Farming

Despite damp farming weather conditions, grazing is moving back on the agenda and fences are getting a once-over; although you could say grazing never stopped this winter. A group of younger cows was left out to take pressure off the shed and, while the plan was to house them before […]

There has been plenty of walking the farm lately. First up was a bit of a tree planting operation. Since Christmas, around 600 different native trees have been planted around the farm. A hedge consisting of hawthorn and Rowan was put in as a shelterbelt, which will take some minding, […]

In Billy Joel’s 1989 hit ‘We didn’t start the fire’ he chronicles the 40 years between 1949 and 1989 simply by stitching a series of headlines from the period together. Listening to it, hearing the words sets off images of the story behind each headline and leads to a bit […]

One of the most frustrating things in farming is the uncontrollables, which can throw the best-laid plans out of kilter. Being flexible with your system is the best way to counter them. Animals, markets and weather would be among the most common in terms of unpredictability. Certainly the beef market […]

Farming has changed and will keep changing: Consumer, market and social trends all play a part. All you need do is ask any of the older generation in West Cork and they will tell you how the countryside has evolved. In the 1950s and 60s and there would have been […]