Located in the Ards peninsula, Rowreagh Farm is one of the most progressive and impressive dairy farms on the island. We met up with 2012 UK Dairy Farmer of the Year Thomas Steele to discuss the history and current well-being of this exceptional family-run operation.
From their base in Kircubbin, County Down – on the shores of Strangford Lough, equidistant from Newtownards and Portaferry – brothers Thomas and Samuel Steele oversee a magnificent 700-acre farm with 500 milking cows.
Between June and December, 2009, the Steeles installed a brand-new 60-point Fullwood rotary abreast milking parlour and this has been instrumental in increasing the efficiency and productivity of the herd, whilst also cutting back on man hours. Milking now takes place thrice daily and requires less than three six hours in total.
Rowreagh Farm is one of a select few in Northern Ireland which has been designated as part of the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development Focus Farm initiative to share best practice and advice with other milk producers. Three years ago, Thomas was chosen as UK Dairy Farmer of the Year, so it’s fair to say that his is one of the premier dairy farming operations on these islands.
“Myself and Samuel are third-generation dairy farmers,” Thomas notes. “My grandfather John would have milked cows and my father William has also been a dairy farmer all his life. In 1985, Rowreagh Farm Ltd. was established by our mother and father, Rosemary and William, and the four of us are involved in running the business today.
“At present, we have 500 milking cows as well as 400 followers. We farm 700 acres, half of which we own and half of which is conacre. We grow 100 acres of forage maize, 100 acres of wheat and barley, and we operate a four-cut system on silage, with the first cut in April/May yielding 320 acres. We’d then cut every six-eight weeks, taking lighter cuts for higher-quality grass. In total, we’d end up cutting 1,000 acres.”
Reflecting on the decision to grow the farm over the past decade-and-a-half, Thomas continues: “Myself and Samuel had been to Greenmount Agricultural College and in 2000 we came back home to the family farm. We were milking around 120 cows at the time and it was clear that this wasn’t going to be enough to sustain three families. So we took the decision to grow the herd. We built a new cubicle house in ‘07/’08 and added the new parlour in 2009.”
The Fullwood system has completely transformed the operation. It’s a fully-automated parlour, which really helps from a labour point of view. The Steeles can milk 300 cows per hour and can put them all through in less than two hours. The associated pioneering herd management program – the first of its kind in the UK or Ireland! – offers a wide range of benefits including weight recording on every milking and heat detection foot pedometers so that the condition of cows can be scored as they leave the parlour.
During milking, conductivity is assessed to allow early detection of E coli and mastitis cases. The information gathered with body condition score, milk yield and stage of lactation allows the Steeles to feed each cow according to its needs.
The Steele family have never been afraid to embrace new technology. “We’re always looking to improve and advance the farm in any way we can and to try new ideas,” Thomas confirms. “We’ve also installed a robotic silage pusher, which is fully automated, and have automatic dip and flush for cows’ teats. We are progressive and there is always something new going on around here.
“We’ve been doing the three-times-a-day milking for four years now. At the moment, we have two full-time members of staff plus one part-time and we also use six relief staff to help out with the milking.”
As far as is possible, the farm is self-sufficient. Achieving an average yield of 10,555 litres a cow, the Steeles get an impressive 4,330 litres of this from forage – a strategy achieved by aiming to produce enough good-quality first-cut grass and maize silage to feed the high-yielders all year round.
“We use our own wheat and barley and also have our own grass silage,” says Thomas. “Last year, we put up a new purpose-built grain shed and we buy in soy, soy hulls, sugar beet, maize meal and rapeseed meal and mix them up ourselves. We also produce our own straw, which can be used for bedding.”
A stunning fleet of tractors and machinery is on hand to look after the tillage side of the operation. Tractor-wise, the Steeles own and operate a Case MX110 and MX135, as well as a Case Puma CVX160, John Deere 6170R and McCormick XTX 200– all 50k with front linkage.
There are also two NC slurry tankers – one 3,000 gallon with seven-metre trailing shoe and a 2,500 gallon with overhead boom; a four-furrow reversible plough; a Case 24-metre sprayer; and an Amazone 2.5tonne fertiliser sprayer. Regarding the silage, Thomas notes: “We have our own mower and we cover a small area ourselves, but we get a local contractor, Brian Horner, to do the rest. We have two tedders as well and we do all the tedding ourselves to try to get dry silage.”
This 21st-century dairy farm has grown significantly in recent years thanks to Thomas Steele’s attention to detail, use and understanding of technology and impressive business plan for growth. He predicts a further 20% increase in the herd of high-yielding Holstein Friesian cows in the not-too-distant future.
“In terms of cow numbers, we are aiming for 600 and we continue to buy pockets of land. This year we have bought an additional 70 acres, so we are still expanding. There’s always something going on.”
Sounds like there’ll be a business there for the fourth generation of the Steele family if they choose the same path? “I have two sons and Samuel has one but they are very young at the moment. We will let them make their own decisions. We were never forced onto the farm ourselves and that was important. Dad let is decide for ourselves and we will do the same with our children. I love this work and that is very important. I couldn’t get up in the morning if I didn’t like my job.
“We start at 4am with the first milk and I like going out then because of the peace and quiet. Compared to another job, where you might be stuck in traffic for hours going into Belfast before you even start, I think it’s great. We have the second milking at 1pm and the third at 8pm and each of them needs three men.”
Rowreagh Farm is well laid out with acres of concrete to keep the whole operation clean. Large silage pits surround the huge sheds; a new shed is going up as we speak. Never a dull moment.
Rowreagh Farm,
Rowreagh Road,
Kircubbin,
Newtownards,
County Down,
Tel: 028 42738246
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 5, June 2015
