January 3, 2021 6:00 am
Last up in our ‘Back In Focus’ series is a 150-cubicle house on the farm of Joe and Karen Smyth – a husband-and-wife team – from Dunkerrin, Co. Offaly, who milk a herd of 145 British-cross Holstein Friesian cows.
The duo, along with their children, full-time employee Roddy Teehan and relief milker Eoin England, operate a spring-calving herd on a milking platform of 220ac.
Since Joe went back milking full-time in 1999, after a couple of years running a suckler enterprise and a contracting business – he has grown the milking herd gradually over a 20-year period.
In 1999, Joe wiped the dust off the old six-unit herringbone parlour that was installed back in the late 1970s by his late father, Paddy, and mother, Mary, and started back milking 30 cows.
Part nine of the ‘Back In Focus’ series sees us go back to last March where
AgriLand spoke to Liam Delaney who had, back then, recently gone down the route of dairy farming, alongside his father Jim.
The father-and-son duo originally ran a herd of 80 suckler cows, with all progeny brought through to slaughter.
However, over the last 18 months, unhappy with the return from the beef enterprise, Liam felt it was time to change systems.
Speaking to
AgriLand, he said: “I was very disappointed and sad to leave behind the herd of cows that we had built up since 1988. My father and I have a great passion for beef farming, but at the moment it is a vulnerable business to be in and the returns are just not there to make it viable.
Back In Focus: A brand new 5-bay slatted unit with a lie-back area and crush in Co. Cork
Looking back to just before the first Covid-19 lockdown, we revisit a five-bay slatted unit on the farm of Denis O’Mahony – a beef and sheep farmer – from Bantry, Co. Cork, as part of our ‘Back In Focus’ series.
Farming alongside his father, Denis works full-time off-farm; however, the plan is to go full-time farming in the future.
The duo have been renting two sheds over the last few years, to accommodate their herd of 60 suckler cows and their flock of 200 ewes.
Back In Focus: New accommodation for up to 140 calves in Co. Cork
Next up in the ‘Back In Focus’ series, we take a look at a brand new calf house on the farm of Dick and Eoghan O’Neil from just outside Ballymacoda, in Co. Cork.
The duo, along with Barty O’Sullivan, are in partnership together, which sees them milk 265 Holstein Friesian cows.
Like so many other dairy farmers across the country, the farm has grown in size substantially, albeit over a long period of time.
In order to allow for further expansion on the farm, the decision was taken to convert the old calf shed into a collecting yard and build new calf housing facilities on a new site.
Back In Focus: Milking 80 cows through a brand new 20-unit parlour in Co. Tipperary
Part six of the ‘Back In Focus’ series sees us take a look back at a 20-unit herringbone parlour on the farm of Daniel Fennelly from Ballingarry, in Co. Tipperary, who has recently converted over to dairy farming.
Farming alongside his father, John, the duo milk a herd of 80 British Friesian cross Holstein cows – through a 20-unit herringbone milking parlour.
Up until two years ago, the father-and-son team operated a mixed enterprise of suckler cows and sheep.
Speaking to
AgriLand about the move to dairy farming, Daniel said: “There is a large block of land around the yard, so it was ideally set up to milk cows. There were some roadways in place already, so it was a smooth enough transition in that sense.