I farm: “160 acres in Burnham, Dingle, Co Kerry – 90 acres are owned and 70 acres are rented. I have a dairy farm.”

Coming home: “I am farming four years. I always wanted to be in farming. I was working over in London on the underground and one day I just thought to myself: ‘Jesus I would love to go home.’”

The switch: “My father had suckler cows here and there was no money in it. The switch was a big job but I was very lucky that I didn’t have to start from scratch and had reasonable accommodation for the cattle.”

The herd: “I have a herd of 80 Holstein cows. I find them to be a very profitable breed. The first couple of years I was milking 60 heifers so we bought in a lot of stock. Some weren’t up to scratch so I culled poor performers.”

Production: “At the minute they are milking 31 litres per day with fat of 3.84% and protein of 3.66%. They are on 5kg of 16% high-energy ration.”

Breeding: “This has been my best year for cycling. I had 95 submitted in 24 days. It’s still early but for service they were great. I’m doing AI at the minute and started on 28 April. I have Simmental and Aberdeen Angus bulls to let off after that.”

Grass: “I was very early with silage, with my first cut done by 23 April with a contractor. I reseeded my outfarm in October and sure we all know what that ground is like.”

Twitter: “I was part of a discussion group on Facebook and I realised there was a lot going on on Twitter so I said I would check it out. It’s nice to show people what is going on in Dingle.”

Family: “My dad, Joe, helps me out a lot, as well as my mother, Mary. My brother, Donncha, and three sisters, Triona, Eimear and Muireann, don’t really have much of an interest in the farm.”

Quotable quote: “The weather has been unbelievable this year. We were crying for rain a few weeks back and when farmers in Dingle are looking for rain you know it is getting serious.”

Read more

Grass plus: Growth declines but forecast is good