Dara takes Young Farmer award in a first for Galway

Dara Killeen (31), from Meelick on the banks of the Shannon, took the prestigious FBD-Macra Young Farmer of the Year award for 2020, putting Galway’s name on the cup for the first time since the awards began in 1999.

Son of well-known farmer and lifetime agri campaigner, Charlie Killeen, and his wife Mary, Dara is only in his second year of dairying, where he milks 150 cows on their 300-acre holding along the Shannon in East Galway.

“Traditionally, we always had been sheep and beef farmers, but back in 2017 the big decision was made to go into dairying.

“We brought in our own Jersey X calves, put them in-calf, and established the herd from there. We went for the Jersey crosses on the basis of their high butter fat and protein milk,” Dara told the Farming Tribune.

Moving from drystock to dairy farming is a huge decision for any young farmer but on a long-term basis, Dara felt that dairying offered the best chance of making a decent living from the land.

“It is a huge investment to make, both in terms of the herd and in the construction costs of the milking parlour, that was financed by selling off our existing stock and also with the help of TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) grants,” said Dara.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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