Castleisland farmer David O’Leary won the Young Farmer category of the Grassland Farmer of the Year awards.
David is a new entrant to farming as well as dairying and he started milking on a 32 hectares leased farm in 2018 on an existing dairy operation and he aims to milk 80 cows this year.
Grassland Awards – A Phased Programme
The Grassland Farmer of the Year awards are part of the Teagasc Grass10 campaign which is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc, AIB, FBD Insurance, Grassland Agro and the Irish Farmers Journal.
The first four year phase of the programme has been completed and the second phase commences in 2021.
“A portion of David’s farm is across a busy road and the heavy soil type means it is not always suitable for grazing at the shoulders of the year,” according to the citation from Teagasc.
Infrastructure In Place
“Much of the infrastructure was already in place and the previous owners have been a great help to David.
“Over one third of the area has been reseeded since he took over with further investment in grazing infrastructure to grow and utilise more grass.
Reseeding Paddocks
“He plans to continue to reseed observing a big difference in yield and much better response to fertiliser from reseeded paddocks.
“The young herd produced 440 Kg MS supplied to Kerry Agribusiness from 840 kg meal per cow in 2020, and David anticipates this will rise to 520 Kg MS per cow once the herd matures.
Let David O’Leary himself talk you through his award winning enterprise with a click on the link here:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/grassland/grass10/grassland-farmer-of-the-year-2020/david-oleary/
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