About the Holding
Richard has an organic farm in a very quiet area of Co. Kilkenny. Here they farm beef cattle and sheep and also have some ponies and alpacas with a neighbour.
There is also an area of forestry and a vegetable garden. The farmyard is located a short distance from the dwelling house and there are a number of traditional stone walls around the farm.
They have a suckler cow herd and have some rare breed cattle, Shorthorn and Kerry cows.
They have sheep lambing in January so that will be a busy time for all the family as the children are also involved in the farm and have their own horses. They also make their own hay and silage and grow vegetables for the table. Their neighbour has some cats that wander in and out of the yard looking for company.
A Social Farming Day
- Feeding cattle – nuts, silage and hay
- Cleaning – scraping yards and clearing out sheds.
- Bedding cattle – preparing sheds for cattle
- Feeding calves, sheep and lambs in the spring
- Changing sheep to different fields
- Stabling Ponies, Watering, feeding – Brushing down ponies.
- Fencing – maintaining fences around the farm
- Repairing stone walls
- Forestry walks – also maintenance of forestry
- Harvesting timber – some timber is sold locally.
- Gardening and horticulture – planting and harvesting.
Local Interests
Richard is a member of the GAA and used to Coach, the children are involved in the local hurling and soccer club. They are also members of IOFGA