Progressive dairy farming in neighbouring Co. Monaghan

Editorial Department • Published 20 Oct 2011 13:00 0 Comments

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A progressive dairy farmer from neighbouring Co. Monaghan has encouraged all farmers to be more financially focused and to constantly update their plans for their businesses.

Damien McEntee, who manages a 160-cow dairy herd at Magheracloone, Co. Monaghan, close to the Cavan boundary, also said it was illogical for Irish co-operatives to continue competing against each other to sell product nationally and internationally.

In his frank and open discussion with Fermanagh Grassland Club at their first winter meeting of the season last week, Mr. McEntee, outlined the development of his farm and his views on the dairying industry.

Entitling his talk, "My strategy for a sustainable future," Damien, who attended Ballyhaise Agricultural College and completed a term of work placement, said he had always wanted to be a dairy farmer.

Starting out in 1994, at 21 years old, he bought 16 hectares of land and went into suckling. He then rented the home farm in 1998 which had been purchased by his parents who came home from America in the 1960's and made a living from a typical mixed farm.

In the mid 1970's they purchased a second farm and went into dairying.

Ten years ago, Damien was milking 56 cows with traditional spring calving on 30 acres all owned. One of his brothers then went into suckling on the other farm.

Now he has 170 cows with his brother contract rearing the calves for replacements, coming into his herd in-calf.

He said among the challenges he faces are animal health as in 2008, he purchases in-calf heifers but developed huge problems with red water, affecting a large proportion of the herd.

The farm has been totally reseeded and he measures grass every week which has shown him the benefits of grass budgeting. Any paddock that gets too strong for grazing will be closed up for silage. He said grass measurements had saved him a lot of money on feed costs.

He has also created some three kilometres of laneways and is also getting around finishing off an adequate water supply system. He is currently finishing off winter accommodation for 270 cows, a target figure he would like to reach.

He revealed problems taking leases for local farms as they are reluctant to commit to medium to long term in view of the CAP reform proposals. He would like a longer lease on land for his dairying enterprise.

He wants to see good fertility and high milk solids because good breeding will be vital to establish a herd that has to walk between parlour and grass.

He told farmers how he became a low cost producer, primarily by investing in a computer package designed to record costs on the farm. He admitted he was not a great computer fan but soon realised the benefits of regular financial control on the software system.

He also takes part in a dairy discussion group with around 16 local farmers and has just returned from a farm study tour of the United States which included a visit to Rodney Elliott's farm in South Dakota.

When back in Ireland, the discussion group meets monthly to have frank and open exchanges about their farm businesses and suggestions about going forward.

At a meeting facilitated by Moorepark, Discussion Groups of Ireland made a subnission about future strategy. He said they wanted to be a major player on the world dairy market and wanted to gain market strength.

He said the EU milk policy was now market orientated and therefore farmers would have make cost and efficiency savings.

He also said that with active dairy farmers only owning 30 per cent of the dairying industry, dairy farmers had a disproportionately low representation on important decision making bodies which at the end of the day would have a direct impact on their livelihood and their futures.

As a result, he believed shareholders within co-ops should be encouraged and that includes producers from Northern Ireland supplying co-ops in the Republic.

This northern milk, he said, was vital to keep co-ops going through the winter months.

Answering questions, Damien said he ran the business himself, with a sister-in-law who reared the calves and who also did relief milking. He employs contracts for most of the farm tasks as he had little machinery tied up in the business.

His farm was relatively dry and would aim to have cows turned out in mid February on the drier paddocks. He hoped the herd would continue to stay out on grass for another few weeks, despite the wet weather experienced by Fermanagh farmers.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 20 Oct 11

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