I farm:”Over 100ac at home with my father Timmy and mother Nelly. We own 32ac and are renting 70ac.”

Stock:”It’s all drystock on the farm. We’d have around 70 dry cows, 70 yearlings that were bought in last year as calves and there’s about 40 stores that we bought from the mart. The store cattle are kept inside and are finished in two to three months. At the moment they are getting 6-8kg/head/day of a five-way mix which is very high in maize meal and protein. The yearlings are out on grass and will be finished next year.”

Fertiliser: “At the moment we have the same amount of fertiliser spread as this time last year and it got slurry as well. I bought 8t of fertiliser this year and it cost me €1,050/t.”

Grass:”There’s not much grass at the moment, we had lots in the first and second week of March but not a lot now. We made 600 bales of silage last year, we actually ran short and had to buy haylage. This year, with the new setup, we’ll be able to make pit silage. I do the mowing myself and get a contractor to bale it.”

Building plans: “I’m putting in a six-bay shed with slats on one side and straw area on the far side. The new shed will be set up for diet feeding so that’s why I plan on making pit silage this year. Since I got the Green Cert I was eligible for the 60% TAMS grant too.”

Recent success: “I won the 2021 Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year award. I wasn’t expecting it at all, I dropped out of school at 16 and went back to do the Green Cert at 32.”

Quotable quote: “If you’ve got a passion for something, you should be doing it.”