Life throws up certain situations that we all must deal with time from time. A person’s livelihood is always under threat no matter what industry some is involved in.
This includes the agricultural sector where dealing with livestock brings about its own issues. Like humans, animals can get sick for no apparent reason, but unfortunately for farmers, this can wipe out their entire herd.
Three years ago, Monaghan farmer David Scott suffered a hammer blow when it was revealed that some of his herd of cattle had contacted T.B and as anyone involved in farming knows, that means that all the cattle must be removed from the farm to be destroyed, while a farmer cannot restock for a four-month period afterwards.
It is a devastating blow to any farmer and David tells Irish Tractor & Agri about tough time that he and his family went through, but he also revealed that they have battled back in the last few years.
David is a dairy and poultry farmer situated in Newbliss. The T.B incident was a huge blow, but the Scott family have had to deal with their setbacks in the poultry side of the business also.
“We used to supply Co-Op Poultry for years, but they went bust and we were owed a lot of money, so that was a big setback for us also,” said David, who is the fourth generation of the Scott family to be involved in farming.
“We are at the poultry for many years and now have three houses that are home to 60,000 chickens in total. We solely supply Western Brand in Ballyhaunis now and we’re pleased with how that is going at the moment.
“The TB was a huge setback to us and it was a tough time for all of us. After the four-month cooling period, I went to Cork and bought a herd of cattle and at the moment I’m milking 85 cows.”
David revealed that following the abolishment of the milk quota, he is looking to increase his herd in the coming months.
“I aim to get up to 125 cows by next year and we will take it from there. It is hard to know how getting rid of the quota will work as milk prices could drop with the extra milk that will be produced, but as long as the price stays ok, everything will be fine.”
Operating a brand new 16 unit Dairymaster milking parlour allows David to get through the daily ritual in no time at all as two milkings a day covers the herd.
David revealed that they don’t do any tillage themselves and buy in their maize and while the used to cut their own silage, a contractor does that work now with the help from his family.
“We would do our own ploughing and slurry alright. We have 240 acres of land here. We prefer to do pit silage and don’t wrap at all. Last year, we managed three cuts of silage and we have one done this year already.
“It’s taken us a while to build up where we want to be again, but we are getting there and hopefully we will have no more setbacks.”
David has an extensive range of machinery at his disposal and his preferred choice of tractor is Massey Ferguson which are generally bought from William Bell Tractors in Fivemiletown.
“We have been dealing with them for a good few years and find them very good. We’ve always like Massey tractors and we would do the majority of our own maintenance work.”
Newbliss Farming Ltd is very much a family run affair as David’s father Derrick is still involved in the farm, looking after the chicken end of things, while David’s wife Adele helps out with the paperwork, while their three sons Dean (21) and twins Darren and Dylan (18) have all shown an interest in the farm. Darren has his first year in Gorteen College done, Dean has graduated from Greenmount with a qualification in land-based technology while Dylan has completed his first year in DCU in Engineering.
David is optimistic about the future and it is a credit to him and his family to be where they are today having suffered two massive blows in recent years.
“Look, you just have to get on with it and keep working hard. Of course, both incidents were a massive blow to us, but we have come back well and hopefully we can continue to build up the farm in the coming years.
“You do look at things slightly differently now and I suppose you have to take a cautious approach with everything you do, but we meet all the standards required in both the dairy and the poultry. It is essential to do that and we’re looking forward to a bright future.”
Newbliss Farming
Boughill,
Newbliss,
Co. Monaghan
email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 6, July 2015
