I farm: “66ha in total with about 55ha of this used in the milking block. There is over 7ha that is seven miles away, which is used for silage production. I have expanded over the past 10 years and more than doubled production, up from 80 cows to 168 now.”

Dairy: “The farm is spring-calving, which starts on 10 February. As cows calve, they are put out to grass and I try and get them out for at least two to three hours every day after milking. There haven’t been many days this spring when they weren’t out. There is a good network of roadways on the farm, which is vital to getting cows out without doing any damage to the land. The cows are predominantly Friesian with current protein at 3.73% and fat at 4.05%.”

This week: “We are two weeks into breeding now with two thirds of the herd inseminated by AI. We will continue with the AI for seven more weeks and then let the high-EBI stock bulls, that have been used on the heifers, clean up after. I have used a lot of Hereford this year on the low-EBI cows. There is a lot more demand for these calves and it helps to give a boost to income.”

EBI 200: “ICBF released its list of the top 200 EBI herds last week and my farm was the only one from Donegal on it. It gives you a sense of pride in what you are doing. I have really focused on continually improving the EBI of the herd and the benefits you get with fertility and milk solids cannot be understated. When you have a year like this with such a low milk price, milk solids helps give a boost to the milk cheque.”

Family: “There’s my wife Wendy and our two children David, five, and Holly, three.”

Quotable quote: “I have been involved with a local discussion group for the past 20 years; we all give each other advice and help when people need it. You look forward to getting away from the farm every now and again to clear the head.”