A young Skibbereen farmer who helped on the family farm while he was in New Zealand, through the use of a calving camera, delighted his parents when he made a surprise return home last week.
Brendan Crowley (25) just last week surprised his family as he returned to Ireland to work on the home farm.
“We are farming 210ac, 90 owned and leasing 120, and if the opportunity came up of some more land around us we would like to take on some more,” he told Agriland.
“We are milking 175 Jersey Cross and FriesIan cows through our 20-unit DeLaval parlour.”
His father and mother, Michael and Marguerite, both work full-time on the farm.
“I have two brothers and two sisters, all younger than me who help out especially in the spring time. They all chip in to make it all run smoothly,” said Brendan.
“We recently added some new technology to our calving shed and cubicle shed which we can look at on our phones.”
In fact, it is thanks to technology that Brendan was able to help out on the family farm from afar.
“Even when I was 18000km away in New Zealand I could still see our calving camera on my phone so I did the night shifts as it was day time in New Zealand,” he said.
“If there was a cow calving I just rang my mother or father so they could get a good night’s sleep especially during calving.”
Out in New Zealand
Brendan initially went to New Zealand for a six-month stint.
“I went out to New Zealand first in 2015 for a six-month work placement and came back home at the start of 2016 to finish agricultural college. I then worked on a farm in Clonakilty for 8-9 months,” the Skibberreen farmer said.
However, he had been bitten by the travel bug.
“I then decided I wanted to see more of the world, as I was only 18 at the time. I wanted to try agricultural contracting in New Zealand for eight months so a few phone calls later, I had a job and was on my way back down under.
“At 19-years-old I was still quite afraid of going so far away from home but knew it would be good for me.
“I did my first season driving a JCB 434 on the pit for Finch contracting in Te Awamutu in New Zealand. A few weeks before I was due to fly back home, I was offered a job on the contractor’s 600-cow dairy farm milking through a 30-unit herringbone parlour.
“It was an opportunity so I jumped at it. Every winter and autumn I ended up managing the farm. After my second season, in the contracting side which was the other half of the season, I progressed from two seasons on the pit, a season -and-a- half on trucks drawing grass as we don’t use tractor and trailers, and to my last season mowing with a Fendt 927 and Claas 1100 triple mowers,” Brendan said.
“Being away from home was tough at the start but the Kiwis are just such a welcoming and friendly bunch of people so everyone is always looking out for everyone.
“I was in New Zealand for five and a half years and they were definitely the best years of my life so far. There is just so much opportunity out there in the world, not just New Zealand, that you have no idea about.
“You make some unforgettable people and see some places that you think are paintings until you get out there and see them,” the Skibbereen farmer said.
Advice for young people
“My advice for any young person coming out of college or school is just go work for someone else, especially in dairy farming,” said Brendan.
“It doesn’t have to be New Zealand but go work on other farms.
“Don’t just go straight back to your home farm. Go away to others and you will learn so much, get new ideas and have a bit of belief in yourself.
“I never ever thought that I would be working on a huge farm, let alone managing one, and driving some of the world’s biggest gear that I would never get a chance to use back home,” the Skibbereen man said.
Surprising his parents
Brendan recently moved back home to west Cork, by way of surprise.
“My parents have had a tough spring with some bad news over a few weeks and I decided not to tell them I was coming home,” he explained.
“I organised with my two sisters to collect me from Dublin Airport and as they came in after evening milking pretty beat up after their hard long day, I walked in as they sat down to eat dinner,” said Brendan.
“I had never seen them so happy. After five and a half years without seeing them it was a pretty nice surprise, and of course there’s a TikTok going around from my sister who filmed everyone’s reaction, which turned out to bring a lot of tears,” the young Skibbereen farmer said.
Future plans
As of right now, Brendan is happy out at home, but his future is not set just quite yet.
“As of future plans right now I’ve had five pretty intense years of work. Doing 18 hour days for five years does take its toll on the body so I’m just at home helping out of the home farm and once calving is finished up I do plan on taking a month or two off just to get a break for a bit,” he said.
“There are a few more courses I would like to do in that time like hoof paring and AI [artificial insemination]. I would love to get back to New Zealand in the near future but for now I am just going to see what happens.”
One issue Brendan is very concerned about is mental health, in men especially.
“We have the stereotype that we are men and we can’t say how we’re feeling. We believe we have to be seen strong, and ball it up inside,” he said.
“I can personally say I have had a few traumatic years and I did the same, balled it up and kept it inside until I started losing weight. I was always tired and couldn’t concentrate at work.
“I finally cracked and I had to talk to someone so I just asked a workmate in New Zealand if I could have a chat. I told her what I needed and just like that, I felt so much better.
“I’m just saying that nobody is out to judge you, if you need to talk even just contact me, anyone will listen.”