WE farm: “Alongside our parents, Kathleen and Donal, and our older sister, Ann. We have 300 acres, where we run 100 beef cattle, including 30 suckler cows and 70 followers and milk 90 Holstein Friesian cows. Thomas is studying agriculture in CIT and I am studying nursing in Tralee but we spend a lot of time farming at home.”

Emerald Holsteins: “Emerald Holsteins is our pedigree herd name. Thomas and I started showing our neighbours’ stock from a very young age and, once we got the showing bug, we started to breed and show our own cattle. A few years ago, we both decided to invest in some of our own females from the top cow families in Ireland at elite sales and we now breed from these cows. When choosing calves for showing, we look for an animal with good breeding, excellent feet, open ribs and a straight top line.”

IHFA YMA: “The Irish Holstein Friesian Association (IHFA) has numerous Young Members Association (YMA) clubs nationwide. Thomas and I are members of the Limerick/Clare club and, this year, we won first and second place in our annual club event. We then proceeded to the All-Ireland YMA finals in Kilkenny, where we each won our individual handling classes and I went on to win champion handler while Thomas was reserve, securing ourselves a place on the Irish YMA team, along with five other young members.”

Representing Ireland: “This was our third time to represent Ireland at the European Young Breeders School show in Belgium. A total of 140 participants, all under the age of 26 and from 22 countries, took part in different workshops over seven days. Topics included nutrition, breeding, stockjudging, handling and show preparation. Out of the 140 participants, all seven of the Irish team members were placed in the top 50, which was an outstanding achievement.”

Quotable quote: “We have learned so much through the IHFA YMA. Our trip to Belgium this year was an experience second to none and it has given us a whole new outlook on working with and breeding dairy cattle.”