I farm: “100ac with 12ac rented with my father Jim. We’re tillage farmers and we planted an 860-tree hazelnut orchard on 4.5ac in December 2020.”

Hazelnuts: “The first crop of nuts will be ready in 2024 and I’m hoping they’ll be suitable for the Irish consumer. We import hundreds of tonnes but we’ve a suitable climate for growing them here. We’re working on a marketing plan but we’re probably still two years off yet. We’ll be pruning and shaping the trees over the winter ahead. They’re a domesticated variety but will cross-pollinate with the wild hazelnut.”

Tillage: “We grow 35ac of spring barley, 25ac of beans and 20ac of winter linseed for seed and 17ac of spring wheat for feed. For the barley, we buy basic seed from Goldcrop in a contract, grow it for them, harvest and sell back to them. We do it to try and get a premium price for our crop.”

Fertiliser: “With the way things have gone on fertiliser, you’re sitting down more with the calculator. Will we have supply? Should we buy now? We’re a no-till system so we put the drill straight into the old crop residue. Cover crops are just as important for us. The beans will go in as soon as we can from January after a cover crop of mustard, phacelia and oats. It’s waist-high at the moment. We chop all straw too and we’re starting to see it all help with the fertiliser bills, our P and K is cycling back around.”

ACRES: “We’re in the middle of applying for ACRES with a few options that suit us. For me, it’s about trying to produce crops in an economical and environmentally-friendly manner while maintaining yield. Soil health has become very important to us too. What we’re doing in the ground is starting to show in the books.”

Quotable quote: “I would absolutely encourage any younger farmer with land suitable to pursue tillage. Done right, it’s profitable and worthwhile.”