{"id":3211,"date":"2026-09-14T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2026-09-12T18:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:39:05","slug":"an-uncle-and-nephew-from-tullow-bought-a-small-dairy-herd-between-them-and-split-the-milking-week-in-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/an-uncle-and-nephew-from-tullow-bought-a-small-dairy-herd-between-them-and-split-the-milking-week-in-two\/","title":{"rendered":"An uncle and nephew from Tullow bought a small dairy herd between them and split the milking week in two"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first calves arrived under a Tullow<\/strong> dawn, and with them came a plan<\/strong> that felt both old and new. Two relatives, one seasoned and one restless<\/strong>, pooled modest savings and bought a herd small enough to manage yet big enough to matter<\/strong>. They decided to share the load by splitting the milking week, a tidy agreement<\/strong> that kept tempers cool and cows content.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Seeds of a Shared Venture<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

The uncle, Martin<\/strong>, had land, humour, and a back that still bent without a groan<\/strong>. The nephew, Evan<\/strong>, brought spreadsheets, big energy, and a quiet wish to stay local and useful<\/strong>. \u201cWe weren\u2019t chasing size,\u201d Martin said<\/strong>, \u201cjust chasing a living that didn\u2019t break<\/strong> us.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

They found fifty-five crossbred cows with tidy feet and calm eyes<\/strong>, plus a secondhand seven-unit herringbone that hummed like a tractor<\/strong>. A friendly bank manager liked the split-week plan because it spread risk and work<\/strong>, and the local co-op offered a nutritionist who spoke fluent grass<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How the Week Is Cut in Two<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

They halved the week, Wednesday evening as the hinge<\/strong>, three and a half days each with full charge of the parlour<\/strong>. Morning and evening milkings sat inside those blocks, with a single handover milking where both turned up<\/strong>. That midweek cross-over became the real glue, swapping notes and stories<\/strong> before the washdown.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s my block, it\u2019s my call<\/strong>,\u201d Evan said, \u201cand when it\u2019s his, I keep my beak<\/strong> out.\u201d The clarity reduced friction and spared that vague resentment that can fester in family business<\/strong>, especially when the clock keeps dragging you out in the dark<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Numbers That Keep Them Honest<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

They tracked the simple metrics with pen, page, and a phone<\/strong>, because discipline beats fancy dashboards that never get opened<\/strong>. Five checks mattered most: milk solids per cow, somatic cell count<\/strong>, meal per cow, grass covers, and vet visits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The herd averaged solid litres with respectable butterfat<\/strong>, the SCC stayed tidy barring a damp early May<\/strong>, and meal use was trimmed back whenever the sward was singing in clover<\/strong>. \u201cIf the grass is there, we let it do the lifting<\/strong>,\u201d Martin said, \u201cand if it\u2019s not, we don\u2019t pretend it is<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Human Clock Behind the Cows<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

The split delivered something rare on small farms<\/strong>: actual time off you can trust<\/strong>. Evan plays indoor soccer on his free half-week without a guilty thought<\/strong>, and Martin sneaks a beach day with his grandkids when the forecast turns kind<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

They learned that rest feeds good temper<\/strong>, and good temper feeds careful stockmanship<\/strong>. \u201cYou can hear the cow that\u2019s off her feed<\/strong> when your head isn\u2019t full of noise<\/strong>,\u201d Evan said, wiping iodine off a curious heifer\u2019s nose<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Their Few Simple Rules<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

They kept only a handful of rules, stuck on the office wall with blue tack<\/strong>, stubborn in their clarity<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  • The person on shift makes the day\u2019s calls<\/strong>, from meal tweaks to vet visits<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • The off-duty person stays off<\/strong>, unless there\u2019s a red-light emergency<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Costs above a set figure need a joint nod<\/strong>, no matter how shiny the catalogue<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Every Wednesday, fifteen minutes for notes, no excuses<\/strong>, no wandering talk<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ul>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Weathering the Inevitable Glitches<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The vacuum pump failed at 5:12 on a Sunday<\/strong>, and a neighbour arrived with a spare belt and a flask of tea<\/strong>. There was mastitis after a cold snap when liners should have been changed a week earlier<\/strong>, and they wrote it down, paid the bill, moved on<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cFarming keeps a short memory<\/strong> for blame and a long one for learning<\/strong>,\u201d Martin said, tapping the whiteboard where they log small mistakes<\/strong>. The board looks messy and a bit brave<\/strong>, which suits them just fine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Grass, Ground, and the Future<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    They stitched white clover into two paddocks and watched the nitrogen bag sit more quietly<\/strong>, a saving that felt both green and sane<\/strong>. Hedgerows got a little taller<\/strong>, gaps were filled, and a battered water trough finally met a dignified retirement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    There\u2019s talk of sixty-five cows, not seventy<\/strong>, because the lane is tight and the parlour hums loud enough at current speed<\/strong>. \u201cWe\u2019ll stretch where the ground will let<\/strong> us,\u201d Evan said, \u201cbut not so far the week breaks in the middle<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Work That Still Feels Like Home<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    They kept calves on fresh bedding<\/strong>, set a strict colostrum clock<\/strong>, and turned out early whenever the wind and soil said it was fair<\/strong>. The milking routine is bare-boned and calm<\/strong>, backsaver units added after one winter that felt too long<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Neither man is building a temple to efficiency<\/strong>, but both are carving neat habits<\/strong> that hold steady across wet springs and hot spells<\/strong>. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to be a hero,\u201d Martin said, \u201cyou need to be there<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    What It Teaches Beyond the Gate<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    A small, shared enterprise can redraw the week<\/strong>, making family life a real calendar item, not a luxury<\/strong>. It turns vague succession into a working partnership<\/strong>, and turns the old parish talk about emigration into a quieter talk about staying<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Most of all, it gives the cows the steady rhythm they love<\/strong>, and gives two people the right to feel honestly tired<\/strong> rather than endlessly worn down<\/strong>. As Evan put it, \u201cWe wanted a life that fits in our own boots<\/strong>, and this is how they fit<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3220,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3211\/revisions\/3220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}