I farm: ”120 ewes and pedigree Limousin cattle with my brother Ciarán under the Maythorn prefix. Some of the ewes are pedigree Suffolks, but most are commercial Texel and Suffolk-crosses. We have 20 ewes lambing from the last week of January, but the rest won’t be lambing until May.”
Outdoor lambing: “I used to lamb all the ewes inside, but took the brave jump to lamb outside later in the year, after my father passed away. He always kept a eye on the ewes whenever they went into the shed, while I was away working my full-time job off-farm. Having them outside has worked well since and it hasn’t hit their thrive at all.”
Pedigree cattle: “The first pedigree Charolais cattle were brought onto the farm in 1996. The pedigree Charolais and Limousin numbers grew to about 25, until we cut back a few years ago. It takes a lot of time to see a return from the pedigrees. It is nine months from a cow being served until a calf hits the ground and another 16 months of growing before you will have a bull fit to sell. It is getting tougher to breed good bulls now that you are not just looking at quality, but at the stars and the figures too.”
Fatstock interests: “We have never had commercial cattle on the farm, but when you see the prices that are made each year in the fatstock sales, it would get you interested. You would be thinking whether it would be worth putting a Belgian Blue straw into one of the cows. It’s something we might look at into the future.”
Great grass: “The grass growth we had last year couldn’t be beat. We got hay made in June, managed to sell 250 bales of silage and still had a great bank of grass built up to take the ewes through the winter. The price of lamb was mighty as well. From Easter lamb right up to September stores, lamb prices were flying.”
Ploughing: “Both myself and my brother compete in the ploughing championships. It is something we picked up from uncles when we were growing up. The Monaghan and Louth competitions are our main outings. I won the Junior B conventional plough class at the National Ploughing Championships in 2023.”
Seamus McConnon leads his sheep and George the llama on his land outside Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, as Tilly the dog keeps a sharp eye. \ Lorraine Teevan
Seamus McConnon (left) his brother Ciaran and George the llama, on his land outside Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. \ Lorraine Teevan
I farm: ”120 ewes and pedigree Limousin cattle with my brother Ciarán under the Maythorn prefix. Some of the ewes are pedigree Suffolks, but most are commercial Texel and Suffolk-crosses. We have 20 ewes lambing from the last week of January, but the rest won’t be lambing until May.”
Outdoor lambing: “I used to lamb all the ewes inside, but took the brave jump to lamb outside later in the year, after my father passed away. He always kept a eye on the ewes whenever they went into the shed, while I was away working my full-time job off-farm. Having them outside has worked well since and it hasn’t hit their thrive at all.”
Pedigree cattle: “The first pedigree Charolais cattle were brought onto the farm in 1996. The pedigree Charolais and Limousin numbers grew to about 25, until we cut back a few years ago. It takes a lot of time to see a return from the pedigrees. It is nine months from a cow being served until a calf hits the ground and another 16 months of growing before you will have a bull fit to sell. It is getting tougher to breed good bulls now that you are not just looking at quality, but at the stars and the figures too.”
Fatstock interests: “We have never had commercial cattle on the farm, but when you see the prices that are made each year in the fatstock sales, it would get you interested. You would be thinking whether it would be worth putting a Belgian Blue straw into one of the cows. It’s something we might look at into the future.”
Great grass: “The grass growth we had last year couldn’t be beat. We got hay made in June, managed to sell 250 bales of silage and still had a great bank of grass built up to take the ewes through the winter. The price of lamb was mighty as well. From Easter lamb right up to September stores, lamb prices were flying.”
Ploughing: “Both myself and my brother compete in the ploughing championships. It is something we picked up from uncles when we were growing up. The Monaghan and Louth competitions are our main outings. I won the Junior B conventional plough class at the National Ploughing Championships in 2023.”
Seamus McConnon leads his sheep and George the llama on his land outside Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, as Tilly the dog keeps a sharp eye. \ Lorraine Teevan
Seamus McConnon (left) his brother Ciaran and George the llama, on his land outside Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. \ Lorraine Teevan
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