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00:00Hello and welcome to Ear to the Ground.
00:02This week on the show, Dara is in Kerry with a sheep farmer
00:05who lost half his flock to thieves.
00:08So when I started Yadrim, I knew those big problems
00:10and then I found the reality of what was after happening.
00:13Stephen will be in Cork with an onion farmer
00:16who used his redundancy check to buy a failing business.
00:19The money was in my account so I said I might still go back out and stay out there.
00:22I might still stay broke.
00:24And I'll be in Mayo meeting a young farmer
00:27who's changed how he farms to give himself and his family a better life.
00:30So this is like having another farmer on the farm.
00:34Yeah, a smarter farmer.
00:56There is only one narrow road in and out of the Clayda Valley in East Kerry.
01:03When I visited last month, Storm Branagh had just hit
01:06and was making its presence felt.
01:10You have locks at all the gates now.
01:12Oh, all the gates are locked.
01:13That's the way things have gone.
01:15Dennis O'Connor's family has farmed these hills for over 100 years.
01:20He works part-time in security
01:23and usually keeps around 330 sheep on about 500 acres.
01:28But early last September,
01:30he discovered a large number of his animals appeared to be missing.
01:35So Dennis, your flock would be up here during the summer?
01:39Yes, all the way.
01:40As you can see here, that's the very top of here on the right.
01:43But as you go to the left,
01:44it continues on for about 3.5km.
01:46And all the ground is like this.
01:49Like, this is as good as it gets.
01:50Oh, this is as good as it gets.
01:52If you're not from the area
01:53or have local knowledge of the area,
01:55you get lost in 10 minutes.
01:57I mean, up first or second of September,
01:59started bringing the sheep off the mountain for shearing.
02:01And into the pins here, down.
02:02Into the yard.
02:03Into the yard, yeah.
02:04So what was it that you realized,
02:06hang on a second, I'm missing sheep here?
02:09Well, that's when I started gathering.
02:11I knew there'll be problems.
02:13So I took them into the pin then, down here on the yard.
02:15And we counted them two or three times
02:17in case we were doing something wrong.
02:20And until then I found the reality of what was after happening.
02:24With the weather worsening,
02:26Dennis and I took shelter in the house he grew up in.
02:30Although it's been empty for years,
02:31Dennis now spends his nights here.
02:34While his wife and four children
02:36remain in the family home near Killarney.
02:39What did you realize you had lost?
02:42Well, I counted them three or four times.
02:44I was down 120 sheep.
02:46I was nearly 100% sure that they were stolen.
02:49Because we said for 120 sheep,
02:50you can't get them in the corner,
02:52forget them in the corner.
02:53It's just not possible.
02:55If it was five or six or even 20,
02:57you'd say, yeah, they're probably here and there.
02:59But not 120, no.
03:02After his loss,
03:03Dennis moved his remaining sheep
03:04nearer to the house to keep a closer eye on them.
03:07But teeth struck again in mid-October.
03:11I was down 29.
03:13Then they were actually down here.
03:15So because of the door taken from under my nose.
03:18Was that it?
03:18No.
03:19I counted again the 10th of November.
03:23I know his own thing.
03:26In the space of a couple of months,
03:28Dennis ended up losing nearly half his flock to theft.
03:32I suppose there'd be a little bit of embarrassment, maybe, that...
03:36There would, and I suppose a bit of pride.
03:39Because they'd be saying,
03:40Jesus, like, why can't he watch his own flock?
03:42Watch, didn't that bloody big like?
03:44And then now he knows the place
03:45like the back of his hand holes
03:46happening under his nose.
03:48Outside the door.
03:50Then now he'll say,
03:50Jesus, like, let me say,
03:52if he can watch that,
03:52he shouldn't be found in the house.
03:57You're living on your nerves the whole time
03:59because get up the morning,
04:00it's the first thing on the morning.
04:02Yeah.
04:03Sorry.
04:05It's upsetting.
04:18The sheep stolen from Dennis
04:20were part of a flock
04:21that he'd spent most of a lifetime building.
