P.J Pollard
Dairy Sheep Producer, Co. Kilkenny

He is currently farming 90 acres, milking 270 sheep while also farming 20 pedigree Aubrac cows

Cabinet maker by trade but gave that up to take over the family farm 4 years ago. At the time it was a commercial Suckler herd.

• “Make something of the family farm and for it to be sustainable”
• He was also farming part time when working as a cabinet maker and the workload was too much so one of them had to go
• He always liked farming and believes it to be a ‘rewarding way of living’, ‘every day is enjoyable’ and ‘a nice family balance life’
• He wanted to make a living from the farm

• Access to land – family farm
• Family support – “still run as a family farm, everyone helps out during busy times”
• Well established company to supply and they also helped out great at the start – Cashel Blue Cheese

Kildinan Farm – Rory Magorrian
Organic Salad leaf Producer

Website

Rory and his wife Sheila set up this farm business. They own 20 acres and farm 5 acres of it, with a turnover of €100,000. They were away in Australia for years and while away bought the house accompanied by the land. They never intended to farm the land. However when Rory was made redundant, they decided to make a go of the land purchased 10 years previous.

• Made redundant from job – said we have 20 acres here surely we could make a living from it
• When working as a printer never woke up saying thank god I am going into a factory today. We could change what we are doing for a living and maybe do something that could improve our lives/ lifestyle and maybe could grow organic produce and that was our aim from the start. If we are going to grow, grow organically and maybe improve other people’s lives i.e. less chemicals.

• Organic
• Sustainable – both financially and for the soil
• Local – helps selling point
• Specialised – only growing 4 crops but doing it right
• Local support
• Support from retailers – Supervalu

Teresa Roche – Cheese manufacturing from home dairy farm, Co.Galway
Kylemore Cheese

Website

A qualified nurse and worked abroad for number of years. Her parents are milking almost 100 cows and she returned home from abroad 2 years ago and started a cheese business.

• ‘add value’ to the raw material
• Farm is producing milk for the last 60 years and with the poor milk price when she returned home she believes if she did not begin this alternative enterprise the family would have had to get out of milk
• She also want to ‘keep interest in the family dairy for the next generation’
• She also ‘wanted to put an identity on the local community’

• Having the “raw material”
• She visited cheese operations abroad e.g. Switzerland, UK – these acted as mentors
• Having a “unique product”
• “Fully traceable product from grass fed Pedigree Holstein cows producing high quality milk

Padraig O’Farrell, Co.Longford, Ireland
Dairy Farm Partnership, milking 80 cows

Padraig completed Agricultural level 8 degree and returned home to farm. Only son who was “always out farming from a young age”. Set up farm partnership in 2015 on family farm.

• Coming home after completing and Agricultural degree in college, he had to start earning an income somewhere

• 2 people are involved in the running of the farm – large knowledge
• Advisory – good advisory network that could trust and understand
• Family support – “Open minded father who was already in charge of farm”
• Farm was already in place – infrastructure, land

John Lalor – Kilbeggan Organic Foods
Organic Beef and Tillage farmer, Co. Westmeath, Ireland

Website:

Currently farming 121 ha with half in grassland and half in tillage. The grassland is used to finish 200 beef cattle and the tillage is used to supply organic oats

John studied physiotherapy and left Ireland for Australia where he worked for 10 years.

• His father was getting old and
• He wasn’t passionate about physiotherapy and seen different friends go and do a career change which opened his eyes.
• His father started a food business with the farm produce when he was away which John found exiting. John states “Food business offers something for the future whereas farming doesn’t when on its own”.

• Being Organic when it comes to selling
• Contacts – built up a network of people over time
• Been able to “retain more of the margin because they sell direct – cutting out the middle man”

Enda Keaveney
Dairy farm partnership, Co. Galway

Enda is in a dairy farm partnership since 2015 with his parents. He studied construction first and then the recession hit Ireland. They are farming 120 cows.

• He was always in farming, grew up with it. The farm here is milking cows since 1970’s
• Recession in Ireland
• He began working with other dairy farmers and ‘thought there is more to this than I know and got a grá for it and liked the technical side and decided to go for it’
• He was starting to get older in life/stage in life
• ‘Opportunity for the home farm business to grow/expand, take on new development and to get involved in the farm at home’

• ‘Foundations for the farm were here’ had to just apply technical ability to get the most out of it
• ‘good working relationship with parents’, ‘open minded and trust’
• ‘great support and backup with advisor, discussion group and the dairy community – very open minded’