We farm: “Sucklers on 130 acres of mostly flat, dry, limestone-based land. Of the 130, 25 acres are in forestry.”
Family: “My dad, Brendan, farms part-time. My two brothers and I help out at the weekends when we can.”
Sucklers: “We have a herd of mainly Angus-cross suckler cows, but one or two of them are dairy crosses. We use a pedigree Angus stock bull on the cows. We used to AI all of our heifers, but this year we only used AI on our three pedigree Angus cows.”
Calving: “We have 36 cows calving this spring. All our cows calve outdoors. We find the calves thrive better and there are fewer health issues. This year we had a 100% conception rate when the cows were scanned. We expect them to have all calved down by the end of May.”
Inputs: “We keep our inputs as low as we can. We don’t use any chemical fertiliser, only slurry. Ration is fed to the weanlings, but not the cows. At calving time, interference is kept to a minimum. The cows usually calve themselves with no help. We’ve only had one C-section over the last few years.”
Education: “I studied animal science in UCD and I’m now doing a masters in agricultural extension and innovation. It’s giving me a chance to practically apply everything I learned in college. It’s also giving me a brilliant opportunity to network and get my name out there.”
Future plans: “Hopefully, I’ll become a lecturer in an agricultural college. We are near one at home. Ideally, if a vacancy came up there, I could lecture and still farm part-time at home.”
Challenges: “As a young woman in the agricultural industry, the biggest challenge is to be seen and treated as a graduate. I get mistaken for a secondary school student when speaking to farmers and have to mention that I’ve four years of college done and I’m doing my master’s.”
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My farming week: Daniel Murphy, Roslea, Co Fermanagh
My farming week: Cheryl O’Brien, Springvale, Kildorrery, Co Cork
My farming week: Alison Daly, Clonard, Co Meath
We farm: “Sucklers on 130 acres of mostly flat, dry, limestone-based land. Of the 130, 25 acres are in forestry.”
Family: “My dad, Brendan, farms part-time. My two brothers and I help out at the weekends when we can.”
Sucklers: “We have a herd of mainly Angus-cross suckler cows, but one or two of them are dairy crosses. We use a pedigree Angus stock bull on the cows. We used to AI all of our heifers, but this year we only used AI on our three pedigree Angus cows.”
Calving: “We have 36 cows calving this spring. All our cows calve outdoors. We find the calves thrive better and there are fewer health issues. This year we had a 100% conception rate when the cows were scanned. We expect them to have all calved down by the end of May.”
Inputs: “We keep our inputs as low as we can. We don’t use any chemical fertiliser, only slurry. Ration is fed to the weanlings, but not the cows. At calving time, interference is kept to a minimum. The cows usually calve themselves with no help. We’ve only had one C-section over the last few years.”
Education: “I studied animal science in UCD and I’m now doing a masters in agricultural extension and innovation. It’s giving me a chance to practically apply everything I learned in college. It’s also giving me a brilliant opportunity to network and get my name out there.”
Future plans: “Hopefully, I’ll become a lecturer in an agricultural college. We are near one at home. Ideally, if a vacancy came up there, I could lecture and still farm part-time at home.”
Challenges: “As a young woman in the agricultural industry, the biggest challenge is to be seen and treated as a graduate. I get mistaken for a secondary school student when speaking to farmers and have to mention that I’ve four years of college done and I’m doing my master’s.”
Read more
My farming week: Daniel Murphy, Roslea, Co Fermanagh
My farming week: Cheryl O’Brien, Springvale, Kildorrery, Co Cork
My farming week: Alison Daly, Clonard, Co Meath
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