I Farm: “In a milk production partnership with my father Martin. We run a 250-acre dairy farm, 35 acres of which is rented. The farm is at the edge of the village, where my mother Bridget runs Cleary’s bar. We milk 146 purebred British Friesian cows in a spring-calving system.”

Family: family are a vital support system to the farm. My father is invaluable and his experience is second to none. My mother keeps us all going, feeding the troops and is always there with a positive word, helping where she can. I am getting married this year and my fiancée Claire also comes from a dairy background.“

Farm manager: “Our full-time farm manager is James Malone. He is punctual, hard-working and adapts well to the work that is needed of him each day. We’re grateful to have him. “

Calving: “To date we have calved 55 cows. We started calving on 6 January and should finish on 20 April. The spring-calving system works well for us because we have a dry farm and we can get out to grass by day relatively soon after cows have calved.’’

AI: “The majority of our herd has been bred from AI bulls and the remainder from stock bulls. We have been using this system for the past 30 years. The herd has been bred from mainly Dovea bloodlines. Our bulls have attracted interest from AI stations and to date we have three bulls gone to AI, two of which are gone to ABS Genetics in England and the third to Dovea Genetics in Thurles. The mixture of bloodlines has resulted in a top-class herd, performing well in both fertility and production.”

Awards: “We take great pride in taking part in the National Dairy Show and representing the breed. Blackisle Mabel 57 EX93 was placed first in Tullamore in 2013 and again at The Emerald Expo at Cíllín Hill, Kilkenny, in 2014. In the Carlow/Kilkenny Friesian Breeders Club we won best herd in 2013 in the intermediate section. Our most recent success in 2014 was receiving a Quality Milk Award from CellCheck for producing low somatic cell count milk.”

Quotable Quote: “Breed for fertility if you want milk. “