Sisters Elisa and Tara Drumm from Delvin, Co Westmeath are ones to watch in the agricultural world. Farming alongside their supportive parents, Michael and Christine, the midlands family farm is home to 80 commercial suckler cows and 120 ewes. The girls also have their beloved five pedigree Hereford cows, which are all run under the Crowenstown Hereford prefix.Alongside a busy beef, sheep and suckler enterprise, the family are also tillage farming for their own use.
Sisters Elisa and Tara Drumm from Delvin, Co Westmeath are ones to watch in the agricultural world. Farming alongside their supportive parents, Michael and Christine, the midlands family farm is home to 80 commercial suckler cows and 120 ewes. The girls also have their beloved five pedigree Hereford cows, which are all run under the Crowenstown Hereford prefix.
Alongside a busy beef, sheep and suckler enterprise, the family are also tillage farming for their own use.
Elisa was the intermediate winner in the young handler competition, at the National Calf Show.
Name: Elisa Drumm.
Age: 18.
What year are you in at school? Going into 6th year.
What school do you attend? Eureka Secondary School, Kells.
What are your hobbies? Show jumping and football.
What age were you when you first got involved on the farm?
Possibly three years old
What are your earliest memories of farming?
From as long as I can remember, I have been on the farm helping out, feeding pet lambs and calves from an early age.
What jobs do you like to help with?
I prefer the more practical jobs, like dosing or vaccinating cattle or cleaning sheds in the winter time instead of the machinery end of the farm.
When did you first get involved in showing cattle?
Mam bought a pedigree Hereford heifer in 2012. Her name was Killsunny Doreens Ivy – and she was the beginning of everything. She was purchased from Trevor Dudley and family in Co Tipperary. She worked out so well for us, and to this day, we are still showing her offspring.
Why do you like showing cattle?
It gives me a chance to get to know so many new people. I also enjoy it because it gives me a chance to get to know our animals. We see them grow from a young calf into what we hope is a great breeding cow.
What are your favourite memories since you started showing cattle?
I love getting up early in the mornings on show day. Another favourite is receiving our first ever red rosette at Tullamore Show with our home bred cow, Crowenstown Arethusa Ivy.
We also got first that year with our heifer, Grianan Orange V911, now a cow. She has won a red rosette as a junior cow.
What are some of your other hobbies?
I play football for my local club Delvin St Pauls, and I also ride horses. I have two horses Jess and Cody. I love to go out showjumping every weekend with them and then take a break during the summer for the agricultural shows.
What would you like to do when you leave school?
After school, I would love to study agricultural science in UCD or Waterford, and then possibly progress to do animal nutrition or something in that field.
Do you think you will keep up the farming/horses and sports in the future?
I will definitely always have a few Herefords to show during the summer. I will also have a horse and keep up with my show jumping.
Tara with Crowenstown Hanley, first prize winner and overall reserve male champion at the National Calf Show in 2023.
Name: Tara
Age: 15.
What year are you in at school? Going into 3rd year.
What school do you attend? Eureka Secondary School, Kells.
What are your hobbies? Soccer.
What age were you when you first got involved on the farm?
I started at a very young age by doing simple jobs like giving the calves meal, I was possibly only three or four years old.
What are your earliest memories of farming?
I remember sitting with Dad on the tractor as he did his daily jobs like feeding the cattle or scraping the yard.
What jobs do you like to help with?
I love doing jobs with the cattle like halter training, moving them out to new fields, lambing and calving, but I also enjoy the machinery work like cutting the silage and barley during the summer. We use AI on a small number of the commercial animals – I love choosing sires for the commercials, as we like to keep our own replacements. We use a variety of bulls in order to mix up the genetics in the herd. We use all AI in the pedigree Herefords as we have a small herd. We don’t have a pedigree Hereford bull.
When did you first get involved in showing cattle?
I was seven years old. My Mam would always give me the job of showing the calf behind the cow.
Why do you like showing cattle?
I get to meet lots of new people every weekend. I love getting my animal ready for the show ring. I enjoy clipping and grooming and having it looking its best.
What are some of your favourite memories since you started showing cattle?
One of my favourite memories so far was when our bull calf, Crowenstown Hanley, was Reserve supreme male champion at the National Hereford calf show 2023. We later sold Hanley at the Spring Premier Sale in Tullamore back in March for €5,500. I purchased my first commercial heifer at the Carrick Winter Fair in 2022 and I hope to expand my commercial herd.
What are some of your other hobbies?
I enjoy playing soccer for my local club Athboy Celtic, it’s a nice diversion from the farm.
What would you like to do when you leave school?
I would like to study agriculture, and hopefully, pursue a career in bovine genetics. I have a big interest in breeding and would love to explore this field.
Do you think you will keep up the farming and sports in the future?
I will have my own herd of cows in the future and continue to show cattle, because I have a great interest in breeding and bloodlines.
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