04:24As well as keeping
04:25traditional black-faced mountain sheep,
04:28he'd bred more valuable animals
04:29like Texels, Cheviots and Shore Lake.
04:34It was all part of a bigger plan
04:36to make this farm more viable
04:38for his son, Dunham.
04:41You must hate to see
04:43what's happened to your dad
04:45when you know how much work he's put into.
04:48You spend your whole life
04:49trying to breed him up
04:50and get the best breed you can
04:52and then someone's taken just like that.
04:54And it's crazy to think
04:56how someone can just steal
04:57someone's whole work of their life.
05:02He's broken from it.
05:03The whole family is.
05:04And the pressure all the time still
05:07tightening in the background.
05:08There's no switching off.
05:10If I'm at home or if I'm working,
05:12I'm checking my notifications constantly,
05:14checking the cameras,
05:15make sure everything was okay,
05:16no one there and stuff.
05:19Because Dennis keeps his sheep
05:21for most of the year
05:22out on Cominage,
05:23which is open hill
05:25and shared with other farmers,
05:27his animals cannot be insured
05:29against theft.
05:31Put a value on the sheep
05:32that have disappeared
05:34from your flock.
05:35I spend, I'm talking about $30,000.
05:38A lot of money.
05:40Have you any hope
05:41of ever getting
05:42the value of those sheep
05:44restored to you?
05:45I'd say, I don't hope.
05:47Like, who's going to give you $30,000?
05:48Just, not going to happen.
05:52Unlike cattle,
05:53the movement of sheep in Ireland
05:55is not closely regulated.
05:57Ear tags can be easily removed
05:59and replaced
06:00and stolen animals sold on.
06:02The only other scenario
06:04is that Dennis' sheep were killed
06:05and the meat was sold illegally.
06:08But the Garda press office
06:09told Ear to the Ground
06:11that there is no indication
06:13at this time
06:14that large numbers of sheep
06:15are being stolen
06:16to be illegally slaughtered
06:17and their meat sold
06:18on the black market.
06:20Dennis' case
06:21is still under investigation.
06:24Eamon Horgan
06:25and Jason Fleming
06:26are both farmers
06:27and IFA representatives.
06:30Cases like this
06:31have been happening,
06:32I suppose,
06:33throughout the country
06:34with many, many years,
06:35but not on a huge scale like this.
06:38And you have many small scale
06:39cases that don't be reported.
06:41and it's vital
06:41that every case is reported
06:44and set a database
06:45and you could see
06:46the places that have been targeted
06:48for to manage
06:49sheep rustling going forward.
06:51There is big, big numbers
06:53involved in this.
06:54It takes a lot of work.
06:55You don't carry them home
06:56and put them into
06:56a backyard or a back shed.
06:58There has to be an outlet for this.
07:00While that outlet is there,
07:02these cases are going to continue.
07:04Where are the likes of Dennis' sheep
07:07ending up?
07:08I mean, we're talking
07:08of hundreds of sheep.
07:09I suppose the reality
07:10they're going into the black market
07:11and they're going through
07:12the food chain.
07:12Someone has to know something.
07:14Look, there has to be
07:15proper investigation
07:16around this.
07:17Where are these 160 sheep
07:18ending up, right?
07:19This is a man's livelihood
07:20we're talking about here.
07:21I mean, this can't be happening
07:22on a regular basis.
07:23Who's the next farmer
07:24down the road
07:25or over in Corker
07:26or above in Donegal?
07:27Every group has to get together
07:28and see,
07:28can we set up a roadmap
07:29forward here
07:30in relation to all this?
07:33Come spring,
07:34Dennis and Donna
07:35will begin the work
07:35of rebuilding this flock
07:37to what it once was.
07:40In the meantime,
07:42Dennis keeps a lonely vigil
07:43over his remaining sheep.
07:47Dennis, you're here
07:48in a house
07:49that was vacant for years
07:51on your own
07:52every night.
07:54I'd like to be at home,
07:54but I'm not at home
07:55because I'm here.
