If you want to understand the Buttimer farm, don’t begin in the milking parlour, begin in the calf shed. There is no stink of ammonia and no damp bedding, just clean straw, warm milk and the quiet attention that gives young animals the best possible start.
‘Dry beds are the secret to healthy calves’ is one of the simplest rules on the farm, and it is followed with conviction.
Darren and Caroline Buttimer milk 240 cows at Knockskeagh, outside Clonakilty, on land that has been in the Buttimer family since the 1960s. Darren’s father Ernest and his four brothers came from Rossmore and purchased several farms within a 10-mile radius, establishing a family farming tradition that continues today. Darren joined the partnership in the early 2000s and took over the farm fully in 2007. His mother Diana still lives just down the lane.
Family
The Buttimer farm is truly a family affair. Every spring, Caroline and daughters Rachel, Leah and Hannah, take responsibility for feeding and bedding the young calves.
Matthew, the eldest, helps with tractor work and milking during the busiest weeks. At weekends, all four children can be found helping with the milking.
Today, the farm extends to 139ha, including a 75ha milking platform, and is run with the support of full-time farm manager Richard Roycroft.
The herd produces approximately 6,400l and 540kg of milk solids per cow, at 4.47% fat and 3.74% protein, based on 1.1t of meal per cow and exceptional reproductive performance.
Outside the yard, the farm’s carbon footprint score of 0.82kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM), reflects years of practical improvement.
Cows spend approximately 290 days at grass; clover has been incorporated into half of the grazing platform and protected urea, LESS slurry spreading and GPS-controlled fertiliser application are used to reduce emissions and improve nutrient efficiency.
Priorities
Yet perhaps the most impressive achievement is that this performance has not been allowed to consume family life. Milking is finished by 6.30pm, so that evenings remain available for the family.
Darren coaches underage GAA, while Caroline coaches’ girls’ soccer, plays with the local ladies’ team and serves on the board of Clonakilty Community College.
The family takes a holiday each year and uses quieter weekends to get away together.
“It’s a great quality of life,” Darren says. “There are two busy seasons, but once calving and silage are done, things ease up and you can take time off.”
That willingness to look beyond their own farm was demonstrated again when the Buttimer’s hosted an open day on 30 July.
It is an important trait for any ambassador: confidence in their own standards, combined with a readiness to help others improve.
SHARING OPTIONS