Sustainability is an Attitude Thing

Jack Kearney with his parents; Larry and Annette, have used the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) to invest in expanding their dairy herd and modernising their farm infrastructure.  Jack was awarded Young Dairy Farmer of the Year 2023 at the National Dairy Awards.  

When Jack came home from agricultural college in 2015 to start, his parents were milking 68 cows and rearing beef stock.  The end of milk quotas and the launch of TAMS funding was the perfect opportunity to expand the dairy herd.  Jack was considered a Young Trained Farmer at the time; therefore, he was entitled to 60% of any funding available.  Along with the 40% available to Larry and Annette meant they could combine their applications to avail of 80% of in total.   

The herd now has 160 cows managed on a spring calving, grass-based system.  A modern 16-unit milking parlour has been built, high quality cow accommodation and slurry storage has been increased from 105 to 230.  An underpass has been built under a nearby public road and Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment is now an essential tool in growing grass cheaply and sustainably.  The modern streamlined facilities mean that the workload involved is sustainable and allows outside labour to be brought in so everyone can get time away from the farm. 

The silage slab has been renewed after it was recognised that the existing concrete base was becoming porous and the risk to the local environment became obvious.  “Our hand was forced there, I suppose,” says Jack.

The pipe work sends silage effluent into a storage tank while sending clean rainwater flowing off the silage covering into a separate drain.  They willingly took on the cost of this work without any grant funding.  “Sustainability is an attitude thing,” Jack concludes, safe in the knowledge that this is now one less issue to worry about in the future.

Thanks to investment in LESS equipment and the extra slurry storage, Jack can utilise his slurry as a cheap nutrient for growing grass.  “We capture every bit of water in the yard so we can use it to dilute the slurry.  We can afford to hold onto the slurry longer into the grass growing part of the year and it has definitely reduced our use of chemical fertiliser.  We had a damp July, so we were able to halve the amount of fertiliser on the ryegrass ground and we didn’t spread any fertiliser on the clover ground.  We only spread a third of what we would normally spread in July.  That’s a big saving.”

Looking to the future, they are about to make use of Annettes’ presence in the partnership.  For the first time, she will be able to access 60% grant funding in her own right (with a ceiling of €90,000) through the Women Farmers’ Capital investment Scheme in TAMS3 to invest in heat detection collars and automatic drafting facilities.  “This is a labour decision that will allow us to bring in relief milkers and not have to rely on them to draft cows for AI because, to be honest, some relief milkers are not knowledgeable enough to do it.  So, TAMS3 funding will enable us to take a little break from the farm after the springtime.” 

Annette is very happy to finally have her contribution to the farm officially recognised and approves of increased efforts in TAMS3 to promote equality in the industry.

A lot of calves have been fed as well as all the bookwork and I’m sure there’s many other women in the same situation as I am”, she adds. 

Jack agrees that TAMS has helped his farm to modernise by giving him extra financial flexibility and support.  “It allows you to have the proper facilities in place.  With the proper facilities, you can be sustainable.  We couldn’t have built that shed or bought that LESS equipment without TAMS.”  Annette believes that it has also allowed the farm to become more labour efficient and will enable Jack to manage the farm on his own when Larry and Annette retire.  “Even from a safety point of view,” she says, “if you have the proper facilities then it will be much safer when handling animals on your own.

Jack’s attitude to financial and environmental sustainability is impressive and his business decisions never lose sight of the importance of having a sustainable work/life balance.  The partnership is an asset that the Kearneys have used to its full potential by identifying the future goals for their farm and using TAMS funding to achieve them.  They have remained open to information and advice from outside the farm which has helped them to improve the environmental and financial sustainability that is evident today.  For the Kearney farm, the future is looking bright.

Further information on TAMS funding can be found here.