I farm: “Sixty-five acres of reasonably dry land in Co Longfor, alongside my son Pauric. Although most of it is dry, there are some parts that are still wet at the moment.”

System: “We keep 24 suckler cows and rear calves on them as well. Some of the cows would have too much milk, I buy in calves to rear on the cows for a month or two. We then keep the calves and feed them then until they are between a year and a half and two years old.”

Breeding: “The cattle are Shorthorn x Friesian and a Hereford bull runs with them for the year.”

Calving 2020: “We are about halfway through calving. Everything is running smoothly at the moment. We have about nine cows left to calve – five or six of them will calve inside the next three weeks and the rest will follow. You will always have a few that are late.”

This week: “Cattle are still housed. We are preparing ground to let them out. At the moment, there is some fencing being done and Pauric is spreading slurry.”

Carrigallen Mart: “Myself and Pauric went down to Carrigallen on Monday to see if there were any suitable Hereford calves. It was the first time I was in that type of a sale. It would take a bit of getting used to.”

The sale: “It seemed to go well; there were calves sold. Before the restrictions, there would be much more calves in the mart and it would be better craic.”

New mart system: “The owner drops the calves off and goes home, the buyers are allowed in one at a time to view the calves. They then write down what they are willing to pay for them. The mart manager will ring the seller with the highest bid. They will either accept or decline the offer.”

COVID-19: “The locals here are very good. There is nobody stuck for anything. I haven’t heard anyone complaining, everyone is willing to help. You just have to keep to the rules.”

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In pictures: Carrigallen’s first calf sale since lockdown

My Farming Week: John Dunne, Woodlands, Rathangan, Co Kildare