Animal welfare and sustainability are the main focus areas for a west Cork dairy farming family.

Farmer Barry O’Mahony said: “Our cow is at the center of every decision we make and everything we do, she is effectively our CEO.”

O’Mahony is milking a 200-head pedigree Holstein herd, near Bandon in west Cork and has been suppling Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur for the past nine years.

Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur claims to be the world’s first farm-to-table Irish Cream Liqueur, sourced and produced in Co. Cork.

Barry O’Mahony is a fifth generation farmer at Berell Farm Ltd., farming alongside his wife, parents and two children, on their family farm in west Cork.

O’Mahony spoke to Agriland to tell us about the systems he has in place to ensure the highest productivity and yields, while also keeping animal welfare at the heart of every operation.

He said: “We were looking for ways to get into a niche market that would diversify ourselves a little bit.

“I heard about Five Farm through my local co-op; I liked the farm-to-table idea, with the story of being a small west Cork farm.”

Animal Welfare

One of the areas that Barry O’Mahony is particularly passionate about is animal welfare and how this can be harnessed to improve yields and overall production.

Two key initiatives implemented on the farm to boost cow welfare and overall health is an on-farm “maternity unit” and “pamper paddock”.

The “maternity unit” is located very close to the milking parlour, and is a straw bedded area that is used as a recovery unit for cows that may be sick or recovering from anything, especially after calving.

Dry-bedded maternity unit. Source: Barry O’Mahony

O’Mahony explained: “Our calving is spread over 10 months of the year, so we can allow time for cows to recover in there because we never have a very hectic schedule of calving, typically calving a cow per day.”

“In keeping with that we have what is called a pamper paddock, which is a paddock right beside the parlour; it’s for maybe older girls or cows recovering from lameness.

“We just don’t want them to do the long walk, our furthest paddock away from the parlour is 1.3km which isn’t very long, but I’d just prefer they walked zero kilometers,” he added.

“Everyone’s got a different way of farming, and you have to respect that, but that’s the way I like doing it.

“It’s the way I like to show my kids how to do it, so they grow up knowing how to respect cows and how to treat them.

“It’s very important from a consumer perspective, that the dairy industry is seen as being caring for the animals. We should see those animals as something to be nurtured and protected, rather than disposable commodities.”

Sustainability of dairying

When asked about the sustainability of his farm, O’Mahony told Agriland that it has always been at the “forefront” of his mind but in ways that are maybe “not talked about as much”.

He said: “A farm that isn’t sustainable for one generation most likely won’t be for the next.

“Sustainability in my mind is when I see the next generation coming on board, making it an awful lot more important.

“Very important to us is the sustainability of our animals and not seeing cows as being disposable and working with them to help their longevity.

“Helping cows to live longer, and keeping your replacement rates low has a huge impact on farm sustainability, as you’re rearing less replacements, and the emissions they would bring.”

O’Mahony has also taken a number of steps to reduce the environmental burden of the farm, such as:

Reducing fertiliser inputs;
Incorporating clover into swards;
Reducing the amount of soya in concentrates;
Feeding distillery feed by-products.

Farming technology

Since 2018 Berell Farm Ltd., has been using innovative technology to monitor and track cows’ health and well-being.

The ear-tag cow manager health monitors help O’Mahony during sensitive transitional periods. He said: “We adopted the technology in 2018, initially just as a heat detection system.

“The ability it gave us to manage individual cow health was unbelievable.

“The transition from dry cow into lactation can be quite a delicate time, so managing that period is crucial for the efficiency of the whole lactation and the health of the cow.

“The ability this system gave us to manage that period was incredible.”

Pedigree Holstein Cows. Source: Barry O’Mahony.

O’Mahony explained that in their particular system there is a specific transition monitor that notes the cow’s eating, rumination rates, and temperature, flagging up cows with problems before any visual issue is detected.

When asked if he felt the technology had improved his work-life balance, O’Mahony said: “It really focused our time on the cows that had issues, saving time visually assessing them as they came into the parlour, completely streamlining the process.”

“We saw a 5% or 6% percent lift in milk in the first 12 months that I would entirely put down to our management style changing.”

Animal Welfare

Sustainability of dairying

Farming technology

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Five Farms Cream Liqueur

Dairy Focus - animal welfare and sustainability on west Cork farm