My name is Aidan Cousins and I have a farm in Clondra, on the Longford Roscommon border. 

I have a Hereford herd here on the farm, and I run a Hereford bull with around 25 suckler cows. 

I’ve been farming Herefords for a long time, about 30 years. It has always been the most successful breed for me. They are very easy calving, they’re quick to get up, good sucklers and as cows they always have plenty of milk.

I monitor the herd’s weight gain closely, in July I’ll go through all my 1 ½ year old stock, I’ll pick out which bullocks and heifers are going to finish off grass. I prefer to finish the heifers off grass, it’s the better environmental way to go and Herefords are very efficient that way. 

I have mixed grazing system with the ewes and the Herefords, the combined grazing really benefits both the cattle and sheep. The farm also has a small forestry plantation, that was started in 1990, it is predominantly citrus spruce. We harvested that in 2019, which was a great income boost for the farm, we replanted a year later in 2020. 

Joe Collins and his wife Theresa farm land in Oldtown, Co Dublin. Having bought seven fields in 2012, they have worked hard to turn it into a profitable farm in its own right. Buying a new farm meant that their family got to start with a blank canvas and do things the way they wanted to. For them, it meant owning a sustainable, environmentally friendly farm.

The main enterprise on the Collins farm is Hereford cattle and they graze them on both clover-based swards and multi-species swards. Joe chose the Hereford breed because “we really wanted to go for quality over quantity, they are a lovely docile animal that are easily handled. The beef quality is very good and they finish off grass, which is great for our sustainability”. 

In addition to the Herefords, Joe and Theresa also have free-range pigs, turkeys, hens and about fifteen bee hives. Dotted around the farm are a range of bird boxes including owl boxes and kestrel boxes. As well as following a natural way of farming, they have planted ten acres of native oak. Before they planted the oak, they under-sowed the area with grasses, herbs and weeds that pigs and hens will like, with the intention of letting those animals into the agri-forestry when the oak trees have established. 

Theresa looks after the food side of the farm, where they are in the process of setting up an Agri-tourism business. Having teamed up with a Ballymaloe trained chef to host events on the farm, Theresa explains that they use their farm produce to create dishes that can be served in their indoor event space (a custom-built kitchen that caters for up to ten people) or the outdoor space, which offers an outdoor dining experience where all the dishes are cooked over a charcoal fire. She highlights that “all the produce from the farm goes into creating these amazing dishes, with twenty varieties of vegetable and fruits growing here, as well as our Hereford cattle and other livestock, means that we can offer a range of seasonal menus throughout the year”.

The Collins family are very proud of the work they have done on the farm so far and are hoping to see some owls come to live their soon. Being firm believers that the present of owls will show that the biodiversity ecosystem is working correctly. Joe mentions that with “the owl being top of the food chain, their presence proves that everything below them is working in the right way”.

Lorraine Crowe lives in Hollymount, Co Mayo. She runs a calf to beef system on her farm, rearing both male and female calves.

She finds the Hereford breed a relatively easy and a hardy breed to rear. She believes that the key to keeping them healthy as calves is to ensure that they have good dry beds and the correct ventilation. Once they are strong enough to move onto grass, Lorraine uses a rotational grazing system and believes that the Hereford breed is well suited to this type of life.

“You can see the Herefords thriving, gaining weight and performing well on the good grass.”

This year Lorraine reseeded seven acres of her farm using a clover mix and she will continue to do so each year going forward. Her farm is participating in the national environmental scheme called ACRES (Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme). As part of that scheme five acres of her land is dedicated to being a suitable geese and swan habitat during the winter months. She has also committed to maintaining the traditional stone walls on her property. In the coming years Lorraine plans to build a new shed and will divide the land into more paddocks to improve her rotational grazing system.