I farm: “We run 60 dairy cows on 71 acres of a home farm with a further 15 acres of an outside farm. The majority of the cows are British Friesian and we’re supplying to Town of Monaghan. We’re achieving 23L/cow/day with 4.1% fat and 3.2% protein.”

This week: “Monday saw the start of the breeding season. We AI the majority of our cows. Sire selection is based on protein index and EBI, more so protein. I was hoping also to get a bit of spraying in this week but it will have to dry up a bit for that.”

Grass: “Currently we have 650kgs average cover; the silage ground is closed off and we're grazing out paddocks well. We focus a lot on extended grazing season; last winter the cows weren’t in until 20 November and were out again 11 February. It makes for a very short winter that way.”

Milk: “We were getting 30.5c/l as a base price for March milk, which isn’t the worst. We're just hoping it will hold. We were slightly over quota before the abolition but I think Monaghan as a whole was under.”

Expansion: “We’re in no real rush to expand we came up from 43 last year so it’s already a big step. There are 17 maidens going with the bull soon and there are 25 heifer calves on the ground for the year after. We could probably hold 80 cows in a good year but would need to rent or buy if we were to get any bigger.”

Macra: “I’m currently Young Farmers chairman for Macra Na Feirme in Monaghan. We’re going to be launching the young farmer of the year award soon and I’d advise all young people to get involved. I represented Monaghan in it last year and found it great to be able to compare myself against my peers.”

Family: “I have one sister Paula who’s a primary school teacher. My mother is Mary, and I work alongside my father Jimmy.”

Quotable quote: “Sometimes you just need to compare yourself against your peers to know where to improve.”