As part of the ‘Futureproofing Irish Dairy Farms’ Ballyhaise dairy open day, there was a panel discussion surrounding the topic of family farm partnerships.
The panel included two couples who have both had great success through their respective farm partnerships.
Succession and farm partnerships was highlighted by Teagasc’s James Dunne, who was chair of the forum on the day.
Dunne highlighted the importance discussing “succession and future career paths for young people”.
Martin and Niamh Connaughton are farming in a family farm partnership in conjunction with Martin’s father, Padraig Connaughton.
The partnership has been a success since it commenced in 2021, with the father and son saying that although there have been arguments along the way, it has been running smoothly.
Farm system
The family farm is milking 139 high economic breeding index (EBI) cows in a spring calving, grass-based system in Newtown Castle, Co. Longford.
Since Martin has came back to work on the farm in conjunction with his father Padraig, they have converted the cow type on the farm from a Holstein Friesian cow to a Friesian x Jersey crossbred cow.
They are farming their 139 cows on a 164ac milking platform with an overall stocking rate of 1.85LU/ha.
The crossbred cow has been performing well for the Connaughtons as the cows produced an average of 502kg/milk solids last year while feeding one tonne of meal.
The Connaughtons are currently milking through a 10-unit milking parlour, in which they have planning in place to upgrade to allow for better cow flow and efficiency.
The overall goal of the family farm as described by Martin is to “produce a high level of milk solids, efficiently, while utilising as much grass as possible”.
Farm partnership
Martin finished his leaving cert in 2009 where he then went on to study dairy business in University College Dublin (UCD), however he was never enticed to go working in the dairy industry.
He finished up college and went straight into working on a commercial dairy farm in Tullynally, Co.Westmeath for two which was followed by a five year stint on a 12,000 cow dairy farm in Saudi Arabia.
Martin’s wife, Niamh Connaughton always had an interest in dairy farming through exposure on her uncle’s farm, which led her to completing a dairy herd management degree in Ballyhaise Agricultural College.
Similarly to Martin, Niamh gained loads of experiences through different work placements, which bolstered a passion to get further involved in dairy farming.
Martin told attendees that the experience in Saudi Arabia really stood to him in terms of managing staff and keeping a large-scale dairy system going.
Martin told attendees that “I always wanted to come back farming”, but he felt an opportunity needed to arise to make it worth while for both himself and his father.
Luckily, while he was still in Saudi Arabia, 60ac of land joining the home farm became available. After discussions with his father, they decided to take the land on a long-term lease.
Martin expressed that they needed to get some sort of incentive to get the ball rolling and go from providing for one income to two incomes.
Niamh mentioned that “it had to be viable for two incomes, which meant changing the system, different cow type, bringing down costs and converting to a spring milking system”.
Progress
Padraig said that he found the transition difficult at the start as “you spend years working on your own and doing things that you thought were right, and then they are getting changed around.
The conversation around cow type was back and forth, but eventually Padraig opted to give the crossbred cow a chance which meant letting go of his beloved holstein friesian.
The transition also meant that they were to give up the autumn calving, which gave way to Martin buying in 70 high EBI crossbred heifers, which calved down the following spring.
Padraig expressed that the main driver of a successful partnership was trust and this was gained through a number of arguments, which led to discussions and problem solving.
“We have always been working together throughout the years, but during that time, I was always boss,” Padraig added.
With that boss status being changed through the partnership, Martin started to take full control of the financials and sorting out his mother and father’s income.
Martin and Niamh added that the first year of the partnership was tricky, as they were quite hesitant on what to do and whether the new system would be successful or not.
Niamh told attendees that it took the second year for them to gain trust in each other as the cow’s backed up production and the money was coming in.
The crossbred cows proved to be a great success, as Padraig admittedly told the panel that the holstein friesian, winter milk system was “a higher cost system for the same production”.
“Once the system proved itself, that trust came and every decision became a conversation”, which made way for smooth running farm partnership, Niamh said.