This year the Irish Grassland Association (IGA) dairy summer tour is going to the Blackwater Valley near Ballyhooly in Co Cork. The highly-anticipated summer tour is visiting the farm of Mike and Tina Bermingham, which overlooks the Blackwater Valley. The tour will also visit the farm of Kevin and Margaret Twomey, who farm on the banks of the Blackwater.

The two farms are very different in terms of size and scale, with the Twomeys operating multiple units, while the Berminghams have focussed on the home farm and optimising the resources within the bounds.

Both farmers operated different farm enterprises before getting into dairying; Kevin and Margaret are particularly strong on the people front and believe there continues to be great opportunities for young people to have really rewarding careers in dairying, even if they don’t own a dairy farm of their own.

At this stage, 12 of their past employees are now operating their own dairy farm businesses, mostly on leased land. While this demonstrates the calibre of individual the Twomeys are recruiting, it also highlights the training, mentoring and financial discipline skills that Kevin and Margaret have passed on to their employees.

Their own story is impressive; Kevin first started milking cows in 1994 with 40 cows. Today, they are milking 480 cows on the home farm, along with running five other dairy farms in the locality. Visitors to the farm will hear what the Twomeys do to attract and retain people, how they communicate, motivate, provide mentorship and, importantly, help young people to identify opportunities of their own.

In addition, the IGA tour to the Twomeys will hear from two young farmers who started their own business while working with Kevin and Margaret.

Owen Ashton is in an arrangement with the Twomeys on one of the leased farms, whereby he has built up a herd of cows that he now owns and leases them into the business.

In a similar way, Erick Collins built up a herd of cows with the Twomeys while working as a farm manager, but he has gone out on his own and leased a farm in Galway.

The tour will hear from both Owen and Erick on their progress to date. This element of the day will be a must-see for young people looking to progress in the sector, with or without a farm of their own.

Berminghams

Meanwhile, on the nearby Bermingham farm, the cow numbers are closer to national average, with Mike and Tina milking 90 cows on a 40ha milking block, with help from their daughters Sarah and Kayleigh.

Like the Twomeys, Mike didn’t start out as a dairy farmer, but after a number of years working as a builder while farming part-time, in 2014 he realised his ambition of becoming a full-time dairy farmer when the farm was converted to dairying.

Dairying is the only source of income on this family farm, which is north-facing and high.

In order to make it work, Mike and Tina place a big emphasis on good technical performance, with a keen focus on grass growth, clover incorporation, animal performance and cost control.

There is a strong track record of good technical performance on this farm, as evidenced by cow production, with Mike’s herd of Jersey cross-bred cows delivering an average of 540kg MS/cow to Dairygold over the last five years.

A good work-life balance is a key priority for the Berminghams, with plenty of time off for GAA and other activities facilitated by making good use of regular relief milkers and contractors for machinery work.

Over recent years, Mike has been growing less grass than previously and has been buying in silage to make up the difference. At peak, Mike milked 108 cows one year, but has since reduced this back to 90 cows in 2025. Identifying the optimum stocking rate is one of the topics being discussed on the day.

According to John McCabe of the IGA organising committee, the event will be a must see for all farmers: “The event takes place on 23 July. It is an all-day bus tour which starts in the morning with breakfast, followed by a visit to one of the farms, lunch, another visit and then back to base. This year, we will be convening at Corrin Mart in Fermoy, Co Cork – just off the M8 motorway. There is always a good atmosphere and plenty of interaction during breakfast and lunch.”

Focus on labour efficiency

The Irish Grassland Association summer dairy tour to Cork will visit farms that have a big emphasis on labour efficiency. On the Bermingham farm, the system is built around one-a-bit labour units. Central to this is Mike’s desire not to have to feed silage to milking cows between April and September, so the stocking rate has to be balanced.

Over the years, the Berminghams have tinkered with stocking rate in order to find the sweet spot for their farm. Contractors do all of the silage, slurry and topping, plus there is a big reliance on relief milkers for weekends and holidays.

Meanwhile on the Twomey home farm in Ballyhooly, almost all of the labour used is employed labour. Kevin will outline the efficiencies created by having good workflow and appropriate facilities including a rotary milking parlour.

As ever, there will be a strong focus on grassland management at both farms and this is a key element of the labour story, as both farmers are trying to harvest as much grass as possible – which is lower cost and much more labour efficient than feeding out supplements.

Achieving high grass intakes is dependent on having an appropriate stocking rate and the correct calving date based on the farm’s grass growth curve.

The Bermingham farm is elevated and north-facing, so Mike has delayed calving to take account of this.

  • Tickets to the event can be booked online at www.irishgrassland.ie and the summer tour is supported by AIB.