Tommy qualified in 2002 from UCD with a degree in veterinary medicine. He worked in mixed practice for 16 years and was a business owner from 2006-2016. He developed a keen interest in improving animal health and farm systems over this time.
He completed a 2 year graduate certificate in dairy herd health in UCD in 2013 and became a master CowSignals® trainer in 2015. He also completed a range of courses and training in mineral nutrition, fertility, mastitis and people performance over this time. He developed a range of his own farm health plans for ruminants.
He also became very active in the animal health training space and worked for the Irish Farmers Journal as their animal health specialist for 16 months up to December of 2019.
Tommy’s focus as a veterinary consultant is on the prevention of disease, improved animal health and performance. In 2018 Tommy was awarded an international Nuffield farming scholarship. His topic was “A cow centred approach to a modern dairy industry”. Over two years he visited 16 countries and met with global experts in animal health and nutrition. After this period of research, Tommy concluded that modern agriculture farming systems must optimise the biology of their animals to achieve happier, healthier animals, more profitable farmers and happier consumers.
Tommy now works with the Agri-industry, vets and farmers in all areas of farm animal health. He has a passion for effective communication and he creates regular blogs and videos on his website www.tommythevet.ie.
Tommy’s key areas of interest: Effective communication and leadership in modern agriculture; optimising biology and animal health within farming systems; having a systems approach to farm animal health management; training and communication for the agricultural industry, farmers and vets; the development of farming systems which improve environmental efficiency and farmer sustainability; optimising nutrition and husbandry for healthier animals.
Tommy goal is “to help make farming better” by improving animal health, farmer profitability and the production of safe healthy food.