Is Dairying for me?

In recent years there have been a number of beef and sheep farmers who have restructured their farming enterprises and commenced dairying.  This trend is continuing with the prospects of continuing good milk prices.

Moving from one enterprise to another is a major change, one not suited to every farm business or every farmer.  The challenges in dairying are considerable with tightening margins and relatively high capital costs.  The decisions made at enterprise start-up can have a long term effect on the future efficiency and profitability of the business.

To support farmers who are thinking of making these decisions CAFRE’s Dairy Development Advisers are planning a series of workshops and visits over the next number of months aimed at new entrants to dairying.  The first of these events will be a farm visit to a Dairy Focus Farm where the focus  will be on housing, yard layout and design, conversion of existing buildings and land area requirements for a given herd size.  DARD Quality Assurance Branch Milk Inspectors will also be available to cover the legislative requirements for milk production.

Also attending will be a number of local farmers who have started milking in recent months.  These farmers will be able to highlight some of the difficulties encountered when starting a new dairy enterprise.

The visits are:

Both visits will commence at 11.00am and finish around 1.00pm.  If you are interested in attending either of these events, please telephone Greenmount Campus on 028 9442 6770 (technology.admin@dardni.gov.uk) for further details and to book your place.

Gary and Michael McHenry, Aghagallon, will host a farm walk for those considering dairying on 2 December 2011 at 11am

Alan and David Wallace, Carmavy Antrim, will host a farm walk for those considering dairying on 30 November 2011 at 11am