National Dairy Awards: Vicky's recognition is happy cows, happy calves
The Carbery Group Dairy Farm Manager of the Year Award and overall award were presented to Vicky Kelleher, a dairy farm manager in Cork. Picture: Fintan Clarke
“Unsung hero” Vicky Kelleher, farm manager at Laharn Dairy Farm, was given the highest honour at the National Dairy Awards, winning the overall award on the night, as well also scooping the Carbery Dairy Farm Manager of the Year gong on Thursday night (June 15).
Vicky will be celebrating 20 years on the farm in Coachford, Co Cork, in January.
Ger Buckley, who runs the 300-acre farm, said he recognised how special she was from her first week on the farm.
The farm comprises of a high-yield herd of 180 spring-calving dairy cows and a heifer-rearing unit and silage platform within five miles of the main unit.
“We were in two minds as to whether we would keep taking students or not that year,” Ger explained.
“The college called us and said she was from a sheep farm but didn’t have much experience in dairy and asked if we could give her a placement so we said we’d take her for a week and see how it goes.
“I’m a great believer that you hire for attitude, and you train for aptitude. And I think after the first week, I knew that we had somebody who was very unique and full of energy – we saw she was very clever and able to pick up things very quickly.”
Through the years, Vicky has sought out several opportunities to improve herself and her skills, including completing courses in Artificial Insemination and grass measuring.
“There’s a saying in New Zealand that it’s better to train somebody and they leave than not train them and they stay,” Ger said.
“And any course that Vicky ever went on, or anything we ever taught her, she always ended up being better than me at it anyway!
“It really has been a pleasure having her on the farm with us. She doesn’t expect any recognition at all. Her recognition is happy cows, happy calves.
“She puts the animals first. She’d make sure the animals are looked after and fed before she is herself.” Such is her dedication that even hours after her big win, she was back on the farm at 7am the next morning, ready to work with a strong coffee in hand.
But despite the fuss this week, the best compliment, Ger says, Vicky ever got was the acknowledgement from his own mother, Marie, around six months after she joined the farm that she was “almost as good as myself”.
“I nearly fell over myself when I heard that,” he laughed. “Of course, she was a great woman as well.”
“But the award is a big thing for Vicky because it’s always the same people winning things day in, day out. But there is always somebody at home making sure everything is fed and looked after, and there’s a lot of unsung heroes on Irish farms, and I think she represents a lot of them – and so many of them are women.”
"The award was a huge surprise," said Vicky, who added that her 18-year-old daughter Tori has been one of her biggest supporters. "It has been brilliant working for Laharn. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't be here. There is always something new to learn, as things are always changing in agriculture."
There have been some big changes over that time, since Vicky came on board, one of the biggest being the use of EBI for breeding.
Yet today, the herd is in the top 2% in the country for EBI and targets 530—540kg of milk solids per cow per year.
The next goal is 5% butterfat and 4% protein, “but we haven’t managed that yet,” Ger adds.
“We have much healthier cows now since we have embraced EBI,” Ger explains, “We have much better fertility and milk quality, and fewer problems.” The pair have also started to use genomic testing to target improvements even more intensely.
Every calf on the farm is now genomically tested, which gives herd managers a prediction on the milk solids, health traits and carbon intensity of each animal.
“Now what we are trying to breed is a cow which calves when the grass is growing. Producing more milk off grass is healthier and better for the environment,” he said.
Ger and Vicky are continually working together to identify ways to make the system more efficient and more sustainable.
Last year, work was carried out on tightening up the calving block.
“It was the first time we dried everything off for two months,” Ger explained. “The cows started calving on January 25, and we finished on March 20.”
Collar technology also now detects when cows are in heat, reducing the number of heats missed and reducing the amount of time cows are out of production.
Other aspects include multi-species swards, creating areas for biodiversity, including planting trees, creating a pond and the addition of bee hives on the farm.
“There are two prisms that we make any decision on the farm through now, and those are biodiversity and improving the circular economy,” Ger said.
“When I heard that she was nominated and I was asked to outline her skills, and I said it was her courage, passion, loyalty and relentless dedication. Those can’t be taught in any college. You either have them, or you don’t.
"Vicky has an unbelievable passion for livestock and we are very proud of her.”
