I farm: “300ac of land, 500 feet above sea level here in Baurleigh, Bandon, Co Cork.”

Family: “I farm with my wife, Colette, and my daughters, Olivia, Nicola, and Aoife. I’m a second-generation farmer, following in the footsteps of my parents, who started the farm in 1964. Colette grew up on a farm as well and manages our book-keeping.”

Cows: “We’ve increased the farm size since my parents started it off. We now milk 300 Holstein Friesian cows.”

Tillage: “We grow all our own forage here on the farm. We have maize, cereals and beet. We use these to feed the cows in the winter then.”

This week: “We are cutting 25ac of winter barley. We are going to the Olympics in Paris, as Nicola is competing in the hammer throw competition at the weekend. Today we are tidying up the straw, there are talks of it being very dear, so we may sell some.”

Harvest: “We will be harvesting our spring barley in three weeks’ time, and aim to cut the maize at the end of September. We cut the beet as we want it in the winter. We feed 14% protein barley over the winter and top it up with soya, maize, beet and grass silage.”

Milk prices: “We milk during the winter, so are hoping the milk stays going in the right direction and are hoping the good weather continues to keep the grass growing for another few weeks.”

This year: “We experienced tough grass growth this year and we fed a lot of maize to bridge the gap. Grass growth is up over past 10 days and we are hoping to cut 38ac of third-cut silage at the end of August. The maize is looking promising, it has a fine leaf and is a fine height; beet is doing well too, so we should have enough fodder for the winter.”