Edward and Olivia bring proud history to top prize
Since then, they have consistently enjoyed great success supplying milk to Kerry Agribusiness.
“Although I knew I always wanted to work on the family farm, I was encouraged to continue my education and initially completed a diploma in mechanical engineering before finishing a Green Cert,” said Edward.
He then worked at an engineering works locally whilst part-time farming with his father, Michael, now 66 and still involved in the farm with Edward.
“I am very fortunate to have someone so supportive who knows the farm inside out; we can step into the other’s shoes and cover the farm,” said Edward.
This arrangement allows Edward to take a holiday or travel, with a trip to the ski slopes each winter a standing item of the calendar. Edward is also a supporter of Munster rugby and Limerick hurling.
Edward milks 64 cows. A manufacturing milk supplier, his milk goes most frequently to Charleville or sometimes if needed to Listowel or Newmarket and it is usually used to make cheese.
This farm is no stranger to awards for high standards. Edward’s father, Michael, was the winner of the Golden Vale Quality Milk Awards in the 1990s taking second place then in the national Quality Milk Awards.
The farm has a proud history. Edward’s great-great grandfather, Edmond Fitzgerald, first started renting the land in 1875 and his great grandfather, James, continued the lease until 1903 when he bought the farm for £1,550.
James passed on to his son, also James, and then to Edward’s father, Michael, who took over the farm at the age of 14. Timely succession has always been vital in the farm’s success.
The farming methods are thoroughly professional. Milk recording is done, SCC is assessed approximately every second day and TBC is assessed twice a month. The herd’s average TBC is 10, SCC is 89, Butterfat 4.10%, protein 3.35% and lactose 4.78%.
The farm has an eight-unit herringbone Dairymaster milking parlour originally installed in the 1980s but extended in the 1990s.
The farm uses a plate cooler and night rate electricity for efficiency. Cooling water is re-used to wash down the parlour.
The cows would normally be out on grass from March to November, grazing on approximately 23 day rotation during high grass growth rates. The total farm area is 150 acres (60.7 hectares) with 60 acres total grazing areas (24.3 hectares). Edward rents 40 acres (16.2 hectares) and owns the rest of the land.
With milk quotes are set to be abolished in 2015, Edward is not planning to rush out and increase his herd size. He initially plans to improve production levels from the current average herd yield of approximately 8,228 litres.
He has the buildings and infrastructure in place to slowly increase the herd size thereafter but only in the context of retaining the herd at a scale which can continue to be managed comfortably while sustaining the quality of the cows and the quality of the milk.
The Holstein herd is at a standard which could improve yield.
Edward recently joined the Limerick & Clare Branch of the Holstein Society, winning the novel section last year and the premier section this year.
Edward’s wife, Olivia, comes from a farming family near Loughrea in Co Galway. She works four days a week in Charleville, Co Cork, with a programme bringing overseas students to Ireland to learn English.
Edward and Olivia built a new house on the farm, about 100 metres from his parents’ house. They initially found it difficult to get planning permission with a suggestion that they should live in the town, which is 4½ miles away.
However that type of distance would have been very incompatible with a farming lifestyle. Both Edward and his father were actively involved in building the new house doing a lot of the concrete work themselves and enjoyed overseeing the rest of the work such as electrics and plastering to completion.
