The Irish Grassland Association (IGA) Dairy Summer tour this year heads to the stunning Blackwater Valley in north Co. Cork to visit Kevin and Margaret Twomey and Mike and Tina Bermingham.

The event takes place on Wednesday, July 23 and is an all-day bus tour, starting in the morning with breakfast, followed by a visit to one of the farms, lunch, another visit, and then back to base.

This year, the tour will be convening at Corrin Mart in Fermoy, Co.Cork - just off the M8 motorway - and it is believed that there will be something for everyone on the day.

If you are a young farmer with no land or dairy experience embarking on their career, or an existing dairy farmer wanting to hear how others are managing with grass over the last few years, there will be plenty of valuable information available at the event.

There will also be discussions around managing staff, as well as on succession routes for those looking to take a step back and wondering how to take the next step.

Dairy farmer Kevin Twomey said: “You don’t need to own land to milk cows.”

Both Kevin and his wife Margaret are passionate about the next generation of young people in dairy farming in Ireland.

In total, 12 of their past staff members are now milking cows successfully in their own right, despite many of them having no land at home or not enough scale for them to be at home.

This will be central to discussions on the day, as the Twomeys have a really positive view on dairy farming and believe there is a place for everyone in the sector.

In a comment aimed at young people, Kevin said: “There is a rung on the ladder for everyone, you can choose the rung you want to be on. It doesn’t have to be leasing a farm”.

The Twomey family have an exciting story to tell about their journey from agricultural college to milking cows across six dairy farms.

Kevin and Margaret, along with their four children, are farming in Renny, Ballyhooly, located in the stunning Blackwater Valley in Co. Cork.

The dairy enterprise began in 1994 with 40 cows and grew to 70 within a few short years.

Kevin and Margaret were married in 1999, and continued to grow the business to 130 cows on a grass-based system with a big emphasis on work-life balance as their young family grew.

Today, the couple are milking 480 cows on the home farm and run five other dairy farms. 

Each farm is run as a separate farm entity, with a manager, second-in-command, and relief milker. 

Three key areas will be covered during the visit to Twomey's farm, titled 'Kevin and Margaret’s journey; Working with people'.

Topics will include communication, mentorship, and identifying opportunities; ass well as financial discipline, covering the system and cost of production.

Attendees at the IGA dairy summer tour will see a masterclass in grazing on Mike Bermingham’s farm, who will showcase how he achieves high grass intakes while also achieving the graze-outs needed for high quality grass in the next round.

Mike and Tina Bermingham farm outside Rathcormac, Co. Cork, with their two daughters Sarah and Kayleigh, overlooking a large swath of north Co. Cork.

They milk 90 cows on a milking platform of just under 40ha, with cows producing 540kg of milk solids/cow/year to Dairygold co-op over the last five years, which is in the top 10% for milk production among Dairygold suppliers.

This has been achieved on an average of 968kg of concentrates and around 4,800kg of forage dry matter.

Mike’s grandfather milked cows up until 1979 and, in the intervening period, drystock was the main enterprise with Mike working full-time off farm.

However, Mike's dream was to farm full-time and in 2009 he realised this ambition when he started contract rearing for a dairy farmer.

Later he kept the newly assembled Newford Suckler herd before that demonstration farm project went live.

The decision to convert the farm to dairy was backed by a strong business plan, central to which was grass, with this remaining the case to this day. 

Investment was sensible and well prioritised - grazing and water infrastructure, pasture rejuvenation, genetics, and parlour and cow facilities.

Equipped with heifers from good herds and some new entrant quota, the first cow was milked in 2014. Cow numbers peaked at 108 and have since reduced to 90.

Alongside profitability, simplicity is to the fore - a good work-life balance is key to the Berminghams as the family are heavily involved in Bride Rovers GAA.

Relief milkers are utilised every week to allow for this and is a wonderful example of how 90 cows can provide for a family and offer the ultimate work-from-home job. This be highlighted heavily at the IGA dairy summer tour.

Head of agri sector in AIB, Donal Whelton, said: ‘We are really looking forward to this year’s Dairy Summer Tour. The IGA has sourced two excellent host farmers and there will be something of interest for peoples at all stages of their journey in dairying.

All are welcome to attend the event, and details on how to register for the day can be found on the IGA website.