I farm: “In the lovely part of Cork that is Inniscarra. I milk 90 cows at the minute. We have 120 acres on the home farm. We milk mostly Holstein Friesian cows and supply Dairygold. It was good to see Dairygold at the top of the milk league there last month.”

Performance: “The cows have never done as well as they have this year. They’re average 4.90% butterfat and 3.95% protein while the cell count is at 175. Figures that I’m very happy with.”

This week: “I’m grazing off paddocks mostly this week. The grass is still growing, it’s great. I thought last week that things were going to be getting very wet, there had been a lot of rain. But the last few days have been great drying ones so everything is hardening up again.”

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Drying off: “I’ll be drying off the cows now from 1 December or around the first week of December. It's the right time to be at it."

Family: “I’m married to Eileen and we have five children. Gordon is 16, Conrad is 11, Dominque is eight, Rodger is four and Rochelle will be two in February. Gordon is the eldest and he is showing a good interest in the place so far, he’s a fierce hard worker too, they’re all great kids.”

Expansion: “Once quotas go everything could change. I suppose the main thing that it (quota abolition) will bring is freedom, freedom that we never had before. Farmers who want to grow and expand will be able to do so without having road blocks in their way. Maybe some people are going too fast but it’ll settle down.”

Quotable Quote: “Everyone is saying it but 2014 has been an unreal year. Everything is growing around the place, the grass in particular, everything except for myself!”