11 July 2023
Prioritising work-life balance with Shay Ryan Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farmer
Shay Ryan farms 97ha outside New Ross, Co. Wexford. The milking platform is 56ha. There is also a small beef enterprise on the farm.
Shay is currently milking an average of 180 cows and has 45 replacement heifers. The EBI of the herd is €213 and the young stock have an EBI of €261 and €271. In 2022, he supplied 486kg of milk solids per cow and the plan is to raise this to 500kg.
The soil fertility on the milking platform has been improved to index 3 and 4 for phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) and the farm grew 15.7t DM/ha of grass in 2022. Shay aims to reseed 10% of the milking platform every year. This year, he went with the Pasture Profit Index grass Nashota and 1.5kg white clover seed. Below he tells us of his plans to prioritise work-life balance in the weeks and months ahead.
Time to prioritise work-life balance
Do as little as you can when you have the chance to do it. That’s my motto for the summer. It’s a quieter time on the farm at last. My attention has turned to getting fit again – I’ve been for my annual medical check-up. I make a point every year to be fit at one point in the year. By fit, I mean both physically and mentally. If you are physically fit, it’s also easier to be mentally fit. Personally, when I’m not able to go to gym or get some exercise, I’m like a crashed car.
There is a common perception that farming is a healthy occupation. Unfortunately farmers have higher incidence of heart diseases and are at higher risk due to their work environment than other workers.
While I do lots of physical work on the farm, it is not the same as a proper exercise programme. In spring, I’m active but not fit. Mentally you need the time away from the farm when exercising too – be that at the GAA pitch, the gym, swimming pool or even going for a walk.
At the gym, I meet people who have a totally different set of problems than I do, which I find is good to help take my mind off the farm for a while. As farmers, we don’t travel to our jobs and it’s often hard to disconnect from work. In an ideal world you wouldn’t want all your friends’ to be farmers!
Family first
I am trying to spend more time with my family at the moment. With two small boys, most of the child rearing falls to my wife Catriona. With farming a bit quieter, I get the chance to spend more time with them.
I have a relief milker some evenings and try to get finished early to spend time with them or do something off the farm. I like to make the most of the long evenings (particularly the sunny ones). Even getting off the farm for a few hours a day is a big help. This can be easier said than done sometimes as it’s easy to find another job to do.
Planning the workload
Each week, I plan two or three main jobs to do. This is the time of year when a lot of the maintenance jobs get done. Planning out these jobs in advance is important to get them done, but also ensures they are done safely.
Research has shown that work organisation can lead to better time efficiency and reduced accidents on farms. It’s an ongoing process and we are trying to make the farmyard safer and more efficient all the time.
If that means hiring in someone to do a job that’s the way it should be. I learned that lesson with the milking parlour upgrade this spring, as it put me under a lot of pressure. For many jobs on a farm, unless you are well trained and you can do the job as quickly, you are better off getting someone in. Summer on dairy farm allows you some flexibility. Work still has to be done, but if it’s a fine day and it isn’t urgent maybe some jobs shouldn’t be done that particular day.
Shay Ryan is a participant in the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme and Teagasc Signpost Programme. For more information on his farm, click here. To find out more about the Teagasc Signpost Programme, visit its webpage. This article was first published in the Farming Independent.