My farming week: Tom Keane, Askeaton, Co Limerick

I farm: “Around 168ac in Limerick with my wife Fiona and children, Sean (11), Kevin (seven) and Ruairí (six). It’s very dry limestone land. Some of it wouldn’t look out of place on the Burren, it’s extremely craggy in some places. My brother has a dairy farm next door and we give each other a hand.”

Organic: “We went into organic conversion in 2002. At the time a lot of our land on the shoreline became designated. It limited what we could do, but we were never over intensive anyway so it made sense to switch. We’ve no regrets about converting.”

All year calving: “I run the stock bull with the cows all year and calve all year round. A spring rush of calves would put us under too much pressure because I also work off-farm.”

Droimeann cattle: “I keep native Irish Droimeann cattle, last year I got 37 calves from 34 cows. They’re a hardy, practical and fertile breed who are ideal for my system. We thought they were extinct but found some for sale a few years ago and expanded our own herd. I also try to keep about 20 purebred Galway sheep.”

Selling stock: “I like to sell pedigree ewes but I also run a Charollais ram with them and any cross breds I sell direct to the butcher. I try to sell Droimeann heifers to other breeders but at the moment most of the bulls are sold commercially.”

Future of Droimeann: “Moving forward, it would be great to start branding Droimeann beef and grow the number of breeders. There were a lot of other breeds mixed with the Droimeann, people thought they were mongrel cattle before they were officially recognised. We’re still working on increasing the purity of the bloodlines we have on the farm.”

Quotable quote: “Realistically there are going to be very few full-time farmers in the future. My advice is to create a system that suits your farm and allows you to have an off-farm job and family time.”

The Droimeann cattle breed has been officially approved as a native rare Irish breed. For more, click here.

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Droimeann cattle recognised as native rare Irish breed

Droimeann cattle – 'a heritage to be treasured'

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