I farm: “With my brother Mark and my father. We run a suckler and beef operation. We grow our own feed which is good but it can be hard explaining our lower costs to the taxman!”

System: “We have 40 suckler cows and we buy in between 120 and 140 dairy calves for finishing. The sucklers are a mix of Charolais, Limousin, Hereford and Angus. The dairy calves are usually black-white heads or Angus. We keep our heifers as replacements but we kill the bulls when they’re ready. We usually try to finish everything under 24 months, but there is always the odd one that has to be kept on.”

Bulls: “We’re using a Limousin stock bull as there’s more get up and go in the calves they produce. They also make it easier to finish animals. We had a Canadian Angus bull but moved away from that as the carcases he was producing were just too big.”

Beef market: “It’s been a very tough couple of years. We’ve had to change our system almost entirely. We used to produce big, heavy animals, but not any more. We literally had no choice. We had nowhere to go. We used to finish in the south, but we’ve been sending everything to Northern Ireland for finishing.”

Ground: “We own about 400 acres and a further 40 rented. There’s 260 acres at home for grass and then we have about 180 in barley and beet. We have our own machinery which helps with the cutting and harvesting.”

Teaching: “I teach woodwork and construction in Clonaslee Vocational School. I have 48 first year students and have classes all the way up to the Leaving Cert.”

Hurling: “I hurl with the club Kilcormac Killoughey. We’re in the Leinster club final on Sunday week (against Kilkenny champions Ballyhale Shamrocks). We didn’t really mind who we got in the final. It’s a privilege to be there but we’re quietly confident of getting a win. I’m full back and my twin brother Peter is centre back.”

Quotable quote: “There are a lot of similarities between farming and hurling. You have to work hard to get the job done and you don’t consider giving up. No task is ever too big.”