Conor Breen

Ballymackey, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

I’m Conor Breen and my farm is in Ballymackey in Cashel.

My main business sits right behind the famous Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary, and it is Breen’s farm machinery, we import farm machinery from all over the world to sell to local farmers in county Tipperary, Offaly, Clare and Limerick.

I’ve been farming since 2006, I’ve always loved farming, particularly cattle farming. I have a real love of Herefords because they are a beautiful animal to look at, they are docile, so they are easy to manage, which is important when you’re not on the farm full time, and they are easy finishers.

On this farm we buy in our Hereford cattle at 14-15 months, graze them for the summer, winter them and then we have sixty ready for sale the following summer. So, in all we are carrying 120 on the farm at times. In terms of grassland management, we keep our cattle on grass and each year we try to reseed 10% of the farm. When reseeding, we don’t plough, we use a heavy disk, so that it is ready to come back for the following spring. We run a four-acre paddock system across the farm, and we find that it works well for us. If we have a paddock where the grass is strong, we’ll cut and bale it to maintain grass quality overall.

It is important to take a proactive approach to ensuring the well-being of my Hereford cattle on damp and blustery days. Planting trees and hedges and creating natural shelter-belts not only provides essential refuge for the livestock but also serves as vital habitats for local wildlife. I like to think that I’m helping in some way to protect future biodiversity with this sustainability measure on the farm.

To further improve the financial sustainability of the farm and to protect it for future generations we are thinking of bringing in solar technology, which we hope in time will help to drive down costs and will mean that we will continue to farm in an environmentally friendly manner.