Dairygold and Teagasc launch four-year dairy farming programme
Dairygold and Teagasc have introduced a four-year initiative for dairy farms within Dairygold’s catchment area. The programme is intended to give all of the cooperative’s milk suppliers access to practical support in farm profitability, environmental sustainability, succession planning and the longer-term viability of their businesses.
The work is organised around four elements: a network of demonstration farms, technical and business-planning services, farm-development assistance, and discussion-group support. Dairygold’s advisory staff will work with suppliers to apply the practices presented through the programme at individual farm level.
Eight demonstration farms
Eight farms across counties Cork, Tipperary and Limerick will host demonstrations and knowledge-sharing activities. Aileen Sheehan and Philip O’Leary’s farm at Whitechurch, County Cork, will focus on productivity and sustainability, while Gearoid Slattery’s holding at Ballina, County Tipperary, will cover new entrants and heavy-soil farming.
Michael G. and Michael J. Tobin’s farm at New Inn, County Tipperary, will address fertility and drought management. Adrian and David Tanner’s operation at Bandon, County Cork, will examine milk solids and grazing, and Conor McSweeney’s farm at Aghabullogue, County Cork, will focus on efficiency and genetics. The Kennedy family at Buttevant will demonstrate drought resilience and milk solids and genetics, while John, Noreen and Billy Dunne’s farm at Ladysbridge will focus on drought resilience. John, Margo and George Fox’s holding at Ballylanders, County Limerick, will cover management of heavy-soil farms.
Suppliers will be able to engage with the farms through walks, workshops, technical meetings, innovation events, videos and exchanges between farmers. The participating holdings represent different production systems and operating conditions.
Production and environmental measures
During the programme, the partners will address grass utilisation, milk-solids output, breeding results, fertility and farm profitability. Environmental work will include water quality and biodiversity. The initiative will also offer support to young farmers, new entrants and farmers making succession arrangements.
The Whitechurch farm, where 138 cows are milked, produced 497kg of milk solids per cow in 2025. Sheehan and O’Leary were the overall winners of Dairygold’s 2024 Milk Quality and Sustainability Awards. Slattery started producing milk in late 2024 and now milks 126 mainly Friesian cows; his herd produced 532kg of milk solids per cow in 2025. His system includes work on soil fertility, reseeding and grazing infrastructure.
The Tanners’ 212-cow herd produced 544kg of milk solids per cow in 2025, while McSweeney’s 160-cow herd produced 561kg. The Kennedy family milks 300 cows at Buttevant and operates a second leased unit; its herd produced 544kg of milk solids per cow in 2025 and recorded an Economic Breeding Index of €175. The joint programme is scheduled to continue through 2029.
