Geoff Cunningham, an award-winning new dairy entrant, milks 115 cows in Poulacapple, in Co. Tipperary, off the Co. Kilkenny border.
“My father was always beef and tillage, but when I came home, it had to be milk. The figures weren’t adding up for the two of us to be at home full-time.”
When he finished his degree, Cunningham formed a farm partnership with his father and made the decision to convert to dairy, which resulted in the installation of a 16-unit Dairymaster Swiftflo Swing Parlour with automatic cluster removers, a diversion line, Swiftflo Commander and an autowasher.
It takes approximately 80-minutes to milk the 115-strong herd, the young farmer explained. “We won an award with Animal Health Ireland; our average somatic cell count was 40,000 for the year and this year, currently, are running at 66,000.”
Main image and video source: Dairymaster / Youtube
