Brendan and
Margaret Ferguson,
Westport, Co Mayo
“It’s hard to see a future in farming due to the image media is painting, saying we are damaging the environment and if you kill off the farmers you are just moving the problem to another country.
“They have put us into a co-operation area in ACRES and we can’t do anything like put out fertiliser.
“The agricultural department are designing a way where they won’t pay you to get out of stock, by taking back the ground and slowly pushing you out.
“We have the best country for growing grass, yet they are trying to cut back on production.”
Bertie Griffin,
Farranfore,
Co Kerry
“The tough spring has increased costs on the farm and with lamb prices falling by €30 recently, margins are small. Beef prices are holding well, in particular the good weanlings, so that’s positive.
“There is a future for beef and sheep farming once costs stay down. Grass growth is back 10% and you won’t catch up now because there’s only seven or eight weeks left in the year, growth wise.
Bertie Griffin.
“I’ll just about be OK fodder-wise and hope for a good winter which won’t be as long, as it would knock back a lot of the hard work.”
Jeanne Farrell,
Newtown,
Co Westmeath
“Sheep prices have been good up until recently and we’re hoping they start to hold due to the price of meal.
“From now on, I think farmers are better off to keep their own replacements, even from a disease control point of view.
Jeanne Farrell.
“The wool trade isn’t sustainable, costing €3 to shear and only getting between 10c/kg to 20c/kg.
“Grass hasn’t taken off until recently, so crops are smaller which is concerning”.
Ciara Palmer,
Kenmare,
Co Kerry
“We’re sheep and suckler farming in Kerry. We lambed at the end of January and started selling lambs at the June bank holiday.
“We took lambs on Monday and they weighed about 26.8kg and they made €67.
Ciara Palmer.
“The prices are up this week, which is good to see. We will be buying in 200 bales of hay for the winter, if they can get them cut.
“On the beef side of things, we are weaning off a few calves and will be calving from the end of January.
“I believe there is a future for the industry.”
Francis and
Patrick Fannon,
Kilteevan, Roscommon
“If every year is as good as this year we would be very happy. This has been one of our best years due to the good price of early lamb. They started off at €9.50, one lot at €8 and the last lot at €7.17.
“Cull ewes are up, which made roughly €200 a head. We were very lucky.
Francis and Partick Fannon.
“We came here today to look at the Easycare sheep as the fact they don’t need to be shorn is appealing to us, as shearing is a hard job and less people want to do it. We are using the wool for bedding the sucklers as it’s worth so little.”
Brendan and
Margaret Ferguson,
Westport, Co Mayo
“It’s hard to see a future in farming due to the image media is painting, saying we are damaging the environment and if you kill off the farmers you are just moving the problem to another country.
“They have put us into a co-operation area in ACRES and we can’t do anything like put out fertiliser.
“The agricultural department are designing a way where they won’t pay you to get out of stock, by taking back the ground and slowly pushing you out.
“We have the best country for growing grass, yet they are trying to cut back on production.”
Bertie Griffin,
Farranfore,
Co Kerry
“The tough spring has increased costs on the farm and with lamb prices falling by €30 recently, margins are small. Beef prices are holding well, in particular the good weanlings, so that’s positive.
“There is a future for beef and sheep farming once costs stay down. Grass growth is back 10% and you won’t catch up now because there’s only seven or eight weeks left in the year, growth wise.
Bertie Griffin.
“I’ll just about be OK fodder-wise and hope for a good winter which won’t be as long, as it would knock back a lot of the hard work.”
Jeanne Farrell,
Newtown,
Co Westmeath
“Sheep prices have been good up until recently and we’re hoping they start to hold due to the price of meal.
“From now on, I think farmers are better off to keep their own replacements, even from a disease control point of view.
Jeanne Farrell.
“The wool trade isn’t sustainable, costing €3 to shear and only getting between 10c/kg to 20c/kg.
“Grass hasn’t taken off until recently, so crops are smaller which is concerning”.
Ciara Palmer,
Kenmare,
Co Kerry
“We’re sheep and suckler farming in Kerry. We lambed at the end of January and started selling lambs at the June bank holiday.
“We took lambs on Monday and they weighed about 26.8kg and they made €67.
Ciara Palmer.
“The prices are up this week, which is good to see. We will be buying in 200 bales of hay for the winter, if they can get them cut.
“On the beef side of things, we are weaning off a few calves and will be calving from the end of January.
“I believe there is a future for the industry.”
Francis and
Patrick Fannon,
Kilteevan, Roscommon
“If every year is as good as this year we would be very happy. This has been one of our best years due to the good price of early lamb. They started off at €9.50, one lot at €8 and the last lot at €7.17.
“Cull ewes are up, which made roughly €200 a head. We were very lucky.
Francis and Partick Fannon.
“We came here today to look at the Easycare sheep as the fact they don’t need to be shorn is appealing to us, as shearing is a hard job and less people want to do it. We are using the wool for bedding the sucklers as it’s worth so little.”
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