We on the picdesk team at the Irish Farmers Journal often joke with those we meet that we are on a mission to photograph every farmer in the country.

While we know that we will never achieve the task, we also know that the photographers who capture the incredible imagery that don the pages of the Irish Farmers Journal will never stop trying.

That is because it is important – and not just for the next online story or print newspaper. Since 1948, photographers have been documenting rural Ireland on behalf of the Irish Farmers Journal and we get up in the morning to capture images that future generations will hopefully cherish.

Travelling the country, battling the weather to capturing images of those who farm the land and the activities that make up farming can be challenging, but often not as challenging as it is to convince someone to join our historic photographic archive and allowing us a moment to make them a part of the story: the story of farming in Ireland.

This is a simple thank you, to just some of those people, who despite the many challenges of 2021, allowed our photographic team to spend a few minutes with them to capture their story and their likeness.