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FARMING - COLUMNS

A collection of the latest columns, analysis and opinion from the farming desk. Enjoy.

Brian Reidy

Hazell Mullins, Vet on the Moove

Kieran Coughlan, Farm Finance

Paula Hynes, Hoofing It

<p>Milk recording on the Hynes farm last week.</p>

farming

Paula Hynes: Rivers running free as Storm Amy hits

The rain returned with a bang as storm Amy hit and it certainly was a miserable 48 hours. Sadly, West Cork seemed to suffer a lot worse than we did, with many rivers bursting their banks, roads impassable and so much land flooded.

Lighten up: Auld Lehane's top 10 budget proposals to help struggling farmers

<p>The Early Retirement Scheme was great stuff altogether back in the day when auld lads were truly auld fellows, writes Denis Lehane. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive</p>

farming

Lighten up: Ould Lehane has finally found his element in Positive Ageing Week

Stephen Cadogan: How artificial intelligence is even challenging the sheepdog

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Stephen Cadogan: How artificial intelligence is even challenging the sheepdog

Kieran Coughlan.png

Kieran Coughlan: Is the Irish land market dysfunctional?

John Deere 6920 Tractor and Mower cutting Grass for Silage on a Farm in the UK

Brian Reidy: What are your feeding options for stock for the coming winter?

As we head into October, attention will turn to preparing for housing and the winter-feeding plan

Tue, 23 Sep, 2025

Putting five-star bulls to the test for finishing performance in Youghal

Putting five-star bulls to the test for finishing performance in Youghal

The bulls we choose for the autumn herd will be selected with two things in mind: improving both the maternal and terminal traits of the herd, write Waterford suckler farmers Eamon and Donnchadh McCarthy

Tue, 23 Sep, 2025

1998 Robert Redford stars in "The Horse Whisperer."

Lighten Up: Robert Redford and the bullock whisperer

For a farmer, whispering is part and parcel of rural life, writes our Auld Lehane in this week's Lighten Up

Tue, 23 Sep, 2025

Paula Hynes: Maize season makes me wish our contractor had airplanes

Paula Hynes: Maize season makes me wish our contractor had airplanes

While I'm glad Ryanair was not given the task of planting and harvesting our maize, given the delayed flights we have recently experienced, I know our contractors CCS would have as usual given an efficient service

Mon, 22 Sep, 2025

Silage being prepared in a round bale wrapper

Brian Reidy: Is there time for one more cut of silage before winter rolls in?

Grass will obviously need a bit of a longer wilt at this time of year, particularly if it is being baled, as grass dry matters are currently between 13% and 15%, advises independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Tue, 16 Sep, 2025

CTAOP's Night Out 2021: Fast And Furious

Denis Lehane: A hairy time at the ploughing

From Dáithí Ó Sé, to Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, you can never tell who will come bounding out of a Portaloo door or squelching around a muddy corner, writes Denis Lehane in this week's Lighten Up

Mon, 15 Sep, 2025

Thanks to all the volunteers at Inniscarra

Thanks to all the volunteers at Inniscarra

Farming is like a merry-go-round, with baby calves on the farm again. Autumn breeding season is just around the corner, and it is hard to believe we will be breeding the show heifers soon, writes Aherla dairy farmer Paula Hynes

Mon, 15 Sep, 2025

Paula Hynes: Black pudding in Cork and Belgium

Paula Hynes: Black pudding in Cork and Belgium

Kasey’s dam calved with a lovely heifer calf by Vierra Sting. It’s our second Sting heifer calf this autumn, and we also had a Chocochip heifer calve with a Blondin Classic heifer calf

Wed, 10 Sep, 2025

Brian Reidy: Can any of these calves selling for €500+ make a profit?

Brian Reidy: Can any of these calves selling for €500+ make a profit?

Calves have been selling at record prices in 2025, but is it possible for them to make any money? Independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy gives his take

Wed, 10 Sep, 2025

Counting Money Hands Holding Euro Bills, Examining the Value of Cash and Currency Assets

Lighten Up: The ploughing... like Cannes, only better!

