It’s very easy to get caught up in life’s daily struggles and perhaps even to think that we have been dealt a poor hand.

It might be the amount or quality of land that we own that troubles us. Or it might be the way the land is scattered about around the country. It’s very easy to find something to complain about.

Probably like most farmers, I have no difficulty finding problems. For me, it’s usually the weather or some weather-related problem. However, no matter what your lot in life, you can always be sure there is someone in a more difficult situation than you.

AI work

When I’m out round the countryside doing AI work, I come across lots of farmers working in challenging conditions.

There is one farmer, in particular, that must be commended for sticking at farming. He lives down a dead-end road. As you travel the road the land starts to go downhill. Then you come to the end of the road and there’s a cattle grid and then you’re on to a lane.

Part of the lane sits two or three feet above the surrounding fields. It’s plain to see these fields flood for most of the winter. And probably part of the summer.

You’re now approaching the shores of Lough Erne. At this stage, I always think of the local saying “for six months of the year the lakes are in Fermanagh and the other six, Fermanagh is in the lakes”.

You then drive on down into the farmer’s yard and, on a good day, it’s the most beautiful setting you will ever see. The lake comes to within about 20 yards of the front door of his house.

When I started coming to this man’s house to AI his cows, it was always dark and cold and wet. I used to think it was a bleak place to live.

Then, as the days got longer, for the first time I arrived in daylight, and was struck by the reality of living by the shore.

That day, on getting out of the car the farmer informed me that the cow was in a different block of land to normal. “Will we go in the boat or the tractor?” he asked.

I looked at him wondering if it was a wind-up. But he was telling the truth. The cows were on an island and we could go around the shore on the tractor or take the shortcut on the boat. At this stage, I didn’t know what to do.

I looked at the boat (a small boat with just enough room for two people) and thought to myself “I’m not getting in that”. So, the tractor it was.

We travelled along the shore. The path wasn’t great and I wondered if the tractor was going to make it. The farmer assured me that the ground was hard under the water. I wasn’t convinced.

The last bit we had to walk until we came to a steel structure, which was the handling facilities. I got the cow inseminated and then took a look around. It was flat almost as far as you could see, and covered mostly in rushes and scrub.

The farmer told me that it was under water for large parts of the year but that he manages to get it topped most seasons. He also said that the cattle do reasonably well on it.

Special

I have been back there quite a few times since that, and it always makes me smile. The few pounds I get for the AI wouldn’t pay me at all for the time it takes, but there’s something special about the place that gives me a lift.

The farmer now has a son (about 13 years of age) and if you need an extra boost he’s the one to give it to you. He has been brought up on such marginal land and in difficult conditions.

Committed

He is always out helping his father and is 100% committed to farming. He always knows what AI straw he wants to use on particular cows. Sometimes he and the father don’t agree, but there’s never a cross word spoken.

What going there has taught me is that we all have different challenges in farming, and it is important to always make the most of what you have. And the next time things go against you, remember there is always someone worse off.