My name is Conall Gantly and I’m 10 years old. I live in Terryglass in Co Tipperary and I’m in fourth class in Terryglass National School.

I’ve an older brother Dáithí, he’s 12, and my older sister Shauna is 14. She’s big into horses.

I’m big into farming

My grandad has a drystock farm in Tynagh, Co Galway. That’s where my dad’s from. It’s all beef cattle we have there.

Every weekend and any day I’m off school, I’d be over on the farm helping my grandad and my dad.

I’ve always been interested in the farm and I’ve been farming for five years now.

We moved from Dublin to Tipperary five years ago, but I liked farming even before that when we’d be down visiting.

During the lockdowns, I had to help out a lot on the farm when I wasn’t in school. My teacher, Ms Dermody, used to get me to write about the farm every day.

Every time I did a job on the farm, I had to write about it that night and read it back the next morning.

I think she was learning a lot too, because I don’t think she expected to be getting work about sculling cattle.

Tractors

This time of year, we’re giving the cattle silage and water and nuts. You could be dosing as well.

It can be hard work when you’re forking silage and things like that. We’ve a small farm, so we don’t have big machinery.

But my grandad does have a New Holland tractor, a TS90, and my dad has a John Deere. I’d prefer New Holland, I’d say.

We have a small Massey as well. We’re getting a new clutch on it and we need to get a few other things done too.

I like going in the tractor with my dad and my grandad when there’s work to be done in the fields.

Sport

Outside of farming, I play hurling, rugby, soccer and sometimes Gaelic football.

It’s a lot of sport, but hurling and Gaelic, they’re in the summer. Rugby and soccer, they’re in the winter.

Hurling is my favourite sport. I play for Shannon Rovers, the under 11s.

We went back hurling training just a couple of weeks ago.

There’s a little astro-pitch in Borrisokane, so we train on that a few times before we go back on the proper pitch.

I do think farming makes you strong for sport and the fresh air helps a lot as well!

Variety

I’m lucky that I get to be on lots of different farms.

There’s a lad that plays hurling with us. He’s big into farming as well. I go to his dad’s farm sometimes and I help them. He’s a dairy farmer. I help them with milking and all that.

We don’t have any calves on our farm, the youngest cattle we have are weanlings. But I help my dad’s friend on his farm, I help him with calving and to look after the calves.

I put down lots of straw bedding for the calves, that’s really important.

My dad’s other friend is a sheep farmer. I like the sheep, they’re nice, but I prefer the cattle. Sheep are very quiet compared to cattle.

When I’m older I’d like to be a farmer, a beef farmer.

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