James Strain

Farmer Writes: looking back on 2025, a year to remember

Beef and sheep farmer James Strain takes a look back at a bumper 2025 for drystock.

FARMER WRITES 13 January 2026

Farmer Writes: looking back on 2025, a year to remember

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Farmer Writes: preparing for the new wormer prescription system

Farmer Writes: preparing for the new wormer prescription system

FARMER WRITES 2 December 2025

Farmer Writes: strong interest from farmers at suckler mart event in Donegal

Farmer Writes: strong interest from farmers at suckler mart event in Donegal

FARMER WRITES 4 November 2025

Farmer Writes: understanding livestock through their eyes

Farmer Writes: understanding livestock through their eyes

Farmer Writes: understanding livestock through their eyes

FARMER WRITES 20 October 2025

Farmer Writes: every time I hear a storm mentioned, my heart is in my mouth

Farmer Writes: every time I hear a storm mentioned, my heart is in my mouth

Farmer Writes: every time I hear a storm mentioned, my heart is in my mouth

FARMER WRITES 7 October 2025

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Farmer Writes: first-time Ploughing excitement

Farmer Writes: first-time Ploughing excitement

This week, James Strain writes about the excitement in his house ahead of the family's trip down to the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan.

FARMER WRITES 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: housing time again

Farmer Writes: housing time again

James Strain discusses his reason for housing cattle when he has plenty of grass and good ground conditions.

FARMER WRITES 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: reseeds doing well as I keep an eye on docks

Farmer Writes: reseeds doing well as I keep an eye on docks

When docks get established and plenty of reserves stored up in that huge tap root, as my mother would say “the divil in Hell wouldn’t kill it”, writes James Strain.

FARMER WRITES 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: thank God for my new handling pen

Farmer Writes: thank God for my new handling pen

This week, farmer writer James Strain gives his take on managing time, managing bloat and managing cattle in intense sun.

FARMER WRITES 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: grass supplies on a bit of a knife edge

Farmer Writes: grass supplies on a bit of a knife edge

One of the fields earmarked for reseeding is already burned off and ploughed and will hopefully be sowed this week, weather permitting, writes James Strain.

FARMER WRITES 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: attentions turn to reseeding

Farmer Writes: attentions turn to reseeding

I now need to decide how many acres I’m going to put back in for third cut, writes James Strain.

NEWS 16 June 2025

Farmer Writes: topper time again

Farmer Writes: topper time again

If I had baled everything. I would have probably run out of grass, as the colder temperatures had slowed growth right back, writes James Strain.

NEWS 16 June 2025

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'One of our best machinery purchases ever': Jim Mulhall on the Amazone ZA-V

'I’d go far as saying in all the machines and all the years we’ve been buying machinery here, this is probably one of the best purchases we’ve ever made.'

'One of our best machinery purchases ever': Jim Mulhall on the Amazone ZA-V

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