My Farming Week: James Carr, Ardagh, Ballina, Co Mayo

I farm: “Just under 100 acres alongside my father Martin. We run 27 suckler cows and 60 lowland ewes, all of which are farmed on a part-time basis. Cows are predominantly Hereford-cross, originating from the dairy herd, as we were dairying a number of years ago, but we are switching more and more towards Limousin types.”

Sheep: “I started getting in to sheep about three years ago and have slowly built up numbers. The ewes are mainly Suffolk and Texel-cross out of mules and are crossed back to Texel and Blue Texel rams. I ran a Blue Texel ram last year with the commercial ewes and I really liked how easy lambed and hardy the lambs were, so I purchased four pedigree ewes back in August. “Lambing is currently under way here as I time the lambing with work and football commitments. Rams were turned out on 5 August and, excluding the few empties, we scanned at 185%.”

Work: “I’m working as a construction teacher in St Muredach’s College in Ballina. I check and feed stock before and after work. With the school being so close, I’ve a very short commute which gives me that extra time to work the farming around my job and my football commitments.”

GAA: “I play football for my club Ardagh, as well as being on the senior panel for Mayo. We started back training in the beginning of December three nights a week. I get home from work, check and feed stock and I’m out the door then for training. The synchronised lambing over the Christmas holidays is to accommodate the school holidays and the league campaign kicking off in January. All ewes need to be lambed before then. Myself and my girlfriend Danielle farm together, and we also completed the Green Cert in Teagasc Ballinrobe.”

Helping hands: “She and Dad keep an eye on the lambing cameras while I’m away training. I left the other evening for training, and by the time I got home eight ewes had lambed, but they had them all sorted. I wouldn’t be able to lamb down any ewes only for her help.”