Not surprisingly, John McCarthy’s favourite spot on his West Cork farm is at the big family table, where glass doors frame a view over the meadows and out to the Celtic Sea. John took over the farm from his mother, who lives next door. One of eleven children, he became the fourth generation of his family to work on the land. “You have to enjoy what you’re doing,” he says. “I love cows and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than bringing cows down at 6 o’clock on a fine morning. It’s the nicest thing going.”
John lives and works here with wife Deirdre and their four young children, who enjoy helping out where they can. Spring and early summer is a good time on the farm. “When the calves are born and being licked clean on the golden straw, that’s very nice. Once the cows are milked, this time of year they walk straight out to the grass again. Any day, no matter how cold or wet, if you open the door they’ll go out. Then we tend to the young small cattle, and our main aim for June and July is to keep the grass right. We apply fertiliser to keep it growing and, later in the year, we mow the paddocks to make sure the new young grass will come in again. Looking after the grass is key.”
Like all Kerrygold cows, John and Deirdre’s small herd enjoy a grass-based diet all year round, grazing outside for around 300 days a year. This healthy, natural diet means the milk they produce is rich in beta-carotene and has higher quantities of unsaturated fatty acids (Omega 3 and 6) than milk from cows fed indoors.
Every second day, the McCarthy milk goes to the local cooperative. From there, it’s made into Kerrygold Butter, which has a rich golden colour and softer texture thanks to the unique qualities of the meadow milk.
The temperate climate and Atlantic rain keeps grass growing all over Ireland, but John thinks his little patch is special. “It’s jet black soil and it heats up within an hour when the sun comes out. The grass picks up along the coast here faster than anywhere in Ireland, but all over the country you have the mix of the moisture and the sun. We have the most natural product, the grass in Ireland, and that’s what makes us have the advantage over our competitors, we hope.”
Like other Irish farmers, John works hard to limit carbon emissions by using low-energy lighting and a milk cooling system that uses well water, and by harvesting rainwater to wash the milking parlour. “The fact that what we’re doing is sustainable is important for us as farmers,” says John. “Feeling your work is fruitful and the next generation can build on it. If one of them is interested in it, boy or girl, it doesn’t worry me if they’re keenly interested in it.”
All four children, from three to 11, have an interest in nature that comes from living alongside it. “You see the patterns,” says John. “Over in the milking parlour there’s a little bird, the mammy comes back every year making a nest, and there’s a curlew comes back every year without fail.” It’s no surprise that man, bird or beast wants to return to this Kerrygold farm – it’s magic.
A Kerrygold tale: pure and simple
The Kerrygold story is a simple one. “We work with small co-operative farms where small herds are free to graze on lush Irish meadows. It means Kerrygold cows are healthy and happy, free to roam outside. It’s these cows, and countless generations of dairy knowhow, that makes our butter taste so good. We always know where all of our milk comes from, which is why we promise to only produce the most delicious, golden dairy, pure and simple.”
