David O'Leary

David is a new entrant to farming as well as dairying in Castleisland, Co. Kerry.

David started milking on a 32ha leased block in 2018 (an existing dairy operation).  He aims to milk 80 cows this year.

10ha of this area is across a busy road and the heavy soil type means it is not always suitable for grazing at the shoulders of the year.  Much of the infrastructure was already in place and the previous owners have been a great help to David.

Over one third of the area has been reseeded since David took over with further investment in grazing infrastructure to grow and utilise more grass.

He plans to continue to reseed observing a big difference in yield and much better response to fertiliser from reseeded paddocks.

The young herd produced 440 Kg MS (supplied to Kerry Agribusiness) from 840 kg meal per cow in 2020, and David anticipates this will rise to 520 Kg MS per cow once the herd matures.

In 2020, David’s farm grew 14.3T DM/ha.