My name is Oisin Thomas, I’m 10 years old and I live in Lisheens, Kealkill, Co Cork, with my mam, dad and two sisters, Lauren and Hazel. My dog’s name is Shep and he’s a Collie. I go to school in Kealkill National School and I’m in fourth class.

I love farming and both my parents are farmers. They have a dairy and a suckler herd. When I was younger, they had no farm, but in 2015 they started renting a farm at Inchigeelagh and had sucklers there. Then in 2020, my parents rented a dairy farm at Letterlickey near Bantry.

I was so excited when I found out because I would have cows to milk, calves to feed and I’d get to see the Drinagh milk lorry coming to get our milk and we’d have more money for machinery too. I’d like another tractor and more cows. It’s a long drive to both farms. Inchigeelagh is over half an hour from home and it takes 20 minutes to get to Letterlickey.

I was so excited when I found out because I would have cows to milk, calves to feed and I’d get to see the Drinagh milk lorry coming to get our milk

In my free time, I’m always at the farm. I help my dad with most of the jobs, which include cleaning cubicles, bedding calves, feeding calves and piking silage. I open the bales for my dad and throw on a few clusters too now and then. Spring and summer are my favourite times of year, because I get to feed the calves and see the different colours and breeds. Summer time is so much fun as it is baling season. I get to be with dad while he mows and bales. But my biggest job is oiling the bales to stop the birds from picking at them.

Hopefully this year I will get to help drawing in bales. We get on very well with our landlord, Donal O’Mahony, and I show him how to operate our John Deere 6800 when he comes to help out drawing in the bales.

My favourite job is training calves with halters for local shows

On both herds, it’s all AI. We use a teaser bull and my dad does all the AI-ing now. I’m not allowed to get the cows during breeding season because of the bull. Once the cows are off the field, I get to move the fences and check water troughs. I like both the sucklers and the dairy cows. The sucklers are a good hobby and the dairy has good money.

I love going to my Adda’s [Oisin’s grandfather’s] farm during the holidays. We are great friends. I help him and my uncle out a lot too – they show cattle.

We’d be washing the cattle, drying them, training them to the halter and walking them – there are lots of jobs. My favourite job is training calves with halters for local shows.

We won a few prizes, but the one I loved the most was the Fatstock in Skibbereen last December, where I came second with my heifer. She weighed 425kg and made €2,250. I usually only go to the local shows, but I’ve been to the Winter Fair in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, too. It was a long trip but I enjoyed it.

Hobbies

I play hurling and football with St Colums when I’m not helping my dad.

I love country music, especially Derek Ryan. Derek wrote a song about cows on the hill after I wrote a letter to him, asking him to write a song about cows. I’m so lucky he gave me a cd and my mam took me to meet him at the Inchigeelagh festival.

When I get older, I’m going to go working for farmers and get more experience and earn money. I want to buy a John Deere and own a farm with suckler and dairy cows. I look up to my dad a lot and I want to be like him. He is a super farmer.