#Farming Columns

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#Farming Columns

The latest opinion and analysis from the Irish Examiner's farming section.

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<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

The Early Retirement Scheme was just like the car scrappage scheme — but we old lads are totally different now, writes Denis Lehane

<p>The E-doggy was one of the best new products at the recent SPACE agricultural show in Rennes, France.</p>

farming

Stephen Cadogan: How artificial intelligence is even challenging the sheepdog

Kieran Coughlan.png

Kieran Coughlan: Is the Irish land market dysfunctional?

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

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

farming

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

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

Áras an Uachtaráin

Lighten Up: Auld Lehane for president

Our Auld Lehane is busy packing his bags for a new life in Áras an Uachtaráin as Ireland's premier, in this week's Lighten Up

Sat, 26 Jul, 2025

Cow bonding with her newborn calf

Plan ahead now to get autumn calving off to a smooth start

Remember a cow in the dry period is like an athlete in pre-season and you must prepare the system for the season ahead, writes independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Fri, 25 Jul, 2025

Iowa Corn Field

Grain deals, straw steals: Now’s the time to buy smart

With soil temperatures well above normal, if we get more moisture, we can expect a supercharging of grass growth

Mon, 21 Jul, 2025

RICHARD HARRIS, THE FIELD, 1990

Denis Lehane: Glenroe and The Field taught me more about farming than any classroom

Richard Harris as The Bull McCabe taught me more about farming passion than any advice from a whiteboard ever did

Sat, 19 Jul, 2025

Paula Hynes: Do you have a beef with the cost of living?

Paula Hynes: Do you have a beef with the cost of living?

The next time you hear a politician or an MEP saying they have got your back, ask them what their stance on EU food security is, writes Aherla dairy farmer Paula Hynes

Fri, 18 Jul, 2025

Indoors chicken farm, chicken feeding, farm for growing broiler chickens

Is it the thin end of the wedge for flat rate Vat compensation scheme?

It has come to pass in the past week that minister for finance Paschal Donohoe has made the decision to remove the poultry broiler sector from the Vat flat rate addition scheme

Tue, 15 Jul, 2025

Paula Hynes: A truly great Yorkshire show

Paula Hynes: A truly great Yorkshire show

A successful show for Georgie and making memories that will last a lifetime

Mon, 14 Jul, 2025

LAND ASSECHEE LOT ET GARONNE

Grass under pressure as rain stays away for much of the country

The recent dry spell caused difficulties for many beef and dairy producers around the country. Grass growth slowed down dramatically on many farms, particularly in the south and east, writes independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Mon, 14 Jul, 2025

The Irish Post Awards 2024

Lighten Up: Flatley for president? Make Ireland dance again!

There's only one serious candidate to be Ireland's next president, writes Denis Lehane in this week's Lighten Up

Mon, 14 Jul, 2025

Row of brown cows staring over a wall

Brian Reidy: Weanling sales and managing grass for suckler performance

Some say successful beef and dairy enterprises are one-third breeding, one-third feeding and one-third management. But in truth, it's 100% management, writes independent ruminant nutritionist Brian Reidy

Wed, 09 Jul, 2025

red wooden private property sign farm land no right of way no public access

Ask a solicitor: I live abroad and worry I might be targeted by squatters

It is important that landowners living abroad are not careless about the risks of adverse possession, writes rural solicitor Karen Walsh.

Wed, 09 Jul, 2025

Man giving presentation

Denis Lehane: To the book readers of Macroom Mart

Any place well accustomed to the bawling of a bullock would have no bother dealing with the bellowing of auld Lehane and his tales from the 'Lighten Up' column

Mon, 07 Jul, 2025

Paula Hynes: A presidential visit to Charleville Show

Paula Hynes: A presidential visit to Charleville Show

A hectic show life makes for a hectic farm life, as there is always work to catch up on, writes Paula Hynes

Thu, 03 Jul, 2025

Siobhan Kavanagh: Seeing the progress that farmers are making to improve environmental sustainability

Siobhan Kavanagh: Seeing the progress that farmers are making to improve environmental sustainability

At this time of year, I am packing up the car with wellies, raingear, and sun screen, and heading out around the country to judge the family farm finalists in the Teagasc FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards.

Thu, 03 Jul, 2025

Cows walking approaching, towards and oncoming in a group, a herd on a path to the milking robot under a blue sky

Farm View: Where are the profits for Irish dairying supposed to come from now?

'More cows for more litres for more profits' is not compatible with the nitrates situation, writes Stephen Cadogan

Mon, 30 Jun, 2025

Paula Hynes: The Royal Highland, a field evening and a farmyard loss

Paula Hynes: The Royal Highland, a field evening and a farmyard loss

It is always great to experience overseas shows, but the days are long so the trips are far from a holiday, writes Paula Hynes

Mon, 30 Jun, 2025

Risk assessment

Ask a solicitor: Does it really matter if I haven't done a risk assessment?

I know I am supposed to have a health and safety statement in place and Risk Assessment Document, but I have kept putting it off. What it is the importance of this?

Mon, 30 Jun, 2025

Calculating home finances!

High profits, high tax: Why 2025 could catch farmers out

Higher farm profits usually result in higher income tax liabilities, but the tax liabilities don’t usually manifest themselves until the following year, writes rural accountant Kieran Coughlan

Wed, 25 Jun, 2025

Paula Hynes: Special K with a hint of Chocochip at the Cork Summer Show

Paula Hynes: Special K with a hint of Chocochip at the Cork Summer Show

Last weekend's Cork Summer Show was a great success for Paula Hynes and her 'special K Club' which she hopes to continues in the Royal Highland Agricultural Show in Edinburgh

Tue, 24 Jun, 2025

Man signing last will and testament

Ask a solicitor: What happens when your spouse leaves you out of the will?

When one spouse dies leaving a will, and the surviving spouse has not renounced his/her rights, then that surviving spouse has a right known as a 'Legal Right Share' to a share of a portion of deceased spouse’s estate, writes solicitor Karen Walsh

Mon, 23 Jun, 2025

Close-up of excavator at construction site. Backhoe digging soil for earthwork and construction business. Excavating machine at

Ask a solicitor: The amount I've been offered won't even cover my building materials

We agreed on a price of €50,000. The job is now done and I asked for payment, but now he is saying it couldn’t possibly be this amount and that we never agreed on that price, writes this week's reader

Thu, 19 Jun, 2025