My name is Clement King, and I am a farmer in Riverstown, in Birr, Co Offaly.
Our farm is a family farm, I took over from my father 30 years ago and now I work here with my wife and my two sons. The whole family work hard, splitting the jobs between us.
I have a beef herd, every year I rear sixty calves, I finish thirty and I sell the other thirty. I usually finish the heifers at eighteen months and the bullocks I leave to around twenty or twenty-two months old.
I have been working with Herefords for the last seven years I find them very easy to manage. I had sucklers in the past and they were more difficult to handle.
Recently I added clover when I did my reseeding and I’ve found it to be of great benefit, I’ve been able to cut back on my fertilizer this year. A river runs along the bottom of my property, and we have planted hedgerows along the banks. This has seen a big improvement in the amount of wildlife in the area and around the farm.
The Herefords are so docile, they are easy to work with, are very quiet and you can move them easily even when you’re on your own.
When I see Irish Hereford Prime on a menu it does give me a sense of pride, a little bit of a kick and I know there’s only one thing I’ll be ordering for my meal.
