I farm: “In partnership with my father JJ on about 360ac of land. My mother Ann is very involved too and is a great help with admin.”

Dairy: “We’re milking around 160 Holstein cross British Friesian cows. They’re doing on average 500kg of milk solids.”

Breeding: ”Last year we got the Sensehub collars and we wouldn’t be without them. They’re a game changer in terms of reducing labour and telling you exactly when to AI - different cows have different heats and longer or shorter windows. All the cows got AI and after one round of AI the heifers were let out with two red Angus stock bulls to mop up.”

Calving: “We started calving on 5 February. We’ve over 100 cows calved now at this stage – we’ve 196 to calve down.”

Sucklers: “We breed pedigree Charolais, Aberdeen Angus and Herefords here as well, we’ve 12 suckler cows all together. We sell most of the progeny at home. Pedigree cattle breeding has been a huge part of my family’s story for generations. In recent years, dairying has become our main enterprise.”

Grass: All the heifers are out since 2 February and the cows have been going out as they calve. I haven’t done any grass walks yet, but from what I can see, growth is pretty good. I think we might as well make use of it now - we could have to bring them in May.

Reseeding: “Last year we reseeded 20ac of ground in late spring with a red clover silage sward. We got three cuts off it and baled it. We get hit fairly badly with drought here so we use it as buffer feed. We fed the first cut last August when grass got scarce and it kept yields up really well.”

Poultry: “My brother Frank started producing pasture-raised eggs during the pandemic and then I went into partnership with him. He’s a solicitor in Dublin. It’s a similar system to strip grazing cattle, they get fresh grass the whole time. They’re a higher quality egg and have a more amber coloured yolk. We supply over 20 shops in Clare at the moment.”

Quotable quote: “The beauty about a family farm system is that everyone is looking to make the farm a more sustainable place for the next generations. There’s no shareholders trying to squeeze the last few pennies out of it.”