How moving to the US led to an 800-cow business

摘要

Lower land prices and cheaper cows encouraged one young farmer to move from Northern Ireland to the US to grow his dairy business.Crawford Porter was 15 when he first fell in love with dairy farming in the US on a study trip with his dad. But it would take a family tragedy and overcoming the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic before he finally found the courage to move there permanently.Crawford, who now milks 800 cows in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, originally hails from County Down in Northern Ireland, where he milked 80 cows on his family's 40ha (100-acre) farm. His mother, Elma, passed away when he was 17, and after completing a joinery certification, he returned home to farm with his father, Jackie, at the age of 19. At the time, they ran 80 Angus suckler cows because their former 120-cow dairy herd had been ravaged by TB.