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The farm: “We keep 600 sheep and 200 cattle on 230 acres. We own 38 acres and the rest is rented.”
Family: “My wife Caitriona and I have four daughters: Amy (16) who is currently training for the Paralympics, Lucy (14) who is GAA mad and plays on the Louth county team, Sally (12) and Kelly (nine) who both love to help on the farm.”
Sheep: “The ewes are a mix of Texel, Suffolk and Mule crosses. Our land is very heavy so we stock a lot more sheep than cattle. The ground is very wet at the minute with the downpours of rain so all the ewes are in.”
Lambing: “We started lambing on New Year’s Day and will finish towards the end of April. We lamb the ewes in three batches and are reaching the peak of it now.”
Cattle: “Last March we decided to buy in suck calves and rear them over the lockdowns. They were a great distraction and we ended up buying 120 in total. We also keep 30 Limousin sucklers and a small group of Shorthorn heifers.”
Shorthorns: “Lucy has a great interest in show cattle so we decided to buy 12 Shorthorn heifers, all due to calve next month. Roan calves are getting more and more popular so that’s why we decided to go down the Shorthorn route.”
Lockdowns: “Having the farm has been a blessing over the past year to keep the kids distracted. They are really missing sport and school now though. Keeping in touch with people online is all well and good but there’s nothing like the bit of messing around the school yard for the younger generation.”
Off farm: “I also own a traffic flow management company, working alongside local authorities on upgrading roads. Balancing the workload can be difficult but luckily my family isn’t afraid to get stuck into the farm jobs which takes a lot of the pressure off.”
Tradition: “I started out farming as a young lad and I’m hugely proud to see the girls show the same interest. It’s great also to work alongside my father Seamus. He drives a 50-mile round trip almost every day to help out on the farm.”
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