Nestled on a hill near Dromcollogher in Co Limerick, Prospect Lodge Farm enjoys majestic views over the Golden Vale.
Home to the O’Kelly family for six generations, Paddy O’Kelly was able to point out five counties from the fields at the top of the farm.
Paddy is milking 120 cows on a 46ha farm of relatively free-draining land.
Last year, the herd of pedigree Holstein Friesian cows, delivered 501kg MS/cow from around 1.3 to 1.4t of meal per cow.
The herd EBI is €230 and Paddy breeds around 50 to 60 heifer calves each year; he keeps the best 25 or so for his own use and sells the rest.
All bull calves are sold off the farm at a few weeks of age.
Attention to detail and cleanliness is exceptional on this farm and Paddy does a lot of work educating young children on farming by inviting local schools to visit the O’Kelly farm and see for themselves how a real farm works. Paddy is also an ambassador for the National Dairy Council.
With a huge interest in sport and local GAA, Paddy has designed the farm to be as labour efficient as possible.
The cows are pedigree registered Holstein Friesian.
Two underpasses were built across local roads in 2017 to speed up the milking process, which Paddy says has been “life changing”.
A qualified farm manager, Paddy has been farming at home with his father Mike since 1999.
The milking parlour has been upgraded to a 14 unit and milking takes one hour and 20 minutes.
Paddy is in the process of building a new cubicle shed with underground slurry tank, which will reduce some of the pressure, while at the same time increase the amount of slurry storage on the farm.
A new calf shed with automatic calf feeder has been built in recent years.
In terms of labour, Mike continues to play an active role on the farm despite his advanced years, by feeding the baby calves and cleaning down cubicles. Paddy’s son Micheál also helps as a regular relief milker.
Grass
Paddy measures grass and has been doing so for over 20 years. The farm typically grows over 14t DM/ha annually, but Paddy says that this year has been exceptional in terms of growth and ease of management.
Paddy built a little area on the farm for flowers and a sit-down.
“You love your job this year. We just couldn’t ask for better weather. I did a grass walk last week and pulled out five paddocks for surplus. We already have over 200 bales of high-quality silage made,” he says.
In short
Paddy O’Kelly is milking 120 cows near Dromcollogher in Co Limerick on a family dairy farm.The farm has views over five counties and Paddy grows in excess of 14t DM/ha each year. Paddy is actively engaged in the Evolve programme, he spreads protected urea, has clover established and only uses low emission slurry equipment.Paddy is part of the Farming for Water EIP.
Nestled on a hill near Dromcollogher in Co Limerick, Prospect Lodge Farm enjoys majestic views over the Golden Vale.
Home to the O’Kelly family for six generations, Paddy O’Kelly was able to point out five counties from the fields at the top of the farm.
Paddy is milking 120 cows on a 46ha farm of relatively free-draining land.
Last year, the herd of pedigree Holstein Friesian cows, delivered 501kg MS/cow from around 1.3 to 1.4t of meal per cow.
The herd EBI is €230 and Paddy breeds around 50 to 60 heifer calves each year; he keeps the best 25 or so for his own use and sells the rest.
All bull calves are sold off the farm at a few weeks of age.
Attention to detail and cleanliness is exceptional on this farm and Paddy does a lot of work educating young children on farming by inviting local schools to visit the O’Kelly farm and see for themselves how a real farm works. Paddy is also an ambassador for the National Dairy Council.
With a huge interest in sport and local GAA, Paddy has designed the farm to be as labour efficient as possible.
The cows are pedigree registered Holstein Friesian.
Two underpasses were built across local roads in 2017 to speed up the milking process, which Paddy says has been “life changing”.
A qualified farm manager, Paddy has been farming at home with his father Mike since 1999.
The milking parlour has been upgraded to a 14 unit and milking takes one hour and 20 minutes.
Paddy is in the process of building a new cubicle shed with underground slurry tank, which will reduce some of the pressure, while at the same time increase the amount of slurry storage on the farm.
A new calf shed with automatic calf feeder has been built in recent years.
In terms of labour, Mike continues to play an active role on the farm despite his advanced years, by feeding the baby calves and cleaning down cubicles. Paddy’s son Micheál also helps as a regular relief milker.
Grass
Paddy measures grass and has been doing so for over 20 years. The farm typically grows over 14t DM/ha annually, but Paddy says that this year has been exceptional in terms of growth and ease of management.
Paddy built a little area on the farm for flowers and a sit-down.
“You love your job this year. We just couldn’t ask for better weather. I did a grass walk last week and pulled out five paddocks for surplus. We already have over 200 bales of high-quality silage made,” he says.
In short
Paddy O’Kelly is milking 120 cows near Dromcollogher in Co Limerick on a family dairy farm.The farm has views over five counties and Paddy grows in excess of 14t DM/ha each year. Paddy is actively engaged in the Evolve programme, he spreads protected urea, has clover established and only uses low emission slurry equipment.Paddy is part of the Farming for Water EIP. 
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