I farm: “50ac in conjunction with my father Jerry. We have 14 sucklers, a mix of breeds, Charlaois, Angus and Simmental.”
Fate: “I never planned on doing it, I only ever helped out in the summer, standing in gaps was as much as I had done. I got into it by default. Unfortunately, my father had an accident at work which left him paralysed from the waist down. The neighbours were a great help and were running the farm for a while.”
Legacy: “My grandfather Pat is 101 years old now, he bought this farm in 1969. He passed it down to my father. When my father had the accident, I couldn’t let them see it go. So, in November 2020, I decided to give the neighbours a break, and I’ve been at it ever since.”
Improvements: ”We’ve made changes to make the farm wheelchair accessible, so that my father is able to get in and around to see what is going on. I’d like to get a few more cattle down the road.”
Work: “I carry out the physical aspect of the work but my father is the brains behind the operation. If a cow is calving, he can get in and see what’s happening or if something is wrong. I dehorn and castrate the cattle, but he’s beside me telling me how it’s done.”
At the moment: “We still have the cows out on grass because we still have plenty of it. We’ll be bringing them into the shed soon for the winter. They’ll be due to start calving around early February.“
TikTok: “I started the account around the same time I started farming and it just grew from there. I have nearly 15,000 followers on my account k_moy. I love making the videos and I hope that it encourages other young women to get into farming if they are thinking about it.”
Women in farming: “Chance your arm at it and don’t be put off just because it’s a male-dominated industry. We might not be as physically strong; but we can do all the same things.”
Quotable quote: “Suckler farmers do tend to complain a lot, but in fairness, we are squeezed to our limits.”
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