07:57How long will that continue?
07:59It's just hard to know.
08:00Yeah.
08:01I have to know.
08:03We'll be hoping
08:04that there is
08:05an Indian site,
08:06but at the moment
08:07I don't see it.
08:09But we'll be hoping
08:09that every day
08:10that goes by
08:11and you don't have
08:12a theft
08:13or something happening,
08:15we'll be hoping
08:16that it might see light
08:17at the end of the tunnel.
08:17But I don't see light
08:19at the end of the tunnel.
08:30Well, that's it for part one
08:31coming up after the break.
08:33Stephen is in tears
08:35in Cork.
08:36I have to say,
08:36it's after hitting me.
08:37So it is.
08:38It'll only get worse,
08:39don't worry.
08:40And breeding season
08:41on a sheep farm
08:42in Mayo.
08:50If you want your heart
08:51broken as a farmer,
08:52you could try
08:53growing these onions.
08:55And that's why
08:55there are so few
08:56commercial growers
08:57remaining.
08:58But one of them
08:59is here in West Cork
09:00and I've come
09:01to visit him today
09:01to see how he manages it.
09:04Eamon Crowley
09:05grows a thousand tons
09:06of onions
09:06on 60 acres
09:08of rented land.
09:10Eamon, good morning.
09:11Michael West Cork.
09:12This morning,
09:13he is just beginning
09:14to harvest
09:14the first of his
09:15spring crop.
09:17They look as if
09:18they have been topped,
09:19so the top's
09:19ticking off them.
09:20Yeah, so we topped
09:21them up to
09:21about the height
09:22of your wrists.
09:23We're at a top
09:23over that,
09:24about 75 mil.
09:25What we do then
09:26is we leave them
09:26on the ground
09:27for a few hours
09:27and then we come
09:28along with this machine
09:29and dig them
09:30and we leave them
09:32on the ground
09:32to dry naturally
09:33and then we come
09:33along later
09:34and harvest them.
09:35Eamon is one
09:36of just eight
09:36large-scale onion
09:38growers here
09:38in Ireland.
09:39He sows two crops
09:41yearly.
09:42This particular field
09:43was planted
09:44last March.
09:46Over the next
09:47couple of days,
09:48he will harvest
09:48close to 1.5 million
09:50onions from it.
09:52What the harvester
09:54misses is collected
09:55by his wife,
09:56Anne-Marie,
09:56and their three
09:57children.
09:59From the field,
10:00the onions are
10:00brought to a farm
10:01about 30 minutes
10:02drive away
10:03near Dunmanway.
10:05Eamon rents
10:06the outbuildings
10:06here to weigh,
10:07sort and grade
10:08what has been picked.
10:10The onions are going
10:11over the inspection
10:12line and any
10:13debris are being
10:15removed, weeds
10:16or stones
10:17or anything loose.
10:20Eamon wasn't
10:21born into this.
10:22He actually grew up
10:24on a dairy farm.
10:25Tell me about your
10:27journey into
10:27growing onions.
10:29Well, it's
10:30unorthodox,
10:31but basically
10:31in October 2005,
10:33I started working
10:34for Benning Coop.
10:35My role there
10:36was the production
10:36supervisor and
10:37they were growing,
10:39creating, packing
10:40and peeling onions.
10:41So I was there
10:42for eight years
10:42and then in 2012,
10:45the Coop started
10:45to close our section
10:46so then I was
10:47after redundancy
10:48and I basically
10:50bought the peeling
10:51line with my
10:51redundancy money.
10:52So just as the
10:53company decided
10:54I was getting out
10:55of onion production,
10:55you decided it was
10:56a good time to get
10:57end on you in production.
10:58Yeah, the money
10:59was in my account
11:00so I said I might
11:00still go back out
11:01and stay out there.
11:02I might still stay broke.
11:04For the first six years,
11:06Eamon relied on
11:07imported produce
11:08in order to supply
11:09mainly local food
11:10producers with peeled,
11:12sliced or diced onions.
