The farm: “I farm alongside my father Pat. Although we have two separate herd numbers, we work together. Together we farm about 400 ewes which are run on commonage. I keep some sucklers and drystock and I do some milking at home as well with the father. He is milking about 40 British Friesians.”

Sheep: “The sheep are mainly Cheviot ewes. We would have some Borris ewes as well. I am shearing our own ewes at the moment and I am dosing the lambs and clicking them. The sheep are run on Brandon Hill commonage which consists of about 1,000 acres.”

Shearing: “The Cheviot hoggets are shorn and have gone back to the mountain, the ewes and single lambs are also shorn. I do shearing for a few neighbours as well but not as much as other years. There are not many young people around interested in shearing. Down the road there will be nobody left to shear the sheep.”

Wool: ”Wool stores are full. I think a lot of it could end up being used for bedding stock or put in the dung heap. It’s not simple. I have been talking to different merchants and there aren’t even packs for wool to be got. They are still full of last year’s wool. It’s a costly game on the farmers.”

Lamb prices: ”The price of sheep looks good so far. We won’t have any lambs to sell now until August onwards. Hopefully the price won’t be pulled too much. I had never seen €8.00/kg for spring lambs before. It has lifted the spirits of sheep farmers.”

Borris Ewe Breeders: ”I am secretary of the Borris ewe breeders. This is my third year. We are getting on well and I have a good committee behind me. We have sales coming up on 14 and 28 August and 11 September. We are looking at the online option at the moment to see if we can do it.”