Dairy News 26 September 2017

Page 26

DAIRY NEWS SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

26 //  MANAGEMENT

It’s a family affair for the M The abolition of EU milk quotas and sagging export beef prices are prompting Irish farmers – especially the young – to convert to dairying. Farm sizes, systems and technology are on the rise. Reporter Peter Burke visited Ireland recently and met the Mulligan family – Mary, Padraig and son Padraig Og (junior), running one of Ireland’s largest herds – 740 cows. THE MULLIGAN farm is located near the township of Templeboy, half a kilometre from the beautiful rugged north-west of Ireland coast. It’s also close to the attractive city of Sligo, linked to the

famous Irish poet W. B. Yeats. Mulligans’ farm is fertile and the country gently rolling, making it ideal for dairying. It’s typical beautiful Irish countryside with a slice of rugged-

ness making it even more attractive. Dry stone walls divide all farms. Today the farm covers just over 350ha, about half of it owned by the Mulligans and the remainder leased. Rainfall of about

1000mm is normal, the region being exposed to Atlantic gales. Padraig senior has worked on the farm since he was 14 when it was a 5.6ha mixed farm with three cows, 14 ewes, two

THE NEW PARLOUR BY THE early 1980s the Mulligan farm was already big by Irish standards with 80 cows, and when son Padraig Og came to the farm in 1996 the expansion was

in full swing and this has continued. He and his wife Anita and sons Kyle (9), Callum (6) and daughter Feaen (5) live next door to Mary and Padraig.

With Padraig Og on the farm, a company was formed four years ago with him and his parents as directors. He and his father look after the physical aspects of

Padraig Og Mulligan and sons Kyle and Callum at the site of the proposed $1.3m rotary milking parlour.

farm work, while Mary looks after the finances and other paperwork. In 1996 the family built a 20-bail Dairymaster herringbone parlour and planned some years ago to replace this with a new rotary shed, but the effects of the rise and fall of the ‘Celtic tiger’ economy scotched this. But with the farm producing at least 400,000kgMS/year from 740 cows, the Mulligans decided two years ago to bite the bullet, making plans install a 70-bail Dairymaster rotary costing $1.3 million. Padraig Og says they considered installing a smaller rotary, but other large Irish dairy farmers advised them to go big. Now most of the earthworks for the new parlour are done and they aim to commission the shed late this year. “The parlour is large

Padraig Mulligan has worked on the farm since 14.

but will be basic: the usual automatic cup removers, teat spray, automatic drafting and a back-end scraper. We chose Dairymaster because they were Irish and if we wanted a part we could get it quickly; after sales service is important. “Two people will be able to milk 500 cows an hour. With the present parlour the morning milking can take up to five hours and the evening four hours so we will save on the cost of labour,” he says. The Mulligans now employ four full-time and several part-time staff. Workers don’t stay long because of the time they must spend just milking cows. Padraig Og also believes they will save animal health costs;

they plan to upgrade the races to reduce the foot problems now an issue for them. Padraig senior also sees efficiencies in the new parlour. He believes their ability to accurately measure the production of each cow may help them reduce stock numbers by up to 100 without any loss of production. This is linked with reducing the stocking rate and getting better pasture utilisation. Mary Mulligan says the cost of the parlour will make finances tight, but the project is doable. “I am all behind it because I think the new milking parlour will make a huge difference to Padraig Og’s life. He can’t go on working the hours he has for the last

two years because he has to spend time with his wife and children and this will reduce the milking time by half,” she says. All three family members are confident their decision to grow the business will pay off in the long term. Mary notes that the day of the small herd dairy farmer is coming to an end because they are uneconomic and need to be supported by a person with an off-farm job. Son Padraig agrees and says as these farmers move on more land may come up for lease. But Mary says they are unlikely to buy more land because of the financial pressure. They are banking on dairying becoming an even bigger part of the Irish economy.


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