11:15He was lucky
11:16that he was able
11:17to employ two of his
11:18former Coop colleagues,
11:20Daniloga Raikkonen
11:21from Lithuania
11:22and Anatole Kizeta
11:24from Poland.
11:25They've been with me
11:26since day one,
11:27since we started.
11:28We've been working
11:29together for nearly
11:3020 years now.
11:31You brought them
11:32with you as much?
11:32Yes, yeah.
11:33They've stayed with me
11:34ever since, thankfully.
11:36I'm very grateful.
11:37Just a year after
11:39starting his business,
11:40Eamon moved the
11:41processing operation
11:42to a business park
11:43in Bandon.
11:45Before any processing
11:46can take place,
11:47the onions need to
11:47undergo a lengthy
11:48drying process.
11:51They are dried
11:52in 1,000 kilo boxes
11:53with up to 100
11:54of these boxes
11:55stacked on five levels
11:57in a controlled
11:58environment.
11:59Air is blown
12:00into these,
12:01into here,
12:02and then you can
12:02open and close them
12:03depending if the box
12:04is there or not.
12:05Okay.
12:06And we put phone
12:06cushions at the front
12:07end to blow the air
12:08manually up through it.
12:11We recirculate the warm
12:12air from our cold rooms
12:13and from our air compressor
12:15to bring the building
12:16up to about 27 degrees.
12:18And then we just
12:19control the humidity
12:20then with our
12:20extraction fans.
12:21How long is the process
12:23to get them dried down?
12:24Oh, it'll take about
12:24a month.
12:25A month?
12:26Yeah.
12:27It must be hugely
12:27energy intensive.
12:28Oh, yes, it is, yeah.
12:29Yeah, each of those
12:30are eight kilowatt fans
12:31and then you have
12:32the heating costs
12:33on top of it.
12:34But it's the only way
12:35to do it, man.
12:36You have no issues
12:36with storability
12:37after that thing
12:38for storing
12:38for a few months.
12:40The dried onions
12:41can be processed
12:42as orders come in.
12:45The stove feels
12:46the heat
12:46so you can't
12:47in the box.
12:48And the rustling.
12:48You can hear the rustling.
12:49Yeah, that means
12:50that it's dry,
12:51it's good to go.
12:51See, it's after shrinking
12:52all the way now,
12:53it's after removing
12:53the moisture
12:54from the neck of the onion.
12:55That neck is sealed
12:55so the moisture
12:56can't get down
12:57and the onions
12:57won't go off,
12:58essentially,
12:59while they're in storage.
13:00It was in 2018
13:02that Eamon first
13:03grew his own onions
13:04to reduce his reliance
13:06on imports.
13:08He started
13:08by renting 20 acres.
13:11How did that first crop
13:12go for you?
13:14Between the drought
13:15and being incredibly late
13:16planted,
13:17not great.
13:19That was an incredibly
13:20difficult year,
13:212018 was.
13:22That was the year
13:23of the big drought,
13:24wasn't it?
13:24That's right, yeah.
13:25Actually, it was the beast
13:25from the east initially,
13:26and then there was a drought
13:28afterwards.
13:28Exactly, yeah.
13:29It was a hell of a year
13:30to start growing onions.
13:32This year we planted these
13:33on the 19th of March.
13:34That year we planted
13:35and it may have been
13:36called a weekend.
13:38So that's a big gap
13:39for a crop to catch up on.
13:40After that difficult start,
13:42things improved.
13:43Every year since,
13:45Eamon has increased
13:45his acreage under onions.
13:48But he is still
13:49one of only a handful
13:50of commercial growers
13:51here for what is,
13:53after all,
13:54a key food ingredient.
13:56Why aren't there more
13:57onions growing in the country?
13:59Well, I suppose
14:00the big thing is our climate.
14:02Like, the rainfall we get,
14:03it is challenging
14:04to grow a crop like this.
14:06It's the time and cost
14:07involved in drying the onions
14:09for long-term storage
14:10that puts off most farmers.
