Ulster trio lists five dairying tips from study tour
© Trehane Trust Business scale and financial performance were just two of the top five insights gained by three young dairy Nuffield scholars visiting leading dairy operators last summer.
Young farmers Bronagh Dempster, Ewan McCracken, and Kirsten Henry – who won places on last year’s Nuffield Farming Next Generation Scholarship – visited 45 farms in 28 days across the UK.
See also: Two Nuffield scholars on how the scheme changed their lives
Supported by the Trehane Trust, the scholarship was designed to give young people a chance to ask leading dairy farmers what advice they would have for the next generation (see box).
Young dairy enthusiasts have just two weeks left to apply for the 2025 scholarship, which this year will see scholars deliver their presentations in Aberdeen.
Life lessons
Bronagh, a dairy worker at weekends on the Ards Peninsula and sustainability project manager for a milk processor through the week, urged young dairy enthusiasts to apply for the 2025 scholarship.
“Do not hesitate – it’s a life-changing opportunity,” she told Farmers Weekly.
Scholar Ewan, who helps run his family’s spring block-calving herd near Newtonwards, said they visited herds of more than 2,000 cows to units milking less than 100.
“I saw how scale isn’t everything, and you end up going from managing cows to managing people once you get to a certain size,” he said.
“I think it taught me to focus on being better at what we have.
“For example, we hit an 87% six-week in-calf rate last season, and calved everything in 10 weeks, but it would be great to hit 90% next time.”
Kirsten is a genetics consultant at Genus, and said the biggest lesson she learnt was to think logically by speaking to so many great operators.
“I’d say if you’re in your twenties, this is a great thing to do,” she added.
She is already calculating financial performance, rather than just obsessing over technical performance – for both clients and her family’s 80-cow Holstein herd near Cookstown, County Tyrone.
5 take-home lessons
- Have a vision All corporate businesses have a vision or mission statement, and the trio learnt that farms should be the same. A plan and strategy should be something that helps conversation between farming partners or family members, and should be something to be proud of.
- People, people, people Machinery, scale, farm type – they matter very little compared to the resourcefulness, attitude, and adaptability of the people in a business. The attributes of everyone involved are critical. Also, as an employer, you will find and keep good staff if communication and rapport is good.
- Find your lighthouses Everybody needs beacons to learn from – whether they are consultants, friends, neighbours, mentors or colleagues in a discussion group. Learn from positive-minded people who are aligned to you.
- Take a risk There is no opportunity without risk. People who leave their comfort zone, and challenge themselves to learn and grow, do better in business. The mantra from many farmers they visited was “get comfortable being uncomfortable”.
- Better can beat bigger One of the key things learnt was that financial and technical performance mattered – scale was less important.
What is the Nuffield Farming Next Generation Scholarship?
- Part of an initiative to develop young talent
- Applicants must be aged 18-24 years
- The study programme lasts about 30 days
- £1,000 is offered to scholars to help cover replacement labour costs and travel expenses
- Scholars present their findings at the Nuffield Conference, in November
- Apply for the 2025 scholarship