I farm: “On the Castle Forbes estate in Newtownforbes. I manage the farm in the estate. Including forestry, there is about 1,000 acres all in all. I’ve been working on the farm since 1999 and I’ve been managing it for the past few years. Some of the land is on the banks of the Shannon so it can be quite soft in places.”

System: “We run a suckler to beef enterprise. We calve about 300 cows per year and finish everything over the course of the year bar keeping a few heifers as replacements. We operate a spring and autumn calving system. We finish all our bulls between 18 and 20 months and the heifers are finished at 24 months.”

Breeds: “We have Limousin X and Simmental X cows. We also run Charolais and Limousin stock bulls and we have an Angus bull with the heifers. We used to have to a Belgian Blue bull but I’m fattening him up.”

2014: “Last year was a bit disastrous for beef. A lot of people got burned by the drop in prices. Thankfully things are looking up and prices are recovering well so far this year.”

Producer Group: “I’m chairman of the Longford Beef Producer Group. We got together a few years ago about setting up a group. It’s grown and gone from strength to strength. We have 40 members now and adding a few more each year. Each Thursday a farmer sends in what they have for killing the following week, we then get the stock together and look for the best price. We have better selling power and we have good relationships with the factories. We go different factories depending on the stock or the time of year.”

Quotable Quote: “The beef business is for the long haul. You can’t jump in and out. It’s about breeding and knowing what the markets want.”