I farm: “113 acres in Soloheadbeg, Co Tipperary and 82 acres in Oola, Co Limerick. They are both mixed farms with suckler herds and organic oats. I would also get some help from my father, Pat.”

Organic: “I only started in 2020. I got into tillage by accident after meeting John Flahavan at a farm walk in 2019. He was looking for Irish organic grass farmers to set aside about 20ac to grow some organic oats. The market had grown significantly and they were trying to source locally and reduce their carbon footprint.”

Award: “I won the 2024 Flahavan’s organic oat grower award. The secret to winning is optimising the combine settings. To get a good clean sample, you need to turn up the speed of the internal blower. It’s that simple, provided you have a quality standing crop with good-quality oats and low moisture. I’d give a special mention to Pat O’Connor and Mark Harold Barry who gave me advice over years.”

Harvest: “I wasn’t trying to win the competition; I was just trying to get through the harvest. It was an extremely difficult year. I had great expectations of sowing significantly more oats and due to the very difficult ground conditions in spring, I just decided to cut my losses and go with what I had. When I combine the organic oats, I will raise the header about a foot and a half off the ground, I’ll take just the straw and the oats, and leave all the weeds behind. Then, weather permitting, I will go in a couple of days after and I will cut all the stubble, grass and weeds and I’ll dry that out and bale it for bedding for winter.”

Machinery: “I have my own machinery so I don’t have to rely on contractors. That’s part of the reason I’ve had success because I know most people find it extremely difficult getting into organic tillage because machinery is so expensive.”

Sucklers: “I’m running two pedigree Blonde d’Aquitaine bulls with a mixture of Belgian Blue and Limousin cows in Limerick and Blonde-Limousin crosses in Tipperary. They’re easy calving and bring nice muscled calves.”