I Farm: Myself, my brother Leslie and my father Leslie farm together just outside Athy. We have both beef and tillage. We grow winter oats, winter barley, spring barley, fodder beet, winter wheat and combinable peas. Oats, fodder beet and peas are the break crops in our rotation. Winter wheat and grass are our predominant crops this year.

This week: We should harvest our pea crop this week. We have 15 acres of peas - it’s a widely stated fact that you should never grow more peas than you can harvest in one day. Harvesting conditions have to be just perfect as the peas are so close to the ground. As well as losing yield, a bad day can destroy your combine. The peas are looking better this year. Last year they were severely drought affected. The aim is a yield of 1.8-2 tonnes/acre at 16-17% moisture. We are hoping to start harvesting our winter wheat and spring barley this week if the rain clears.

Beef: We fatten 8-9 month old weanlings and stores, which we buy in from local marts, to around 24 months. Some of the store heifers are bought in at 18 months. We finished our second cut of silage last week, which was a little later than usual as the harvest came. We had a massive first cut which filled our pit, so we had to borrow a pit for the second cut.

Tillage: We are very happy with our winter oats and barley. The barley came in at 4 tonne/acre and oats yielded 3.75-4 tonne/acre with moisture of 14.5%. We baled the oat straw and will use it for our own cattle; when you can get it dry enough it is the best straw for bedding.

Peas: We sow our peas at a rate of 8 stone/acre mid-March. We have a one-in-five-year rotation with peas. This year, we are growing all venture peas. The scuba pea used to be the variety grown for its tinning qualities, as the venture are not as uniform, the colour not as good and they have a small fleck in the surface. We used to only grow first generation seed with scuba, but now we are growing second generation seed with venture. The peas are fertilised with 0-7-30, and this year we only had to spray them once with Signum fungicide and an aphicide. A pre-emerge herbicide, Nivana, is sprayed the day after sowing.

Valeo Foods: Our peas are grown under contract for the brand Bachelor’s Peas, owned by Valeo Foods. We bring our peas to Charles R. Wynne Ltd in Belan, Athy, which is the only intake point for Bachelor’s Peas. Wynnes collects and dries the peas and distributes the seed to farmers. We are paid directly from Valeo Foods for our produce, and Valeo pays Wynnes for collection, storage and drying of the peas. Valeo only deal directly with farmers for peas for Bachelor’s, which is a bit of a legacy. For the rest of the brands they deal through wholesalers. Peas are rejected on two grounds mainly; due to high admixture percentage and too high a moisture content.

Quotable Quote: Peas are an underappreciated crop, they are easy to sow, can be difficult to harvest, but they are profitable and have a low carbon footprint.