Ducking out of mainstream farming

THE land Eugene and Helena Hickey farm on the edge of Roaring Water Bay in West Cork is shaped by nature and touched by the Atlantic air.

It is a wholesome and fresh environment and a good place in which to produce and process ducks in a growing agri-business enterprise and run a 70-cow herd that produces milk for Drinagh Co-op.

When Eugene married Helena, a nurse and midwife from Clonakilty, in 1990, they figured the 130-acre dairy farm at Skeaghanore East, Ballydehob, would not be enough to provide a good income for a family.