Billy Gilmore

Billy Gilmore, Cortoon, Tuam, Galway

Billy Gilmore is farming in Cortoon, just outside Tuam in Co.Galway.  The farm consists of a total area of 51ha which is made up of both owned and leased land that is divided into three distinct blocks.  Billy has been contract rearing for 9 years, having previously run a suckling and sheep enterprise on the farm.  He is currently rearing for five individual dairy farmers, from Donegal, Kilkenny, Mayo, Roscommon and one from Galway.  He made the decision to change his farming system after having a run in with a cow shortly after calving when she pucked him when he went to check her new born calf – he made up his mind to change from sucklers to more manageable and quieter livestock on the farm. 

Billy is pictured above with dairy farmer TJ Kelly.  Billy has been contract rearing his heifers for 8 years.  PJ was struggling to get leased land for the heifers close to his main farm and as a result was spending a considerable amount of time travelling to see the heifers on a daily basis.  He made the decision to have the heifer’s contract reared to simplify his system.  Billy was an obvious choice.  He has known Billy for many years and is very aware that his attention to detail is second to none.  He has the upmost confidence in Billy’s skills to manage his heifers.  The heifers arrive at the farm at different stages depending on individual arrangements but none before they have been weaned off milk.  Billy winters approximately 156 weanlings over the winter and they start to return home from mid-September onwards of the following year.  In all arrangements, Billy covers the cost of land, facilities, labour, management, the annual TB test and he A.I.’s the heifers where required during the breeding season.  The dairy farmers cover all other costs.  The rate that they pay in divided into a housing rate and a grass rate.

Billy’s management skills are excellent, this is clearly evident as you drive into the farm where fields are divided into numerous paddocks and everything is stored neatly in its place within the farmyard.  In 2024, he won the drystock category of the Sustainable Grassland farmer of the year Awards.  His high level of grassland management ensures that he makes excellent quality silage for winter feeding, with the average DMD of the silage over the last few years ranging from mid to high 70’s.  This ensures concentrate feeding is kept to a minimum.