he would be as busy as he was before and decided to take a step back," says Padraig.
For any farmer who isn’t going to inherit a farm or someone looking to get into farming, Padraig advises them to get a good education and get their qualifications.
“Be positive about it and let people know that you are looking for a farm or will be looking for a farm because word of mouth does spread. If you get going, a good discussion group is vital, along with a good advisor and accountant,” he says.
In Padraig's case, he is delighted that he started with a shared farm structure before leasing as it allowed him to build up his own herd without the full financial risk. “I was able to bring 90 cows with me. I enjoyed the shared farming because you had backup and support from the farm owners and your advisors.
He sees opportunities in certain areas of the country for young people looking to take on farms where there isn't an obvious successor. However, they may need to be willing to move from their home area.
“Patience is a great thing, but don't wait forever if you don't think something is going to happen.
"There needs to be definite timelines on things if you're going in as a manager with the promise of share farming or leasing, so everyone knows where they stand," he adds.
Not everything is going to be smooth sailing, he acknowledges. His biggest challenge was getting everything ready in time to move from his shared farming structure to leasing from Conor. A six month notice had to be given to the other farmer before he could move to the seven year-lease model.
SHARING OPTIONS