My Farming Week: Molly Bradley, Killylea, Co Armagh

I farm: “Along with my grandad and mum just outside of Armagh. We have 40 milking cows, mainly Freisian and Fleckveigh. We also have 20 pedigree breeding cows, predominantly Limousin and British Blondes. We recently bought some Simmentals and Charolais too. I got a Level 3 degree in agriculture from Greenmount College in Antrim after school. I finished it a year ago and came home to farm full-time with my grandad afterwards.”

Breeding: “We artificially inseminate the dairy cows and use a Limousin bull to sweep up after. In the past six months to a year, we looked more into reducing pedigree cow numbers and flushing our best breeding pedigree females to get a quicker genetic gain. We flushed three cows last year, two Blondes and a Limousin. The first of those calves are due this week.”

Showing: “I watched my brother showing cattle when I was younger, so I got my interest and love for it there. We show all of our cattle. It is where we get a lot of our sales. We go to all of the agricultural shows in the North, with Balmoral being the main one. It is great being out and talking to people. Two years ago, we won the Balmoral Show with a Blonde heifer.”

Young stockperson: “In August last year, I won the all-Ireland stockperson of the year. We were given an animal and had to dress it, show it, stock judge different animals and do an interview. It was something I really wanted to do. There are a lot of young people who are as good as me. It just depends on the judge’s opinion. It was unbelievable and one of my biggest achievements.”

Advice: “I would say to keep the drive and motivation, and don’t listen to what everyone else says. You have to have a mind of your own. Just because a judge in the ring has a good or bad opinion of an animal doesn’t mean you should think any more or any less of it.”

The future: “I will probably stay at home to farm. I have a good interest in the pedigrees, so I’d like to make the farm business more profitable and efficient.”