Autumn on the farm means preparing for the winter months ahead - it’s time to make sure the farm is ready before the weather gets too wet and cold. In wintertime, if it does get too wet and cold, the cows sometimes move indoors – so Autumn is the time to make sure the cow housing is cleaned, in good condition, and ready for use.

Some dairy farmers don’t milk their cows in autumn - this is known as a drying-off period for their cows. Without the very time consuming job of the milking twice a day, some of the farmers get to enjoy some spare time in autumn. One of the Kerrygold farmers, Pat Holden, jokes about his relationship with his fiancé – “when I started going out with Diane, it was November, so we had plenty of time. By the time it came round to calving season in spring, we hardly saw each other as I was always working!” In Autumn, extra fertiliser is spread onto fields to strengthen grass growth and allow a continued supply of fresh grass throughout the following months. Earlier in the summer, some farmers will have made at least two cuts of pasture and then stored the grass as an additional feed for wintertime. This is known as silage, and is then available as feed for the cows when grass growth has slowed or when they are kept indoors during the wettest and coldest days of the winter period.