I farm: Sucklers on one 48-acre block of land in Taughmaconnell, south Roscommon.

Sucklers: I’m at sucklers since I was small. I’ve 19 suckler cows and they were all AI’d last year with Progressive Genetics. I’ve got a mix of Limousins, Simmentals and a Belgian Blue cross there.

Calving: Calving is going grand. One of my Limousin cows is after calving her third set of twins in the last four years. That’s seven calves in four years. Last year, she had a single and the two years before that she had twins. She’s out of a bull called Rocky and she’s one of my best cows. This year, she had twin bull calves from a Limousin bull called Ironstone.

Off-farm job: I work in a local farm scheme where I do work for the local community. Last Tuesday week, I got a call from haulier John Kelly to do some driving for him after a breakdown. Only for I got the call from him around 7.15am and went out to check on the cows afterwards, I might have lost the twin calves. I saw a set of feet out and called the vet, who helped deliver the calves.

Weanlings: I’ll sell them off when they’re at eight or 10 months of age. I sell in the local livestock marts in Ballinasloe or Roscommon. I’m actually selling weanlings at the moment.

Fodder: I’m alright for fodder. I have 120 bales left. I’m not having a fodder crisis and I’m not overstocked.

Slurry: The slurry is beginning to fill up the tank. It’s about three-quarters of the way up now. The land is just saturated. It’s been raining here since the Galway Races. I’ve the cows in since October. I might be able to let them out in April.

Sheds: I’ve a four-bay single-slatted shed for the sucklers, with a creep. I put it up in 2007 and I wouldn’t manage without it.

Silage: I get a contractor in to cut silage for me. He makes round bales.

Hopes for future: I hope that I stay in sucklers. I hope prices improve. There’s a lot of us going out of business.