I farm: “Sucklers to beef. Our suckler herd consists of mostly Salers and some Limousin cows. We run a Charolais stock bull with our cows. We like to use Salers as they are easy-calving, have good milk, are good mothers and have a good temperament.”

Farm: “We are farming 35ha in total, between our own land and rented land. We produce our own silage for winter feeding. This year we are planting six acres of red clover silage and three acres of white clover silage mix.”

Family: “My wife, Gráinne, and our children, Aaron, Neil and Annie help out with the running of the farm.”

Weather: “Getting stock out to grass has been a challenge this spring, with the exceptional rainfall. We managed to get yearling heifers out to grass in February but cows and calves have only gone out in the last week.”

Factory: “We operate a spring-calving herd, with a compact calving interval of about six weeks, therefore stock is usually ready for slaughter by mid-May. Stock are finished on a diet of maize meal and straw, which is fed ad-lib. Stock are sent to the local factory, Dawn Meats in Ballyhaunis.”

Sustainability: “We’re interested in sustainability and reducing our carbon emissions, hence the use of red clover on the farm. We also use protected urea and slaughter bulls before 16 months of age.”

Social farming: “We take part in the social farming initiative, run by Social Farming Ireland, which offers people with disabilities a chance to spend time on a family farm, participating in activities. We take three participants each Monday from the Brothers of Charity, Castlerea. They carry out light tasks such as feeding calves, bedding straw and hosing down the trailer.”