Tirlán Signpost Farmers

Thomas and David Fennelly, Portarlington, Co.Laois

Tom is farming 200Ha with his son David near Portarlington Co. Laois. The land is in 3 blocks. The overall soil fertility is 61% with K status at 63%. In 2024 they are milking 350 cows, they have 88 in calf heifers. The plan is to milk 350 cows, rear 80 1-2 year olds, 90 heifer calves. There are good facilities on the farm & a lot of development has taken place over the last few years. A new calf shed & silage pit was built In 2021. In 2023 the cows supplied 463kgMS per head. The calving interval is 363 days with a six week calving rate of 91%. Reseeding is with multi species & red clover.

Shane and John P. Fitzgerald, Portlaw East, Co. Waterford

Shane is farming 92Ha with his father John & partner Kate near Portlaw Co. Waterford. 30 Ha of the land is leased. All the land is available to cows, heifers are contract reared. Currently they are milking 200 cows with an EBI of €238. The plan is to consolidate numbers to 200 cows & to mature the herd to achieve an increase in milk solids production. The EBI of the younger stock is €282. The calving interval is 365 days & a six week calving rate of 86% for 2024. They make their own silage & spread their own fertilizer & slurry. 20% of the farm is reseeded in multi species swards since 2021

Steven Fitzgerald, Aglish, West Waterford

Steven is farming with his wife Catriona & his parents in Waterford. They are farming 150Ha of which 78Ha is leased. The milking platform is 96Ha. They milked 185 cows in 2023 & 42 replacement units. All beef calves are brought to stores for sale. They plan to milk 85 cows & decrease the beef enterprise over time. Parlour & accommodation has been upgraded in the last 10 years. Overall soil fertility is 43% for 2024. The EBI of the herd is €242 & the young stock have an EBI of €291. The calving interval is 368 days & a 94% six week calving rate. They plan to increase clover & reduce chemical N

Donal Kavanagh, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow

Donal is farming near Baltinglass Co. Wicklow. He is farming 139Ha of which 52.6Ha is rented. He also has included in that land 10 Ha’s of owned forestry. He has a milking platform of 68Ha. He is milking 200 cows in 2024, 1st year 100% spring calving herd. The EBI of the herd is €231 & €279 for the heifer calves. There is currently 23% of the milking platform with clover content of low to medium. Donal’s aim is to increase this number on the MP and to increase the clover percentage too. In 2023 he supplied 477 KgMS/cow.

Jack and Larry Kearney, Rathcormack, Co. Cork

Jack is farming in East Cork with his parents Larry & Annette. They are farming 78 Ha of which 44 Ha are owned. The milking platform is 47 Ha. In 2024 they are milking 160 cows & have 40 replacement heifers. The heifers are contract reared. Milking platform stocking rate is 3.5 Lu/Ha. The plan is to milk 160 cows and improve milk solids per cow through maximising genetic gain & the best grassland management possible for the farm. The EBI of the herd is €235 & the heifers are €275. The calving interval is 364 days with a 96% six week calving rate. The cows produced 504 kg MS/cow in 2023

Matthew and Declan Mullen, Kells, Co. Meath

Matthew farms in partnership with his father Declan, mother Gladys & Uncle Gerry near Kells Co Meath. They are farming 158Ha of which 15Ha is rented; the milking platform consists of 70Ha. An average of 305 cows will be milked in 2024. They have a winter milk contract & calf approx 140 cows for this. The plan is to milk 305 cows & have a compact spring & autumn calving. Most of the farm needs to be reseeded, they have 15% done in the last 2 years. Matthew is now in his 5th year measuring grass. They grew just over 13t DM/ha on the milking platform in 2023. Maize is grown for the winter her

Kevin Murphy, Gorey, Co. Wexford

Kevin Murphy farms 150Ha outside Gorey Co. Wexford with his wife Ann & farm manager Brian. Stocking rate on the milking platform is being reduced to 3LU/Ha. In 2023 they supplied 513KgMS/cow. Herd EBI is €219 with EBI of replacement €247. Kevin is a participant in the ‘Clover 150 trial’. The aim of this project is to aid farmers in establishing white clover across the milking platform over a multi-year approach to allow farmers be in a position to reduce chemical fertiliser and target a farm gate nitrogen surplus of 130 kg N/ha/yr. They have a rotary parlour & are building more cubicles.

Francis Nolan, Muckalee, Co. Kilkenny

Francis farms 91Ha of which 25Ha is rentednear Coolcullen in North Co Kilkenny. He is a new entrant to dairying. The milking platform is 70Ha’s. In 2023 he milked 158 cows & he had 37 replacements. The overall stocking rate on the farm is 2.35 Lu/Ha. The farm grew 13.6 ton of grass DM/Ha in 2023. The EBI of the herd is €228 & the younger stock have an EBI of €269 to €284. The calving interval is 367 days with 88% calving in 6 weeks. Soil fertility has increased from 36% in 2022 to 53% in 2024. Francis spoke at the IGA Spring Conference in 2023 on technologies to future proof his farm

John Ryan, Gortnahoe, Co. Tipperary

John & his father Tom farm 81Ha in Co. Tipperary. They were new entrants to milk in 2011. The milking platform is 34 Ha. In 2023 they milked 143 cows & reared 37 replacements. The overall stocking rate is 2.35 LU/Ha. The milking platform stocking rate is 4 cows/Ha. A zero grazer is used for the first & last rotation to supplement cows. In 2023 the cows supplied 522 KgMS/cow. They plan to hold cow numbers & increase milk solids per cow to 550 Kg through better genetics, maturity of the herd & grass. Herd EBI is €237 & replacements are €258 & €290. They are reseeding & incorporating clover & MS

Shay Ryan, New Ross, Co. Wexford

Shay farms 97Ha outside New Ross in Co. Wexford. The milking platform is 56Ha. There is a small beef enterprise on the farm. Currently he milks an average of 180 cows & has 50 replacement heifers. Herd EBI is €238 & the young stock have an EBI of €278 & €285. In 2023 he supplied 463kg MS/cow, the plan is to raise this to 500Kg. Soil fertility on the milking platform has been improved to Index 3 and 4 for P and K & the farm grew 14.9 tonnes of grass DM/Ha in 2023. Shay aims to reseed 10% of the milking platform every year. In 2023 he used the PPI grass Nashota & 1.5kg white clover & plantain

Tom Murphy, Fiddawn, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny

Tom farms in partnership with his parents, James & Chrisse. They farm 118Ha, 107Ha of which is free-draining grassland. Tom became a new entrant to milk in 2019. Prior to this they had sucklers, sheep and tillage. They started with 98 cows in 2019, progressively building the herd to 202 cows for 2024. The EBI of the herd is €218. In 2023 the herd produced 532kgs MS per cow. Farm facilities include a 24 unit Dairymaster milking parlour with room for 30 units. There are 250 outdoor cubicles & a lined lagoon with capacity for a million gallons.