I farm: “On the dairy side of things, I farm 76 Holstein Friesian cows with some Fleckviehs on a Lely A5 robot on around 250ac in Corrandulla, Co Galway, with my wife Debbie and three children Caoimhe (14), Oisin (11) and Shona (eight). My father Seán is still flying it at 80 along with my mother Mary.”

This week: “We dried off the last of the cows. The robot gives great information on each individual cow’s milk quality and makes it easy to see what needs antibiotics or just teat sealer with selective dry off.”

Beef: “On the beef side of things, we run a herd of pedigree Belgian Blue cows, known as the Corrandulla herd. We do a lot of embryo work. Last week we implanted 22 frozen pedigree Belgian Blue embryos sired by an old Belgian Blue bull called Empire with the hope of getting some replacement heifers.”

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Reseeds: “We reseed 15 to 20ac every year and have reclaimed a lot of land.”

ArraTipp award: “We won an award for low cell count with ArraTipp and got a Lely one for the same thing in 2024. I can’t take any credit for that as Debbie and my father Seán keep the place mint.”

Showing: “2024 was certainly a year to remember. We topped the elite haltered cattle sale in Stranolar, Co Donegal, with Corrandulla Shania at €19,000. She was one of the first pedigree red and white Belgian Blue heifer calves to be sold in Ireland. Then we went to Carrick and topped that at €30,000 for our MBP X Corrandulla Peggy daughter Lizzo. We also had the top-priced animal at the Royal Ulster Beef and Lamb Championships, which sold for £19,000.”

Carrick: “Is just getting better and better every year – the atmosphere, the crowds, the craic, the prices. It’s just gone to a whole new level again. Our Limousin heifer Kesha did us proud and sold for €23,000.”

Quotable quote: “It’s not every year you will top the three biggest sales in the country with your breeding.”