‘It was the only way I could stay

BERNARD Ging jumped the fence from drystock to dairying in 2012 and hasn’t looked back since.

Five years on the president of the Irish Grasslands Association is no longer a ‘dairying novice’ but what you might call a ‘seasoned new entrant’.

So why did he make the move? For Bernard

the switch to dairying was income driven.

Although working 280ac – of which 135ac is owned and the remainder rented – and carrying 140 suckler cows and 250 ewes, Bernard was not convinced the returns off drystock could guarantee his future in farming.

“I wanted to be a fulltime farmer but the block of land we owned wasn’t large enough to make a living from it as a drystock farmer so switching into dairying was the only option,” he explains.

Bernard farms near Portlaoise and is married to Ciara. They have two children, Hannah is 11 and Mark is eight.

“I realised that dairying was the only way I could stay full-time farming and provide for my family.”

He now milks 155 Holstein-Friesians on a spring-calving system, and supplies Glanbia.

What advice would Bernard give to those in the process of making the move?

He is adamant that the biggest mistake new entrants make is not thinking and planning big enough.

“No one ever goes backwards, and very few stand still. Therefore you have to give your business the built-in flexibility to grow,” Bernard explains.

“And that means that the facilities might not have to be big right now – but that they are extendable,” he adds.

“You might only have land to milk 80 cows; however,