Calving got under way with a heifer losing a calf a month premature. Starts like that are always annoying, but when I went through a mental checklist; there was nothing I could have done to prevent it.

The later calving takes a bit of getting used to. Usually by now I’d be creeping up on 25% calved. March and early April should make up for this quiet spell and, with little or no grass growth due to the cold and damp, I’m not too sorry.

Most of the cows have received their rotavirus vaccine and the remainder will get it when a handful of cows out-wintered on rough grazing come in. I avoided the crush this time and used the bay of self-locking barriers instead.

It was very much stress-free. I did it before feeding, so a few pikes of silage enticed them to be stalled. It was then a matter of recording each animal to ensure there was no double doses. It’s too expensive a vaccine to waste, yet having experienced an outbreak of rotavirus in calves, it’s one I would be slow to do without.

BVD is one I would readily drop, but I would feel safer doing so when it is officially eradicated.

Having taken part in the voluntary phase of the BVD eradication, the herd is now entering year seven of the three-year programme.

On paper, the eradication scheme promised an achievable quick-fix, yet the variables of people were never factored in. If and when it does conclude, all stakeholders involved need to learn from it.

The diversity in outlook and priorities among people involved in Irish agriculture is vast. This needs to be factored in when designing disease eradication programmes and schemes in future, especially compulsory ones.

There is a growing disconnect between our policymakers and people on the ground. This is not just an Irish issue, as we’ve witnessed in recent years with overseas election results defying the expert opinion.

There is also a disconnect when it comes to agriculture and the general public. While on feeding duty on the tractor, I often wonder if it is that the public has lost touch with farming or has the farming sector taken its consumer base for granted?

Those of us farming in the coming decades will have to have our eyes and ears open when it comes to public perception of what we do. Animal agriculture is far less visible in our cities and towns than it was 40 or 50 years ago.

It’s a long time since livestock were sold in Cattle Market Avenue in Cork city. The same can be said of many fair fields or squares in countless towns throughout the country.

All involved will have to up their game and keep animal welfare in mind, because what was once the norm won’t cut it in the future.

Widening gap

For years we told ourselves that most of the people in our cities are only one generation away from a farm. Yet with each passing year, the gap widens.

This is one of the reasons why myself and a few more farmers have partnered up with three local hotels to form West Cork Farm Tours.

Hopefully, it will help in some way to get across the story of the primary stages of food production and will give those removed from farming an opportunity to see how we work with our climate and the grass it helps to grow.

The project has taken a good bit of work and we are sure to have teething problems. While it is not a guaranteed success, at least we’ll give it our best shot.