Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, has a reputation for top-quality weanlings and for the last 50 years, buyers from all over Ireland have visited here to purchase high-quality cattle. Being 10 miles from the border with Northern Ireland has been a distinct advantage over the years.

In recent times, numbers moving north have dropped off, but the quality remains. Nestled on the border of Leitrim, Cavan and Longford, Carrigallen is in the heart of suckler country. While most farms are small part-time operations, there are a few full-time farmers left. George Taylor, who farms just outside the small village of Newtowngore on the main Balinamore-Ballyconnell road, is one of them.

His story is an interesting one. He’s had two hip and two knee replacements, having suffered with arthritis since his early 20s. But it hasn’t stopped him farming and while he had to tweak things around to ease the workload, the yard is still a busy one. In 2015, a few big changes occurred.

“I was farming beside the home place on my own land, which was split across three blocks. My brother and nephew were milking and wanted to expand but never could. When a 90ac farm came up for sale down the road, I bought it and sold 63 acres to my brother and 27 acres to a neigbour. It made sense to allow them drive on and for me to have most of my land in one block. Some people have an emotional attachment to land, but I wouldn’t be like that,” George said.

Land type

It’s a difficult part of the country to farm. Most years, there is a six-month winter from October/November to April/May. This adds costs to the system, but the farms are well-prepared.

“That’s why I like the like the mule ewes, they are prolific, easy care, easy on ground and can go out earlier than the cows. You need to adapt your system to suit the land type you have, and you can never forget you’re farming in Leitrim. The rain generally doesn’t let you,” George said.

He began a new enterprise in 2018 – contract-rearing dairy heifers.

“I was looking for a way to increase my farm income and I spoke to Tom Coll, my Teagasc adviser, and we developed it further. I’m delighted with it. Heifers are easy to handle – they’re light, which suits Leitrim, can be turned out a little earlier and I get a regular income once a month into my bank account, something that doesn’t happen with sucklers.

“I’ve built up a good relationship with my dairy farmer and I’m hitting the target weights and 95% in-calf rate every year. There are clear benefits to both farmers and I think you will see a lot more it.”

Sucklers

George keeps Simmental cows and crosses them with AI Charolais sires. Firoda Jason, Liseron and Cavelands Fenian have all been used successfully.

“I like the Simmental as a suckler. They have milk and click very well with the Charolais bull and there is very little calving issues with them. Calving takes place from January to March and the target to hit is 350kg+ in October and €1,000+/head in the ring,” he said.

The farm is in BDGP, with 75% of the cows rated four- or five-star. “It’s a great scheme and another scheme that supports the suckler cow is a must if sucklers are to stay in this region.”

The heifers are kept until they are 18-24 months old (forward stores) and sold in March each year.

The future

George is the chair of his local mart in Carrigallen. “I’m there for most sales and it’s worrying to see very few young people there on sale days. Most buyers and sellers are 50 plus,” he said.

He has strong opinions on support for drystock farms: “I look back at the REPS scheme and think what a good scheme it was. We need a scheme like this again to support small fragmented farms. These farms can’t go dairying because they are too fragmented.

“Everybody in the border region has has small areas of difficult parts of their farm on which they could plant some trees and there could be a huge benefit to this. I think we are missing a trick when we look at the role these small farms could play in addressing climate change issues. I think it’s wrong that hedgerows and small wooded areas aren’t counted as part of our carbon sink – it’s a distinct disadvantage to this end of the country”.

Carrigallen mart

George sells all sheep and cattle through Golden Vale Mart in Carrigallen. He’s also in the middle of his second term as chair of the advisory committee. “It’s a role I enjoy, trying to improve things all the time and driving on the mart.” It’s an important year for the mart, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary on 19 March.

George’s first memories of the mart are of walking there from home (a 7km journey): “There was lots of shouting when it came to gaps. The journey back home with them when you didn’t sell was worse.”

Over the years, the type of cattle going to marts has changed and the role of the mart has changed too. It’s a social outing for some, especially on a Monday night. The mart is the only time some farmers will meet other people in the week.

“There are six words on the side of the mart that are important: ‘For the farmer, by the farmer’. The mart was set up in 1970, with thousands of local households putting up £20 each. It’s the continued support of these local farmers and farmers further afield that keep us going,” George added.

Like every other sector, marts are facing challenges. Falling cattle numbers due to suckler herds reducing, health and safety and insurance costs are all issues marts have to contend with.

“I believe we’ll overcome these and marts will survive. When a farmer sells stock in the ring, they know they are getting the market value. It’s a very fair way of selling stock,” George said.