I farm: “In partnership with my dad, John, and mother, Catherine. I’m also teaching in Ballintotas National School, Castlemartyr, in east Cork. We’re farming 106ac of owned land and renting another 16ac.”

Cows: “We have 92 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows and they’re doing 550kg of milk solids a year, at 3.57% protein and 4.29% fat.

Derogation: “We’d be fairly heavily stocked and are in the higher banding as well. At the moment, we get our heifers contract-reared and export our slurry. If it drops to 220kg/ha, the first option would be to take more land but the last option really would be to drop cow numbers.”

Calving: “We started calving 14 January and we’re well over halfway at the minute. Another two weeks will get us over the hill. It’s pretty compact but it works and it’s great to get them out of the way together.”

Breeding: “We usually artificially inseminate (AI) for the first six weeks and then we add the bull in and AI if there are more than two cows bulling on any day. We have three pedigree Angus bulls. We don’t use any sexed semen or synchronising. I find tail painting twice a day with two different colours works really well, when they’re bulling and after they’re artificially inseminatd. It’s a lot of work but it really paid dividends.”

Expansion: “The young farmer grants were a lot of the reason we went into partnership. We modernised the farm a good bit over the last two years. We put in about 40 more cubicles, a new shed for weanlings and new calving pens. We don’t know ourselves since.”

Racing: “I’d have a huge interest in racing and I’m part of the Money For Jam Syndicate with a few of my friends. Myself and my parents bought a Malinas yearling in Tattersalls in November and I have a two-year-old Elusive Pimpernel filly here at home that the syndicate own. I ride out when I can also for local point-to-point trainer Marie Harding.”??

Quotable quote: “If every farmer succeeds in making and maintaining small changes, it will have a positive impact on our environment for future generations.”