Ploughing: “I’m ploughing two years now; this is my second year. I’m happy enough with how I’m getting on but the competition in the under-28 reversible is hard enough alright. We left at 6.30am on Tuesday and the tractor came up on Monday. Our four west Cork co-ops look after the transport.”
Farming: “We’re dairy farming at home, milking 250 cows for the last 10 years, supplying Barryroe. We’ve 20 or 30 acres of barley as well. Every paddock we reseed is used as ploughing practice; they come up very well.”
School: “I’m going into fifth year this year. I’m doing ag science, biology and engineering for the Leaving Cert. I’ve a few days off to go ploughing, but I might go back in on Thursday or Friday. I farm at weekends; the Ploughing is our holiday.”
Family: “There are three of us ploughing. My twin brother ploughs as well. He qualified this year too, but we both needed the same tractor so we flipped a coin. My father Geoff would have been very involved in ploughing. He won the all-Ireland in 2011. My mother Carmel is up here at the ploughing for a few days as well.”
Tips: “Keep it straight. Use a point on the bonnet and line it up. You have a pole on the front of the tractor and you set it up straight in the morning and try to drive straight then. It’s all about maths and straightness and measurements. The bank is tapered so you’ve to bring the taper parallel.”
Inspiration: “We have great ploughmen in Cork to look up to – Ger Coakley and Liam O’Driscoll. They’re in that reversible class. We’ve our own guys in west Cork you’d be trying to beat. There are opportunities in agriculture to see the world, including ploughing.”
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