Tom and his wife Norma farm 64 hectares near Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny. Having spent a number of years working away from the farm, Tom started farming fulltime in 2003 milking 40 cows that year. Since then, he has grown the herd to the 126 cows being milked this year on the 48 hectare milking platform at a stocking rate of 2.63 cows/hectare. The remaining land area is used for rearing replacements and providing winter feed. Tom has bred a high milk solids herd producing >500kg/cow every year since milk quotas were removed in 2015. In 2021, 620 kg per cow (4.5% fat and 3.72% protein) were delivered to Glanbia. This was produced from a diet of approximately 1.5t of concentrate per cow, high quality grazed grass and grass silage. In 2021, Tom calved 86% of the herd in 6 weeks with a calving interval of 364 days. A herd EBI of €182, puts the herd in the top 10% of herds in the country. Tom actively culls low performing cows from his herd each year and this coupled with breeding replacements from the best performing cows and excellent grazing management underpins his continued improvement in milk solids production over the years. Tom was previously a monitor farmer in the 2004-2008 Teagasc Glanbia Joint Programme.

Denis farms with his wife Carmel and his parents Eamon and Anne, near Clonmore, Templemore, Co. Tipperary on two milking platforms, one 50% owned and the second 100% leased totalling 138 hectares. Returning home from Kildalton College in 2010 with a level 6 diploma in dairying to farm, he reseeded the 48-hectare home farm over the next three years and began building stock numbers. In 2013, Denis leased a 21 hectare former dairy unit with a disused milking parlour approximately 7 km from home to start a second unit. Starting with 40 cows, two additional parcels of land have been leased adjoining it to create a 48-hectare second dairy farm, milking 150 cows on this block. All cows are calved on the home farm, and cows moved from the home farm to the second unit from late February. An additional 75 hectares of land is farmed in three separate sections to supply winter forage and rear all replacement heifers. There are 2 full time labour until, which have been with Denis over 10 years, plus Denis on the farm and weekend and casual labour also brought in, with the majority of machinery work contracted out. In 2021 an additional 44 ha blocked was leased in to the home farm to give a 90ha platform. In 2022 a total of 250 cows will be milked on this home platform. In 2021 an average of 520 kg milk solids was produced per cow (4.63% fat and 3.78% protein) to Centenary Coop, with approximately 700 kg meal per head. The overall stocking rate is 2.5 livestock units per hectare farmed, the milking platforms are stocked at 3.2 cows/ha and 2.8 cows/ha. Last year the farms grew approximately 14 tonnes of grass dry matter per hectare.