Tom Murphy, Fiddawn, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny

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• Tom is farming in partnership with his father and mother, James and Chrisse in Fiddawn, Inistioge.
• They farm 118 Ha, 107 Ha of which is now in free-draining grassland. Tom became a new entrant to milk in 2018.
• They started out with 98 cows in 2018, progressively building the herd size to 202 cows in 2024. All the heifers are contract reared.
• The soil fertility of the farm is very good and Tom soil samples at least every 2 years. He has incorporated a lot of clover into the milking platform over the last few years and this has mainly been through his reseeding policy for the farm. He also has some multi species swards.

Tom Murphy and Sandra Hayes discuss measures taken on to combat GHG emissions, improve water quality yet still maintain highly profitable farm in the video below.

Dairy Advisor Colin Brennan outlines the importance of having good soil fertility and its link with consistent quantities of grass grown on the Murphy farm.

Teagasc ASSAP advisor Deirdre Glynn outlines what maps she uses when on an ASSAP visit. She explains the amount of information she can let the farmer know about in knowing vulnerable areas for potential water pollution. She also explains about the latest water EIP funding that is available to farmers at the moment.

Farm Update