Sunburnt but seasoned: Young Irish farmers back from Down Under

Three young Irish farmers share how working in Australia and New Zealand transformed their skills, mindset, and appreciation for farming at home

Ciara Byers at Moxey Farms with a newborn calf.

Many young farmers make the pilgrimage to Australia or New Zealand to do their 88 days of work and to experience the sunshine down under.

These days, it’s almost a rite of passage to bid farewell to the parents for a time and jet off to the other side of the world. With plenty of farm work to be done, agricultural students are at an advantage to their town-dwelling peers when it comes to snagging a job abroad, as long as they don’t balk at a bit of hard work that is.