Irish Hereford Prime Farmer - Aidan Cousins

Aidan Cousins farms in Clondra, Co. Longford, on the Longford Roscommon border along the river Camlin which flows through his land from Lough Forbes on to the Lough gates at Tarmonbarry.
Aidan has a herd of Herefords on his farm, he runs a Hereford bull with around 25 suckler cows. He currently has some spring and some autumn calvers, but he’d like to bring them all back to be spring calving. He also runs a flock of about 70 ewes, which he lambs in the spring.
“I’ve been farming Herefords for a long time, about thirty 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.”
Aidan monitors the herd’s weight gain closely. “In July I’ll go through all my year and a half 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 the Herefords are very efficient that way”. Aidan mentions that “the beef trade isn’t always that steady, it’s always up and down, but I’m happy doing what I’m doing, and I’ll keep doing it for as long as I can”.
Farming a mixed grazing system with ewes and Herefords, he feels that the combined grazing really benefits both the cattle and the sheep. The farm also has a small forestry plantation, that was started in 1990, it is predominantly citrus spruce, which he says grows very well on his land. When harvested that in 2019, it was a great income boost for the farm. Aidan believes that a certain amount of forestry really complements any farm, and he replanted this a year later in 2020.

[@OutofTownwithRobinBell]

nice video and a great looking bull 👍