Four times a day, James Ryan and his mother Kathleen move their 70 cows across the busy N62 road between Roscrea and Templemore at Aghsmear, not far from the M7 motorway exit.
It is a two-person job to move the cows from the farm gate across the N62, which has a double continuous white line and is just after a dangerous bend.
James Ryan and his mother Kathleen moving their cows across the busy N62 between Roscrea and Templemore.
“We cross the cows morning, noon and night. The road starts getting busy at 5am. We bring them into the parlour at 6.30am and they are out again at 8.30am.
‘‘Then they are brought in at 4.30pm and go back out across the road at 6.30pm,” James told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“When we’re crossing them, we have to stop the traffic. We wear hi-vis jackets and have two flags. The hi-vis is a must. It is an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
James said an underpass would go a long way in terms of both farm and road safety, but the Ryans can’t afford it at full price – they have already invested on the farm.
“I was quoted €100,000 to put in an underpass. If I could afford it I would put it in, but I’ve invested already in sheds and the milking parlour.’’
James said that moving the cows across the road is the most dangerous job he does every day and from a labour point of view, it is a major headache.
James Ryan and his mother Kathleen moving their cows across the busy N62 between Roscrea and Templemore.
James’s wife Catherine works in Centenary Co-op and their three children, Bríd, Thomas and Philip, are in school or working, but all help out when they can. “There have been near misses at the gate – accidents we don’t even hear of happen. It’s an animal welfare issue too – if a cow makes a break for it, I’ve to leg it after her.”
IFA treasurer Tim Cullinan and North Tipperary IFA chair Imelda Walsh have called for underpasses to be included in TAMS II.
Cullinan said: “There is approximately €20m of an underspend in TAMS II this year. It is paramount that Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed diverts part of this funding to underpasses for farmers. This is absolutely a farm safety issue,” he said.
Four times a day, James Ryan and his mother Kathleen move their 70 cows across the busy N62 road between Roscrea and Templemore at Aghsmear, not far from the M7 motorway exit.
It is a two-person job to move the cows from the farm gate across the N62, which has a double continuous white line and is just after a dangerous bend.
James Ryan and his mother Kathleen moving their cows across the busy N62 between Roscrea and Templemore.
“We cross the cows morning, noon and night. The road starts getting busy at 5am. We bring them into the parlour at 6.30am and they are out again at 8.30am.
‘‘Then they are brought in at 4.30pm and go back out across the road at 6.30pm,” James told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“When we’re crossing them, we have to stop the traffic. We wear hi-vis jackets and have two flags. The hi-vis is a must. It is an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
James said an underpass would go a long way in terms of both farm and road safety, but the Ryans can’t afford it at full price – they have already invested on the farm.
“I was quoted €100,000 to put in an underpass. If I could afford it I would put it in, but I’ve invested already in sheds and the milking parlour.’’
James said that moving the cows across the road is the most dangerous job he does every day and from a labour point of view, it is a major headache.
James Ryan and his mother Kathleen moving their cows across the busy N62 between Roscrea and Templemore.
James’s wife Catherine works in Centenary Co-op and their three children, Bríd, Thomas and Philip, are in school or working, but all help out when they can. “There have been near misses at the gate – accidents we don’t even hear of happen. It’s an animal welfare issue too – if a cow makes a break for it, I’ve to leg it after her.”
IFA treasurer Tim Cullinan and North Tipperary IFA chair Imelda Walsh have called for underpasses to be included in TAMS II.
Cullinan said: “There is approximately €20m of an underspend in TAMS II this year. It is paramount that Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed diverts part of this funding to underpasses for farmers. This is absolutely a farm safety issue,” he said.
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