We farm: “A mixed enterprise based in Co Meath. It’s a fifth-generation farm run by Paul and Joe Finnegan. I’m the general manager of Finnegan’s Farm. We grow 600ac of potatoes, around 1,400ac of tillage, roughly 400ac of grassland and 35ac of vegetables as well. We also have a 100-head spring calving Stabiliser suckler herd. We have been supplying Dunnes Stores for 15 years with potatoes and eight years with Brussels sprouts.”

Potatoes: “We grow, wash and pack for retail, supplying all year round. We have a second value-added range of potatoes and vegetables. We create ready meals without the meat, essentially. We also supply school dinner assembly lines with bulk produce.”

Brussels sprouts: “Are the main veg for us at this time of year. The window for harvesting them for the Christmas market is very, very tight. There is only a shelf life of seven to eight days on Brussels sprouts. For the Christmas Day push we would be starting to harvest 24 hours a day on 16 December. It’s a real Christmas time operation.”

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Growing sprouts: “We’d start to plant Brussels sprouts the last week of May, usually. We’d try and spread it out over three or four plant dates and a few different varieties. You’d be finished planting the second week of June, roughly.”

Growing year: “We got plenty of rain when we needed the rain. Then we had plenty of sun when we needed the sun. Normally we’d probably be irrigating sprouts from the start of June to the middle of July, but that didn’t need to happen this year. We only did two or three goes of the field. The growing season as a whole was very good.”

Challenges: “We’re constantly being challenged with chemicals being removed from the market with nothing to replace them. We spray our sprouts at 14 days, starting from around the first week of July. We’d be doing weed control up until then with a grubber.”

Quotable quote: “We’re unusual in that we do everything from farm to fork and field to process tray. It’s three enterprises in the one.”