I farm: “60 acres, I own 30 and the rest is rented. I have 300 hoggets, mostly Suffolk crosses. I buy them in at six months of age around September or October, rear them for a year and then sell them on at 18 months of age as breeding ewes. I also rent out my slatted shed to another farmer.”

This week: “I gave them all a footbath. I do this regularly anyway to prevent any problems from arising. I’m also dosing them for worms - over the winter I dose them every second month for liver fluke and every other month for stomach fluke. They don’t get any worm dose at all over winter.”

Feed: “I have the hoggets out on the rented ground for the winter. I don’t feed them supplements or anything, it’s all grass. Then on 1 March I bring them back to my own farm to graze for the summer.”

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Shearing: “I was contacted by Golden Shears because they have a shortage of hoggets for the sheep shearing in Gorey. In Wexford they shear the sheep before they house them in winter and have a higher slaughter rate, whereas I don’t shear until the first week in May. So the sheep shearing committee are sending someone up to collect my hoggets to bring them down to the show. I don’t mind at all, I’ll get the shearing done for free, even if it is a few weeks late!”

Part time farming: “I used to have 200 ewes lambing each year and it was a huge workload. The system I have now is the simplest way I can farm, I don’t have quarter of the workload I used to have and I make more profit. It also gives me more time for my other job off the farm.”

Family: “My wife Mary helps out with the sheep. We have two children; Cormac (12) and Emily Kate (7). Hopefully one of them will take over the farm someday.”

Quotable Quote: “I plan to head down to the World Sheep Shearing in Gorey next weekend. It should be a good show!”