It takes hard work, commitment and dedication to own and operate a dairy farm. Peter and Margaret Keane talk to Irish Tractor magazine about their daily routine and what’s involved in running a successful dairy enterprise.
The abolition of milk quotas last April was universally hailed as a bright new dawn for the country’s 18,000 dairy farmers but Peter and Margaret Keane are proceeding with caution.
The husband and wife duo milk a 300 strong herd on their 200 acre farm which is located in Carrick-on-Suir on the Waterford/Tipperary border. In addition, they rent another 150 acres within a couple of miles of the farm.
For the first time in 31 years, there are no restrictions on how much milk dairy farmers can supply but Peter warns: “I’d be very sceptical because there was a reason it was brought in in the first place, it’s not that long ago that we had butter mountains and milk lakes.
“There is no real control of supply and there’s lot of uncertainty out there. It costs a lot of money to produce quality food and, at 26 cent a litre, that’s below the cost of production at the moment.”
Peter continued: “All of this volume of milk that’s going to come out, where’s the market for it?
“I don’t want to be a doomsayer but I won’t be bursting the champagne open just yet. It takes money to produce a quality product. That is my concern.
“Market forecast suggests that consumers will buy more dairy products but that is just speculation at the moment.”
Peter’s opinion is rooted in years of hands-on experience in the dairy sector. As the fourth generation of Keanes to make a living as a dairy farmer, he is carrying on a proud family tradition. He purchased his first three pedigree cows in 1984.
“I was born and bred in Castleconnell, Co Limerick but the motorway was built through our family farm which made it unviable as a dairy enterprise. We started to look for a farm to buy in 2001 and ended up here in Carrick-on-Suir, we’ve been here since 2003.”
Margaret is originally from Ardmore in west Waterford. She qualified as a vet in 1993 and worked for the Mulcair veterinary practice in Limerick for seven years and with the Department of Agriculture for two years.
A typical day in the lives of Peter and Margaret involves a 6.45am rise and milking twice a day, morning and evening, is the main routine.
They have a spring calving herd of 300 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows. These are run on commercial lines and milk is supplied to Glanbia Plc. All bull calves are sold at around two weeks so the farm focus is entirely on profitable milk production.
“We’re kept busy but labour is a big issue for us,” highlighted Margaret. “We have found it to be very hard to get qualifier labour. Good cow men are scarce on the ground and that’s a common problem for farmers who have exceeded the family farm size.”
What are the other challenges encountered by Peter and Margaret?
“You have the usual ones like the weather and price,” answered Margaret. “There are also challenges that come with being an employer. Taking on an employees costs a lot of money and that is assuming you can find the right person.”
Life for the Keanes and their four children – Maeve, Emily, Peter and Grace – has been made easier by the installation of a 50-point rotary DeLaval parlour three years ago.
With milking beginning to take longer and longer, with increasing numbers and a poor cow flow they looked into alternatives. They now comfortably milks their cows with each milking only lasting one hour and 20 minutes.
Installed with the help of local building contractor Bernard Tobin who looked after the concrete work, the massive undertaking has proven to be money well spent by the family.
“It’s comfortable to work in, it’s efficient when it comes to output and it’s a great time saver,” commented Margaret. “The cows are really content in it and they’re not standing around in the yard for all hours – they’re out in the field where they should be.”
Peter & Margaret Keane
Rath
Carrick-on-Suir
Co Waterford
Peter: 087-9425151
Margaret: 087-6336186
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 8, September 2015
