Kerry farmer, Thomas O’Connor has brought valuable knowledge gained abroad back to his family farm located outside Tralee, Co. Kerry.

Farming alongside his father and grandfather, the O’Connors manage a sizeable herd, milking 400 Holstein Friesian cows under a split-calving liquid milk contract.

Through his Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture – Dairy Herd Management studies at Salesian Agricultural College, Pallaskenry, Thomas had the opportunity to spend time on a large-scale dairy operation overseas – that being the 6,500-cow herd at Drumgoon Dairy in South Dakota.

On this experience, Thomas explained: “They were milking 6,500 cows over on that farm. They had 20 DeLaval robots in a 6.5ac cubicle house which was astronomical to see the scale over there.”

From this placement, Thomas brought home key learnings on calving cows in large groups, how it can be done and the facilities needed.

Stemming from this, he added: “We’ve started to synchronise our heifers in groups of 30, which should make a massive difference to closing up our calving period and hopefully get higher conception rates.”

Thomas, who was crowned the winner of the Full Time Agriculture Category as part of the Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year 2024 Awards, provides further insights in the below video:

Also discussed are the sustainability measures being implemented on the farm, including the introduction of white and red clover and future plans to install solar panels.

“After coming home from college and even placement, I find my opinion is definitely more heard on the farm. A lot of the decisions are made between myself and my father on which way the farm is going to go or any ideas we have we discuss it truly between each other,” Thomas explained.

Since returning home to farm, Thomas has also taken a central role in managing the herd’s nutrition, implementing key learnings from his time at Salesian Agricultural College into diet formulation.

Commenting on his journey in agricultural education and what winning the Full Time Agriculture Category as part of the Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year 2024 Awards means to him, Thomas said: “It’s very hard to sum up my college life and winning the award; there are so many key points to take away from it.

“It is an experience I definitely don’t regret doing. Placement, friendships and day trips would be the top three things I’ve taken away from my college experience and I have enjoyed every minute of them,” Thomas concluded.

Find out more about the Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year Awards 2024 here

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