Paving a path into dairying on a leased farm
Maighréad took over the farm on a long-term lease in 2018 and is currently milking 96 cows on the 100ac farm in Co. Waterford.
Dreams of being a lawyer
Maighréad grew up on a dairy farm about 40 minutes away from Clonea Power, but never really had much of an interest in dairy farming until she took up ag-science in secondary school and fell in love with it.
Commenting on this, Maighréad said: “I never thought that I would go farming myself, I had big dreams of becoming a lawyer or something like that.”
Maighréad said: “In third year, I went to New Zealand for a six month work placement on a dairy farm. Before going there I had kind of decided that I would get a job in Teagasc or the Department – something handy.
“Dad had always said to me, ‘get the handy 9-5 office job’.
“I got on really well in New Zealand and was offered a job as a second in command on a dairy farm. I thought about it, but they would not hear of it at home, so I came back to do my final year.
“In the final year of college everyone was applying for masters and PhDs, while I was just applying for farm jobs, with the end goal of being a manager or a share milker.
“I got a job on a farm in Cork working on a 1,000-cow herd. I spent a year there and built up my skills further.
“After that, I was still looking for a manager job, but ended up working on a 500-cow farm close to home.”
