Carpet farming in 2019 is big business. It has always been a big business in some houses. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I would spend hours on Sundays setting up different farmyard designs, planning sheds, cutting silage, spreading slurry, feeding silage to cattle, baling, combining. You name a farm task and I was able to take it on in a 2m by 2m square on my grandmother’s living room floor. There was many a row over finding a route to get turf to the fire across the small living room floor. It was all part of the process of me picking up the bug that is farming. Back then, we used boxes and anything we could find to make sheds, sometimes drawing on them to make them more realistic. Today, those sheds come pre-made and pre-painted.

We profile the Co Tyrone-based company Millwood Crafts, a name familiar to any serious carpet farmer. They have built up a very successful company on their farm just outside Dungannon and are now shipping farmyards to the UK.

Just over the road is Killbran machinery, another Co Tyrone start-up, specialising in agricultural attachments for pedal tractors. When I visited, there where four people working flat out getting orders ready. Popularity in this sector is great to see among young kids, and while there are many challenges that lie ahead, fostering a love for agriculture and animals through play is an important step for any young person. For some, it might be the start of a future in our sector. Both companies I visited said that they depend on children to let them know what they think of their products and more importantly, they listen. We also have some of our younger readers review some toys ahead of the most important part of the year: writing their list for Santa.

As part of the toy review process, all toys donated by Kavanaghs Toys in Clonroche, Co Wexford, will be donated to Crumlin hospital in the next few weeks.