But he also runs a fencing business with a number of crews on the road installing stock and other fencing, so labour efficiency is important to him.

At housing, all ewes stand on expanded metal floors, sitting four feet above the shed’s concrete floor. This eliminates the work of bedding out and removing dirty straw and has improved animal health and cleanliness. The metal sheets are lifted every two to four years to remove the dung underneath. Some weeks ago, the Journal visited Crosby’s farm to look at his latest shed, which has gone one step further in labour saving.

Land improvement

New drain cleaner ready to go>/strong>

Some weeks ago, I wrote about the Homburg drain cleaner after talking to tillage farmer Hugh Kelly of Co Donegal who has used one for some years.

The machines are marketed in Ireland by O’Donovan Agri-Environmental Services who are based in Ballincollig, Co Cork. John O’Donovan tells me that he is awaiting delivery of 16 of the machines from Holland. All of these machines have already been sold to farm contractors or farmers around the country. Many of the contractors are buying larger models with the help of LEADER funding.

One contractor has already taken delivery of his machine and is in operation. This is Eddie Crangle who operates as Crangle Environmental Services in Skibbereen. Eddie is now offering a drain cleaning service to farmers and other land owners across Co Cork and can be contacted on 087-0547159.

A typical price is €1 per metre of pipe cleaned but, of course, price may vary a bit for site conditions, etc. He purchased the machine with support from West Cork Development Partnership.

John O’Donovan told me that there are five models in the Homburg drain cleaning range, ranging from farmer models up to bigger contractor machines.

A farmer model, suitable for a tractor of 70hp upwards, is listed at €11,000 plus VAT. The larger contractor models come with remote control, wireless operation, etc.