With this year's newfound wealth, the Ploughing is going to be like the Venice Film Festival, only without the boats, and a lot more boots, writes our auld Lehane in this week's Lighten Up

Mon, 08 Sep, 2025

Paula Hynes: Lights, camera, action - 'My Story, Georgie' hits the screens

Paula Hynes: Lights, camera, action - 'My Story, Georgie' hits the screens

When you're filming real life, and especially with animals involved, you can’t really do a take two, writes Paula Hynes

Wed, 03 Sep, 2025

AFC Championship Game: Buffalo Bills v Kansas City Chiefs

Lighten Up: Why our Auld Lehane reckons Taylor Swift could get married in Ireland

I never thought we'd be complaining about cattle being too expensive, but here we are, writes Denis in this week's Lighten Up.

Sat, 30 Aug, 2025

Senior man with grandaughter gardening in the backyard garden.

Kieran Coughlan: Budget must balance protecting Agricultural Relief with curbing abuse

Beneficiaries who avail of Agricultural Relief see the taxable value of the gift or inheritance of 'agricultural property' (including farmland, buildings, stock) reduced by 90%

Fri, 29 Aug, 2025

Paula Hynes: I'm on an Azores high amid this busy show season

Paula Hynes: I'm on an Azores high amid this busy show season

In the middle of a busy show schedule — including Cavan this week and Inniscarra later this month — Paula enjoyed a visit from farmers working in Portugal's Azores Islands

Wed, 20 Aug, 2025

LAND ASSECHEE LOT ET GARONNE

Drought again beginning to bite in the South and East

The drought conditions are particularly serious on dairy farms where good grassland managers had been wrapping surplus grass which had gone too strong

Fri, 15 Aug, 2025

Farmer at work.

From one in four to one in 25: Ireland’s shrinking farming workforce

There are 108,450 working in 'agriculture, forestry, and fishing' in 2024, according to the Central Statistics Office's Labour Force Survey.

Fri, 15 Aug, 2025

Dairy cattle in a grassy field and blue sky

Kieran Coughlan: New uncertainty in nitrates derogation demands strategic thinking

For farmers currently in derogation, it would be worthwhile scenario-planning what actions to take if the derogation is lost or unavailable in their catchment, writes farmer and rural accountant Kieran Coughlan

Wed, 13 Aug, 2025

Paula Hynes: We are simply a showing family

Paula Hynes: We are simply a showing family

We take one show at a time, we discuss show teams as a team, and decide who travels and who needs a rest. The close friends we have made, we compete against each other in the ring, but outside the ring, we are a show family, and we’ve got each other's backs

Wed, 13 Aug, 2025

BET Awards 2025 - Show

Lighten Up: Ageless Mariah Carey - A new 'hero' of Irish farming

The greatest problem in Irish farming today, bar finding a wife, is ageing, so anti-ageing queen Mariah Carey could be the new hero Irish farmers need, writes our auld Lehane in this week's Lighten Up

Mon, 11 Aug, 2025

Cows in a field, Orkney, Scotland

Making weaning in the suckler herd low stress

When weaning calves, reducing stress must be your priority. Stressed weanlings are much more prone to illness, such as pneumonia, writes ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Mon, 11 Aug, 2025

Paula Hynes: A-maizing maize and genetics insights

Paula Hynes: A-maizing maize and genetics insights

Do you know who cloned the first horse, or who revolutionised the global dairy breeding industry through sexed semen? Paula Hynes explains where you can find the answers

Wed, 06 Aug, 2025

Farm and milk truck arriving

Lighten Up: The milk lorry gives me the heebie-jeebies

The rumble of that truck, the air of panic, the struggle to finish a job I wish I had never started, all became too much to handle, writes our Denis in this week's Lighten Up

Mon, 04 Aug, 2025

Black and White Cow Up Close Grazing in an English Meadow

Milk production this August — there's still a long way to go until drying off

Keeping spring cows milking well must be high on the agenda, as they still have a long way to go before drying off, writes independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Fri, 01 Aug, 2025

Stephen Cadogan: Farmers cheer as von der Leyen’s EU budget faces collapse

Stephen Cadogan: Farmers cheer as von der Leyen’s EU budget faces collapse

Germany, the EU's largest member state and biggest funding contributor, was one of the first to shoot down her commission's €2 trillion long-term budget proposal

Wed, 30 Jul, 2025

Paula Hynes: The championship of dreams - and it's not the hurling

Paula Hynes: The championship of dreams - and it's not the hurling

A championship we had only dreamed of winning had now become a reality, as Rouge sizzles at National YMA Finals

Wed, 30 Jul, 2025

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