I farm: “75 acres of good lowland. It’s usually nice and dry but it will get fairly wet during the winter.”

Sheep: “I have 170 Suffolk and Texel crosses and 10 purebred Texel ewes. My four rams are two purebred Suffolks, one Texel and a Charollais. They are all housed at the moment.”

\ Michael McLaughlin

Family: “I’m married to Louise and we have two sons, Dan, 5, and Alfie, 1. Louise is a great help to me and Dan always does his best. He’ll stand in a gap whenever it’s needed.”

\ Michael McLaughlin

Lambing: “I divided the flock in September and sponged 70 ewes that are scanned now and averaging 1.9. The second lot are not due until 25 February. I’m preparing the sheds for lambing season at the moment.”

Sheepdogs: “I enjoy working with sheep. They’re more manageable than cattle. They do take a lot of work but they’re definitely more manageable. It helps to have good sheepdogs too. They’re very important. I have two dogs called Kim and Meg.”

\ Michael McLaughlin

Sales: “I sell my lambs through the South Mayo Producer Group at about 45-50kg and keep the best for sales through the mart as breeding ewes. I retain about 40 of them as replacements.”

\ Michael McLaughlin

Prize winners: “I have won shows for my Texel/Suffolk cross ewe lambs and for my Thomastown Texels at Ballinrobe Mart show and sale.”

\ Michael McLaughlin

Spare time: “Most of my spare time is spent with the kids. Dan plays for the Kilmaine Kickers, so I go to a lot of training and games. I also like to play league darts at the weekend.”

Quotable quote: “This is my favourite time of year, coming into lambing. It’s a lot of work, but I really enjoy it.”

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