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Shinagh Dairy Farm

Shinagh Dairy Open Day

Shinagh dairy farm near Bandon in West Cork is a Teagasc-led project demonstrating efficient spring milk production from grass on a farm that was converted from a beef farm in 2010, with the first cows being milked in January 2011. The success of Shinagh Dairy Farm is built on a strong partnership between the four local West Cork Coops, Teagasc, Shinagh Estates, Farm Zero C, and Carbery.

Carrying 250 cows in 2025 and stocked at 2.54LU/ha, the farm is owned by the four west Cork Co-Ops. The labour on the farm is provided by two full time people: the farm manager, Kevin Ahern, and a second in command person, currently Chloe McCarthy, along with part time labour in spring and for relief throughout the year

Farm Objectives

The original objectives of Shinagh Dairy Farm were to build a highly profitable, resilient, grass-based system on leased land. The focus of the farm was to maximise grass production and utilisation and to breed a high EBI crossbred herd that could calve compactly at the start of the grass growing season and efficiently convert grass into milk solids.

The farm also focuses on some of the other challenges that the industry faces on environmental and social sustainability. During phase two, with economics bedded in, the focus changed to reducing environmental impact, which were pursued through the Farm Zero C project. This project reduced Shinagh Dairy Farm’s carbon footprint, integrated clover into ryegrass swards to cut chemical nitrogen use, and deployed numerous technologies to reduce the climate and water quality impact.

For more on Farm Zero C, watch the below video

This project, which aims to make Shinagh farm carbon neutral, is funded by Research Ireland. Most of the funding will be used for trial work on products and methods that may reduce the overall emissions from a dairy farm. The items on the Teagasc MACC curve that reduce the carbon footprint will be implemented on the farm.

Phase 3 of the project focuses on attracting the next generation. Building on economic and environmental gains, the next phase centres on making dairy farming a sustainable, attractive career. To do this, labour-saving infrastructure, labour efficient calf rearing systems, professional rosters and single-operator farmyard designs will be integrated into the system.

Farm Initiatives

  • The farm has been using sexed AI dairy straws on both the cows and replacement heifers since 2021. The conception rate to the sexed straws has been on a par with conventional AI at 60%.
  • Movement monitors were put on the cows in 2022 prior to breeding and have proved very successful at heat detection.
  • Using sexed AI straws has allowed the use of better beef AI bulls to increase the beef merit of all the remaining calves. The average Dairy Beef Index of sires used was €179, with a Beef Sub-Index value of 151. All beef calves are transferred to the Tipperary Dairy Calf to Beef Demonstration Farm.
  • All replacement heifers are contract-reared off-site.
  • All nitrogen fertiliser used on the farm is in the form of protected urea and all slurry spread on the farm is by low emission slurry equipment. Nitrogen use efficiency and farm gate surplus (kg/ha) are recorded.
  • Every paddock being reseeded includes 5 kg/ha of clover seed.
  • The farm has been surveyed and 7.5% of the total area is biodiverse. The target is to achieve over 11%.
  • A plate cooler and variable speed drives on the vacuum and milk pumps have been installed which will reduce the electricity demand.
  • Sustainability projects include feed additive trails using seaweed extract to reduce rumen emissions and plans to add solar panels to completement the existing wind turbine.

Shinagh Dairy Farm will continue to provide leadership to Irish dairy farmers by demonstrating the operation and management of an environmentally and economically efficient farm, while at the same time demonstrating how a dairy farm can reduce its climate effect potentially to zero. The Carbon footprint has dropped significantly since 2018 and in 2025 was 0.55 kg CO2 eq./kg FPCM (including carbon sequestration).

Shinagh Dairy Farm Open Day 2026

A Shinagh Dairy Farm Open Day took place on September 1, 2026, which explored the farm’s approach to sustainable dairy farming.

Key topics discussed on the day included: the economics and farm system efficiency; genetics and environmental impact; labour efficiency, work practices and farm attractiveness; water quality, nitrogen mitigation and red clover.

Since its initial conversion from a beef farm 15 years ago, Shinagh Dairy Farm has continuously adapted to meet the changing priorities of the Irish dairy industry. The open day provided an opportunity to see the farm system in practice, learn about recent developments and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Irish dairy farming.

View the booklet: Shinagh Dairy Farm Open Day 2026