Farming is very much a family affair, which is handed down from generation to generation. Since the dawn of time, Ireland has relied on the food of the land not only for their own survival but for their livestock as well.
The O’Halloran family in Ballyheigue, Co Kerry are one such family that have been farming for generations. As dairy and tillage farmers, their 400 acres of land is split equally between both.
They harvest Spring Barley and Oats, while currently milk 40 cows on a twice-daily basis.
Michael O’Halloran has been farming all his life and his two sons John and Michael Jnr are the next generation of the family to get their ‘hands dirty’ on the farm.
Michael Jnr is studying P.E and Irish in UCC, but during the summer months he is home on the farm and he spoke to Irish Tractor & Agri about what it is like to be farming right on the coast.
“We are landlocked by the sea, so it’s not easy for us to expand, but maybe down the road, we might be able to manage it. As you can imagine, the land is good and dry, but the one problem that we do have here is the fog blowing in off the Atlantic. It effects the soil temperature and this in turn affects the crops,” said Michael Jnr.
“We would do all our own harvesting and silage work. We have a Fusion 2 baler and would do a bit of contracting for a few of the neighbours. We also have our own New Holland combine for the tillage work.
“When buying new machinery, we mainly deal with Kerry Tractors, Corbett’s in Cork and New Holland in Dublin. We would do a lot of our own maintenance as well.”
When it comes to ploughing, the O’Halloran family can teach you a thing or do as Dad Michael won three All-Ireland titles at the National Ploughing Championships during the seventies, while Michael Jnr was named All-Ireland champion in the under-21 category at the 2012 National Ploughing Championship in Wexford.
“My Dad won his first All-Ireland in Wexford and so did I, so that was a bit ironic, but it is something that we are passionate about and love doing. We will be heading up to Laois again this year.”
During the busy times or more to the point, the summer months, Michael Jnr revealed that they would take on an extra three or four people to get through their workload.
“We would have a few lads come in for the summer alright and this helps us get through the workload. The contracting and our own harvesting can cross over, so we need the extra help to get through it all.”
Michael O’Halloran
Clahanleis,
Ballyheigue,
Co Kerry
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 7, August 2015
