We farm: “Myself and David farm sucklers-to-beef in Co Longford.”

Breeds: “All the cows are continentals and we run two bulls; a Charolais and a Limousin. I do some AI and I’d AI the heifers to Angus bulls for easy calving.”

Beef: “We send 95% of the cattle to Kilbeggan for processing and then I might keep a few good four- and five-star heifers for the mart if the trade is good.”

Summer 2018: “It was a great year for us. The land was dry and we got a lot of work done.”

Scanning: “We did our scanning there last week and we should have 80% calved in March. The farming is OK now with the cows in and not much happening, but it gets fairly hectic around the spring time.”

Contracting: “We do a bit of contracting too. It’s mostly bales but a few pits of silage as well. It’s a tough life and there can be little thanks from it but it’s enjoyable too. It was straight forward this year with the good weather.”

Leinster final: “Both David and myself play with Mullinalaghta. We won the Longford championship the last three years. We thought after the first year that it would get easier to win them but our manager Mickey Graham drives us hard every year. He had us training the night after the semi-final on Monday. We’re playing Kilmacud Crokes in the Leinster final on Sunday week. We know we’re up against it but we don’t see it as anything more than a game of football and we all love playing. We’ll give it everything.”

College: “I just finished a building management degree in college and I did the Green Cert in Ballyhaise last year too. The farming is the full-time job but it’s hard to stick at it in the long term the way prices are.”

Family: “There’s me and David and then our father Peter is on the farm with us too. Our mother Marie is great on the farm and our sister Elaine helps as well. It’s a family effort.”

Quotable quote: “It’s hard mixing the football and the farming. If you have a cow calving in the spring and there’s training or a match on, you’d wonder which you should be at.”