The Next Five Years at Shinagh

Over the past number of years, Shinagh Farm has become an important testing ground for the future of dairy farming in West Cork. For Carbery, the next five years will be about building on that foundation and increasing the impact of what we learn here.

Our ambition is for Shinagh to continue to operate first and foremost as a commercial dairy farm, while providing a practical environment where new technologies, farming practices and research can be tested under real farm conditions.

Climate action, water quality, biodiversity, nutrient management and the need to maintain a productive and economically sustainable farming model are all closely connected. At Shinagh, we are leading the way in developing solutions that address them as one integrated system.

The next phase will see continued work to reduce the farm’s environmental footprint while maintaining productivity and supporting the strengths of our grass-based dairy system. The new anaerobic digestion and biorefining demonstration facilities are part of this approach, exploring how resources already available on farms, including grass and agricultural by-products, could create renewable energy, alternative feed and protein sources, and other valuable products.

Water quality will also remain a significant focus. As a working derogation farm, Shinagh provides an important opportunity to demonstrate how productive grass-based dairy farming and strong environmental performance can work alongside one another. The farm can help us test interventions, measure their impact and build evidence around practices that can support improved water quality.

But the value of Shinagh is not simply what happens within the farm gate.

For Carbery, the real measure of success will be our ability to take the knowledge generated here and make it useful to our farmer shareholders. Through initiatives such as Farm Zero C and our wider sustainability programmes, Shinagh can act as a bridge between research and the practical decisions being made on farms across West Cork.

Over the next five years, we also want to deepen collaboration with our co-ops, farmers, research institutions, government and industry partners. No single organisation has all of the answers, and Shinagh provides a place where different expertise can come together around a working farm.

There will inevitably be technologies and approaches that work, others that need to be adapted, and some that may not prove practical at farm level. That is part of the purpose of a demonstration farm. It gives us the space to test, measure and learn before looking at wider application.

Our aim for Shinagh is therefore not to present one model for the future of dairy farming. It is to continue building the evidence, knowledge and practical solutions that will help Carbery farmers navigate that future while protecting the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of dairy farming in our region.

Held on September 1, 2026, the above first appeared in the Shinagh Dairy Farm Open Day Proceedings (PDF).