My Country Living: 'Can you ever really have enough sheep?'

I’m sheep farming in Inishowen, Quigley’s Point, up in Donegal near the border. I have mixed breeds of upland and lowland ewes. We have a few cows as well, but there’s only 10 of them.

At the minute, the land is fairly wet, you couldn’t go into the field with a tractor or even a quad in some places, it’s pretty bad, but in the summertime, it does dry up.

Family

I’m farming full time and I’m doing daddy’s work as well on his farm. He had a stroke three years ago and he’s not been able to work since, so I’m doing his farming and my own.

The work is manageable, there are days when it’s not, but you figure out some way to do it.

Daddy is definitely loving that I’m keeping it on. My brother is in Ballyhaise Agricultural College and I’ve a few sisters too.

If I need help, they’ll come out and lend a hand to feed pet lambs or whatever is needed. Mammy comes out and helps too so we manage it that way.

I would be on my own a lot. You’re on the farm alone and you would be wondering, ‘Would anybody find me if anything did happen?’

The phone signal isn’t great here. If you have to phone for the vet you have to find a spot where you can actually hear them and they can hear what you’re trying to tell them.

When you’re phoning the neighbours you have to walk out of the shed and up the yard a bit to see if you can get signal first.

We got cameras for the shed and we’ve struggled to get signal for those. The modem box, if it’s sitting a particular way it just doesn’t work. First world problems I suppose.

Young farmers

I always wanted to farm, I wanted nothing else. I went to Ballyhaise Agricultural College for a year and then I went to Kildalton College for a year. I have great friends from my time in college, who I am still in contact with.

I did different placements in Wicklow, Donegal and Monaghan too, so I got experience from all over the country.

I learned there were other ways of doing things then what we learned in the classroom or on our home farm.

A lot of the younger generation are not really taking farming on. There aren’t many opportunities unless you’re farming full time.

I was different because with Daddy I was going to be farming anyway. There are lots of people leaving the area or emigrating and they might come back, but they might not.

There would be a lot of people that you think have an interest in farming, but they go into something like construction because there’s more money in it.

They think there’s no money in farming for them. There is money in it, it’s just making it is tough.

All eyes on you

There’s definitely a difference when you’re a woman farming. There are people around who don’t mind and then there are others who make smart comments.

You might be buying sheep in the mart and all the eyes are looking at you when your name is called out.

It makes it harder for me to bid because I feel like everyone is watching and thinking ‘What is she doing?’ They’re thinking, ‘Oh she has enough sheep, does she really need anymore?’ But can you ever really have enough sheep?

Macra na Feirme

We’ve a small enough Macra na Feirme group. It’s good craic and I would definitely recommend it. If I wasn’t in Macra, I wouldn’t be out on the weekends half as much as I am. It encourages you to get away from the farm by the likes of going down to Queen of the Land. It gives you a break from it all. If I hadn’t Macra I don’t know how I would manage, it’s a pick-me-up if you need it. I have to make time for Macra and make time to get away from the farm.

This year I was shortlisted for Drystock Farmer of the Year

We’ll have a meeting and afterwards we’ll chat about sheep and cows and tractors. You get ideas from chatting to someone else that you might consider implementing on your own farm.

Actually doing it is another story though. It might not always be a visible thing to those looking in, but it could be a world of difference to you.

This year I was shortlisted for Drystock Farmer of the Year. I wasn’t even expecting to get through. I had never done anything like it before and I didn’t know what to expect or what would happen.

It’s good for me to know that I can get that far and that I can accomplish something, so I can’t be doing that bad of a job.

I came back from it and I know that I can do anything. I have more confidence so I can step it up a gear now and get more organised. The farm has to become better before it gets bigger.

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