I farm: “Around 410ac in Clonaslee, Co Laois. I’m farming with my dad, Jimmy. I’ve been involved in the farm since I can remember, but I’m full-time farming in partnership with my dad about five years now.”
Calf-to-beef: “We run a calf-to-beef system and we have a sheep flock as well. The sheep would be my thing.”
Stock: “There’s about 80 sheep, between the commercials and the purebreds. We reared about 450 calves last year. We didn’t rear any this year, they were too expensive. It’s great for lads selling them but for us to buy them it’s just ridiculous prices.”
Breeds: “For the commercials, there’s a mixture of mostly Charollais and Suffolks, with a few Texels mixed in. For the purebreds then, I have purebred Texels and purebred Suffolks. I prefer the Suffolks, they’re my passion more than anything. I ran the Suffolk ram with the commercials last year and I got serious replacements out of them.”
MFW with Áine Roberts Murray, sheep farmer in Clonaslee, Co Laois. \ Philip Doyle
Tullamore Show: “We won fourth place in the Suffolk ewe class. We enjoyed the experience.”
Future plans: “We’re going to try rear more calves next year. We missed out this year due to the price of them. I’d like to try make things easier on the farm for both me and my father, like with getting automatic feeders for rearing the calves. It would make things a bit easier for us both and making things more efficient.”
Women in farming: “You still get the looks when you go to the marts but it’s getting better. I’ve always had an interest in the farm, and Dad is great. He pushes me to do the stuff I’d never think I could do.”
MFW with Áine Roberts Murray, sheep farmer in Clonaslee, Co Laois. \ Philip Doyle
I farm: “Around 410ac in Clonaslee, Co Laois. I’m farming with my dad, Jimmy. I’ve been involved in the farm since I can remember, but I’m full-time farming in partnership with my dad about five years now.”
Calf-to-beef: “We run a calf-to-beef system and we have a sheep flock as well. The sheep would be my thing.”
Stock: “There’s about 80 sheep, between the commercials and the purebreds. We reared about 450 calves last year. We didn’t rear any this year, they were too expensive. It’s great for lads selling them but for us to buy them it’s just ridiculous prices.”
Breeds: “For the commercials, there’s a mixture of mostly Charollais and Suffolks, with a few Texels mixed in. For the purebreds then, I have purebred Texels and purebred Suffolks. I prefer the Suffolks, they’re my passion more than anything. I ran the Suffolk ram with the commercials last year and I got serious replacements out of them.”
MFW with Áine Roberts Murray, sheep farmer in Clonaslee, Co Laois. \ Philip Doyle
Tullamore Show: “We won fourth place in the Suffolk ewe class. We enjoyed the experience.”
Future plans: “We’re going to try rear more calves next year. We missed out this year due to the price of them. I’d like to try make things easier on the farm for both me and my father, like with getting automatic feeders for rearing the calves. It would make things a bit easier for us both and making things more efficient.”
Women in farming: “You still get the looks when you go to the marts but it’s getting better. I’ve always had an interest in the farm, and Dad is great. He pushes me to do the stuff I’d never think I could do.”
MFW with Áine Roberts Murray, sheep farmer in Clonaslee, Co Laois. \ Philip Doyle
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