We have a flock of 103,000 laying birds, in an enriched colony system. A typical day for me starts at 6:30am and consists of spending the first three hours lifting eggs. The workforce consists of me, my father and a full-time worker.

Normally we have a lorry collecting eggs at 10am so we must be ready. When birds are laying at peak there is near enough 100,000 eggs a day. We have a quick walk around the houses prior to egg lifting and have a longer check afterwards. We would be checking feed, water, mortality. It’s practically all automated which makes it easier but it also means there is potential for a lot to go wrong.

I’m out of the hen house by midday when all goes to plan. If there’s a problem or mechanical breakdown it could be 8pm before I’m finished.

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We have a high-welfare system, installed in 2012. Prior to this we had a small cage system.

A major concern for our business has been the recent announcement by Tesco that it will cease selling eggs from the enriched colony system in 2025. In doing so, it instigated a domino effect with all other major retailers following.

Massive blow

This is a massive blow to our sector. We invested heavily in our own farm in 2012 and my payback period doesn’t finish until November 2022. This is a massive headache and there is much lobbying to be done to ensure that even the date of 2025 is held and it isn’t pulled forward by the supermarkets in trying to gain market share and advantage.

What happens after 2025 on my farm? Who knows? The barn system of production is my only viable alternative, but at present the market share is minimal but supermarkets do appear committed to promoting this as the alternative to free range.

Short term, our biggest challenge is getting rid of manure, as legislation gets tighter with nitrates. Farming in this area is extremely intensive. The slurry ban begins on 15 October but weather conditions are against me. If I could get rid of it weekly it would be my ideal scenario. My main objective is to source an anaerobic digestion plant to take it.

We run a small beef enterprise on 70 acres, buying drop calves and selling them as 15 months stores. I let 14acres for potatoes this year, it has been a good payer and I will wait until they’re harvested before seeing if I will do this again.

Off farm, I am currently vice-chair of Ulster Farmers Union poultry committee and I sit on their management board as a young farmer member.