For Michael and Anne Duggan, Ballyboy outside Dunmanway has been the heart of family and farming life for nearly half a century. Michael came home from school at just 16 to join his father on the farm. It was the mid-70s, a time of optimism, and the installation of a new herringbone parlour and bulk tank set the Duggans up for decades of milk production.
Over the years, Michael built up the herd to 60 cows after quotas were abolished, but today he milks around 40. A fall on the farm that left him concussed prompted him to scale back, and with retirement on the horizon, he has shifted his breeding policy entirely to beef AI. He rears all his calves with some are finished to beef whilst others are sold on at 18 months, nothing leaves the farm without the care and attention of Michael and Anne.
Milk quality has always been a hallmark of the Duggan herd, with awards from Drinagh and Carbery in 1999, 2004, and again in 2024. Their consistent cell count and butterfat figures reflect the hands-on approach. Michael may not have a camera in the calving shed, but he is up at all hours during the busy season to ensure every calf gets adequate colostrum. Anne, who worked as an SNA, always found time to care for calves alongside her husband.
Sustainability is quietly stitched into how the farm is run. Slurry is carefully targeted with LESS equipment, clover is oversown to cut back on nitrogen, and waterways are fenced to protect a tributory of the Bandon river that runs alongside the land. Most of the grazing platform now has clover incorporated, and the farm’s carbon footprint is a respectable 0.91.
Family has always been central. Their four daughters, April, Louise, Michelle and Melissa – all pursued careers in the pharmaceutical industry, yet each still loves farming. When Michael and Anne take their annual September holiday, the girls rotate the milking between them. Melissa in particular brings extra pride to Ballyboy as a star of the Cork ladies football team. She has been recognised with multiple TG4 Ladies Football All‑Star nominations and received an All‑Star award for her defensive brilliance.
Outside the farm gate, Michael and Anne are known as keen social dancers. The couple have even taken to the international stage, with this September’s holiday booked for the “Hooley in the Sun” with Declan Nerney in Spain.
Looking ahead, the plan is to continue milking for another couple of years before transitioning fully to dry stock. Whatever the future brings, the Duggan farm has achieved what Michael set out to do as a young man, to provide for his family, raise four successful daughters, and build a happy, safe home while producing milk of the highest quality.
As Dr Lorna Twomey of Drinagh Co-op notes, “Michael and Anne epitomise what a family farm should be, productive, orderly and happy. They have achieved so much over their farming career and deserve to be commended at national level for their lifelong passion for producing good quality milk.”
