I farm: “We have a beef system here in west Cork. My dad is a part-time farmer, he works in the local co-op. He has recently gone into partnership with my brother who has completed his Green Cert. It’s good because it allows my dad to take a step back. We all do the jobs and help out on the farm – both machinery and livestock. I definitely have more of an interest in the livestock. I love the animals.”
Cattle: “We buy in calves at five or six weeks old at the end of February. We get Aberdeen Angus calves from a local farmer and rear them. We buy continentals in October time from the mart, keep them in over winter and get them out to grass in spring. The heifers are slaughtered at 24 months and bullocks at 22 months.”
Ploughing: “My dad would have ploughed and he won an All-Ireland in 2007. My mam did it for three years and went to the All-Ireland three times and did quite well.
I remember seeing my mam complete in the women’s class. I didn’t think I would be competing in it myself a few years later. I started ploughing when I got my tractor licence when I tuned 17 and I’ve been ploughing since 2018. One day my dad just said to me that I was doing a ploughing match, so I went, and had never turned a sod before, but he was confident, which is half the battle. I started with the novice class and went to the All-Ireland and came second place and I have been in the ladies class since.”
Ladies class: “I have represented west Cork for a few years now. Now there are more girls, but back when I started, there were very few. Seeing mam doing it made me think maybe I could do it too.
"Until she did it, I didn’t even know there was a farmerette class. There are more young girls getting into it now which is great to see. My dad coaches me, it’s nice I get to do it with him. I really enjoy it.”
Skills: “I am a bit of a perfectionist, and the competition is very technical – there are measurements involved, straightness is a big thing, so it suits me. You are under time pressure too; I feel I work well under pressure. You have to be cool, calm and collected.
"It can be intimidating having people plough beside you – you can think about how they are getting on, but you have to focus on yourself and your own job for the two and a half hours.”
