There are plenty of things to consider before swapping suckler cows for a dairy enterprise, according to Conor Coakley – a young farmer from Co. Cork.

Earlier this week, Coakley was declared as the overall winner of the Teagasc / FBD Insurance Student of the Year award – having been selected from a group of 15 finalists.

Also Read: Cork farmer wins Teagasc / FBD Insurance Student of the Year

The Teagasc Clonakilty Agricultural College student completed the Teagasc Level 6 Advanced Dairy Progamme and is currently enrolled in the Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management.

Speaking to AgriLand, he said: “I’m farming at home with my father; we’re farming about 100 suckler cows at the moment and we’re converting over to dairy in 2020.

We have recently bought calves to start the dairy herd; we’ll buy a few more from a neighbour as well and we’ll buy a few cows then after that in 2019 or early 2020.

Making the switch

Farming approximately 54ha in Dungourney, Co. Cork, the Coakleys decided to pursue dairy farming in recent years.

“We always had sucklers at home, but we decided to go dairying because we didn’t feel there would be enough of an income for two people to work together full-time with the sucklers.

“Our farm would be very suitable for converting over to dairying.

Conor Coakley receiving his Teagasc / FBD Insurance Student of the Year award

“We’ll probably start off with about 100 cows, with heifers on the platform – and then maybe build up to about 120 cows, with heifers on the platform.

“With heifers off the platform, we could build up to about 140 to 155 cows – not being extremely heavily stocked, as you don’t want to go too high in the stocking rate,” the young farmer explained.

Gaining experience

Coakley had a passion for farming from a young age and always intended to return home to farm.

I always farmed at home really and helped out; I liked to think I helped out anyway.

During his time studying in Clonakilty, Coakly jetted off to New Zealand to experience working on a 2,500-cow dairy farm.

Continuing, he said: “It’s always going to be a bit of a shock to you really; the scale is huge. There are good things about it – the way they roster their staff, in fairness to them, is very good.

“They’re most used to organising their staff, which is something we can learn from.”

Coakley also gathered experience while completing a placement on a dairy farm in east Cork and he briefly worked with Farm Relief Services (FRS) carrying out relief milking for local dairy farmers at home.

The young farmer encouraged others who are thinking of making the switch to dairy to carry out plenty of research.

Concluding, he said: “The main thing is to work on a dairy farm if you can at all and get a bit of experience on it. Then do your research, go to farm walks, talk to your local advisor – and make sure you like milking cows.”