I am in a state of tense anticipation. There’s loads to be done to prepare for calving and yet there is time to plan and choose the jobs that need doing. In a few weeks our work of milking, rearing calves and monitoring calving will define our days. There will be no choice except to put the heads down and work on. I’m very conscious that everything we do by way of preparation will make all that run smoothly. So we’re all doing our own bits.

Any spare time that I can find is spent washing feeders, buckets and calf-rearing equipment for the home farm and the leased farm.

I’m determined not to carry any of last year’s germs into the new year. Meanwhile, Colm and Tim are preparing the pens in the shed. Straw and wood has to be moved out. Shelters will be re-erected and lamps hung for warmth. It’s a big enough job. Our shed is multi-purpose and the pens are used for other things during the year.

In-calf heifers return

Calving has already begun on some farms and winter milk farmers are just getting ready for their second batch of calves.

Since we gave up that game, we relish this time to plan ahead and the ability to take the break.

I really don’t know how those farmers keep going. It’s only when you stop you realise how hard you have been working.

Our official start date is 1 February. That means there will be calves on the ground before that

We were able to sit down at our leisure and talk about the season ahead. Our official start date is 1 February.

That means there will be calves on the ground before that. Being mentally ready is probably more important than anything else and there has to be a plan.

The first part of the plan was the return of the heifers from the heifer rearer in Kildare. I hated them going in the first place. It was that feeling of lack of control over them. The absence of talking to them and handling them. I wondered if it would make a difference. But maybe the heifer rearer talked to them. I like to think of him as a sort of heifer whisperer.

They are still happy to get a rub and easy with people

I was not around when they returned and to be fair, they are behaving as if they never left. They are still happy to get a rub and easy with people. I will be a little more cautious around them during calving as heifers are always unpredictable.

The economics of contract heifer rearing works for us in that the cost of producing the in-calf heifer is roughly the same without our labour.

They have been home a few days and have settled well

Forty-three animals went up and two came home empty which was a very satisfactory result.

They have been home a few days and have settled well. While they have been in Kildare, Tim and Colm have had more time to concentrate on grass measurement, grass allocation and budgeting. Colm has been able to put a lot of time into the new leased farm.

Tragedy

On Friday, Tim asked me to move the bulls with himself and Colm. Firstly, we had to erect a few temporary fences to aid the process.

Before we left we had heard that there was a second-year CIT student stabbed in Cork city on Thursday night.

I immediately had a lump in my throat

As we walked around the field in the sunshine, the young man’s picture and name appeared on my phone. Cameron Blair from Ballinascarthy in west Cork was now a household name. I immediately had a lump in my throat thinking about his parents, his younger brother and his friends and their deep sorrow and loss.

Tim and I talked about the sadness that we could only imagine.

His friends will never be the same

Parents send young boys and girls off to college every year and worry about them. We don’t expect them to die tragically. Life has been cruelly changed for Cameron’s family.

His friends will never be the same. May Cameron rest in peace and I wish his family and friends strength and peace in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.