From his base in Enniscrone, County Sligo, Edward Caffrey runs an exceptional mixed farming enterprise incorporating dairy, beef, sheep and tillage as well as providing an outstanding contracting service. We travelled west to find out more about the enduring Caffrey family tradition of working the land, which dates back decades, nay centuries.
From low-lying, gently rolling green fields amid the coastal plain of Enniscrone, County Sligo, nestling betwixt the towering Ox Mountains and the undulating Atlantic Ocean, Edward Caffrey oversees an impressive traditional mixed farming / agri contracting business that is by the land, for the land and of the land.
Like a component of the very landscape itself, combing and nurturing the earth to yield rich crops and livestock, successive generations of the Caffrey clan have worked the rich, versatile soil here for longer than any of us have lived; Edward is keeping the proud family tradition alive.
There’s nothing he doesn’t know about farming so why not do a bit of everything on the 280 hectares (310 acres owned, the remainder rented) under his remit? – dairy, beef, sheep and tillage; all handled expertly; the entire operation coordinated like clockwork. When he’s not working his own land, Edward provides a keen, prompt and professional contracting service to neighbouring farmers. Plenty of time to relax after the last breath has been exhaled…
Reflecting on the genesis of the business, the industrious and affable Sligo man notes: “I grew up on the family farm, which dates back to the 1800s. We have of course increased the acreage over the years. My parents Edward and Linda farmed here and I stayed at home and took over.”
Edward milks 250 British Friesians in a 26-unit De La Valle swing-over herring-bone parlour, with all the milk going to Aurivo. He runs 80 ewes and buys in 500 store lambs every July. Meanwhile, cattle from the dairy enterprise and all bull calves (angus heifers, Friesian and angus bulls) are finished for beef before 21 months.
The tillage side of the enterprise comprises 59 acres of winter barley, 18 acres of spring barley and 25 acres of spring wheat as well as some 15 acres of fodder beet, ten acres of forage rape and around 70 acres of wholecrop barley.
“I started the tillage due to high feed prices and it has helped us stabilise and reduce our feed bills, while we can also work it into a rotation and improve the land we take on long-term leases.”
Full-time employment is generated for four – including Edward and his younger brother – as well as a few seasonal workers. Everything is done in-house, the expertise accrued also extended to a thriving agri business. “I’ve been contracting all my life,” confirms Edward, who provides round baling, pit silage, reseeding, lime spreading and slurry (umbilical cord and tanker) services in the general Enniscrone / Castleconnor hinterland.
The impressive fleet at Edward’s disposal includes five Deutz tractors – a 150 Agrotron, M640 Agrotron, 105 Agrotron, DX 606 and a 6105 Agrotron which was purchased brand new last year from Jacob’s Service Station in Kilglass.
Edward also owns and operates a superb fleet of machinery, incorporating a Claas self-propelled harvester, Deutz combine harvester, Major 2600 gallon slurry tanker, Hi Spec 2300 gallon slurry tanker, two Kuhn power harrows, Einboeck 600 air seeder, Lely 745 rake, Lely 245 round baler, Slurrykat slurry system, Amazone spreader, Taarup mower conditioner, Hitachi 130-3 excavator, JCB 320 loading shovel, 22-cubic-metre Kverneland feeder tub, grain roller / crimper, Bredal K65 lime spreader and Herron, Redrock and Kane silage trailers.
The fleet is fresh and painstakingly maintained. “A lot of it is fairly new. You’d be using it year-round so you have to keep on top of it, both in terms of replacing machines and also maintaining them.”
Edward believes there’s no point doing a job if you’re not going to do it right. “I always do a good job and my customers seem to keep coming back,” he states. “This year I moved to self-propelled because silage is a very short season now and the first cuts are very condensed. You just have a few days at the end of May and the start of June when you really have to get through the acreage.”
The battle with the weather is becoming fiercer; fought on all fronts now. “The weather of the previous ten years wasn’t as bad as the last three. Reseeding was way back this year and that’s weather-related. Coupled with the downturn in milk, it makes life difficult.
“Milk has always been produced here and it’s important to me to keep that tradition going but we have done everything we possibly can to reduce costs and we can’t decrease them any further. Prices will have to come up. It’s not sustainable at the existing price. You simply can’t produce milk long-term at this price. You would be hoping it is just a blip, although there seems to be little sign of a price increase. We’re nearly back to 2004/05 prices at this stage, while the cost of production has rocketed.”
Regardless of what happens with milk prices, Edward Caffrey will certainly be continuing the proven family tradition of farming and contracting. “We’ve always farmed here and we’ll keep going as well as we can. We might tweak things here and there, but we will keep it going. On the beef side of things, I also purchase one hundred cattle annually for winter finishing, so there’s plenty to keep me going.”
Before I left behind the striking, ocean-kissed landscape of Enniscrone to make my journey inland, I shook hands with Edward Caffrey and was struck with the certainty that this man would probably spend the rest of his days here. And that he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Caffrey’s Farm
Enniscrone
Co. Sligo
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 1, January/February 2017
