I farm: “A mixed farming enterprise on a 210 acre farm in Newtowncunningham, Co. Donegal. I keep both beef and tillage.”

This week: "We've done a bit of ploughing earlier on in the week but the ground is still too wet in most places. There was a lot of rain last weekend and that's hampered our chances of getting barley sown but there's not a lot we can do about that."

Beef: “I keep 120 store cattle, mainly Freisan bullocks and bulls. They're in the shed at the minute but I hope to let them out to grass as soon as the weather takes up. Unfortunately the price of late has been very poor, making it extremely difficult for farmers to earn a living off the farm. I don’t keep any sucklers; instead I buy in the stores and sell them by the end of June, early July off the grass, feeding them rolled barley to finish them off."

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Tillage: “I have 75 acres of winter barley sown with a further 30 earmarked for spring barley. We also have 18 acres of wheat sown. I also do a bit of contracting. At the moment it’s mainly slurry spreading, but later on tillage contracting and anything else that has to be done!”

Market: “I take the stores to Foyle Meats in Donegal. Hopefully demand will have picked up by this time! It’s very important to keep the costs down as much as is possible, but not cutting them in such a way as to reduce productivity. I also have about 30 year old stores at the minute but I’ll be keeping them over the winter and selling them at a similar time next year.”

Family: “Wife Deirdre, two sons; Tom (7) and Charlie (4). The boys have a great interest in the farm which is great to see. I’m not involved in any clubs or activities outside the farm. Once the weather takes up there’ll be little time to spare.”

Quotable quote: “Make the best of your inputs. It's important to try and keep things running as efficiently as possible."