I farm: “Sheep and a few suckler cows on 70ac in Doonfeeney, Ballycastle, Co Mayo, with my wife Breeda and my nephew Jason Moran from Headford, Co Galway, is helping us with the lambing here too.”

Lambing: “We started lambing last week, we have 65 ewes to lamb. We had 10 scanned for triplets but one ewe lambed quadruplets. She lambed outside, she had the option to go into the shed but stayed outside. I couldn’t believe it. There were no complications and the four are still feeding off her at the moment but in the long-term that isn’t sustainable so I’ll be taking one or two off to help her out.”

Breeds: “I run Texel Cheviot crosses here on the farm, but the ewe that had the quadruplets, the super ewe, is a Suffolk Texel cross.”

Sucklers: “I keep six suckler cows, Angus and Charolais. They haven’t calved yet, but will start in the next week or fortnight. I ran a Limousin bull with them. They’re all second calvers.”

Weather: “It has been awfully wet here, we still haven’t any manure out as the land is just too wet. We used to run 30 sucklers here and more sheep, so we’ve had plenty of slurry storage but I can’t remember a worse year. It’s worse than 2013. It’s been raining since July.”

Grazing 2018: “We put the cows in at the end of September and they haven’t been out since. I put the sheep on to the hill in October and they’re in and out of sheds since. I’ve been giving them meal and silage.”

Challenges: “I think the biggest challenge facing farming is, will people still do it in a few years? I have the grá for it but there’s no way you’d be able to survive on it alone without a job. My job in the quarry kind of subsidises the farm at this time of the year.”

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My farming week: Frank Barron, Ballygarvan, Gusserane, New Ross, Co Wexford.

My farming week: Batt Sheehan, Ballynoe, Co Cork