14:13By offering a prepared
14:15ingredient to his customers,
14:17Eamon can charge a premium
14:18and make it worthwhile.
14:20Eamon, we've come downstairs
14:21and we're just about
14:22to enter the factory floor.
14:23But I have to say,
14:25it's after hitting me.
14:26So it is.
14:27It'll only get worse,
14:28don't worry.
14:28My eyes are actually
14:30really beginning to water.
14:31So it is.
14:31Is there any way
14:32to stop that?
14:33Oh God, no.
14:34We're accustomed to it
14:35now at this stage.
14:36So everyone working
14:37on the production line,
14:38working at the onions,
14:39are probably in tears right now?
14:40I hope so.
14:43There are 13 employees
14:44working on the processing line.
14:47But the most laborious work
14:48is done by machine.
14:50They are cut by
14:51two different series of lines.
14:53And then they go
14:54into a chamber
14:54and get slashed by air.
14:56That's the pulping sound.
14:58And then they come out here
14:59hopefully building.
15:02Increasing the volume
15:03of onions handled here
15:04over the years
15:05has required
15:06some serious investment.
15:09Sounds as if
15:09there was a lot of money involved.
15:11Oh yeah,
15:12it's very capital intensive.
15:13Do you know,
15:14but the day you stand still
15:14is the day you close.
15:16If you could put a figure on it,
15:17what would you say
15:18investment-wise it took
15:19to get to this stage now?
15:20Oh Lord.
15:22Since day one,
15:23there's a little over
15:23a million invested
15:24between all the farm machinery
15:25and everything.
15:26That's significant.
15:27Yeah, but you have to.
15:28It has to be done.
15:30Eamon has built
15:31a thriving business
15:32supplying his onions
15:34to many of Ireland's
15:35best-known food producers,
15:36including Ballymaloo,
15:38Clannacilty,
15:39and Furlan.
15:41Not a bad return
15:42on a redundancy check.
15:45Are you proud
15:45of what you achieved?
15:47Yeah, like,
15:48there's many mistakes
15:49and regret,
15:49but, oh yeah,
15:51absolutely.
15:52There's been a few years
15:53there has been
15:53extremely difficult,
15:54trading years,
15:55but you just have to
15:57learn from your mistakes
15:58and every year
15:59try and make
16:00small steps
16:01and make it better.
16:02No, I have no regrets.
16:03No.
16:03What I do
16:04the same again
16:05in the morning?
16:05Absolutely, yeah.
16:16Last November
16:18on a glorious morning
16:20in the west of Ireland,
16:21I visited the farm
16:22of David Herity,
16:2312 kilometres
16:24south of Westport.
16:29He keeps 350 Romney sheep
16:32on 60 hectares.
16:35I landed on a very important day
16:37on the farm for David
16:39and his son, Ritchie.
16:42It marked the start
16:43of the breeding season.
16:49Morning, David.
16:50Hello, you're welcome.
16:52How are you doing?
16:52Welcome to Cara Reva.
16:53Thank you very much.
16:54Now tell us
16:54what's going on here.
16:55We are after bringing in
16:57a bunch of yos here
16:58and we're going to
16:59separate them up
17:00into their tupping groups.
17:02Tupping means mating
17:03and by being selective
17:05about which yow
17:06goes with which ram,
17:07David can increase
17:08the chances of producing
17:10lambs with traits
17:11he's looking for.
17:13Some of these
17:14will have more lambs born,
17:16other ones will have
17:17better growth rates
17:18and we've matched them
17:19then with the rams
17:20that we have here on farm.
17:22So one of my main goals
17:23is here to try and improve
17:25how many lambs we have born
17:26and then our survivability
17:28because we lamb oats here.
17:30I just think knowledge
17:31is power.
17:32like the more data
17:33the more informed decisions
17:34you can make.
17:35It's the only way
17:36we're going to improve
17:36these sheep like.
17:38A few years ago
17:39David invested
17:41in an automatic sheep handler.
17:43It collects data
17:44on each sheep
17:45and can immediately
17:46match up
17:47males and females.
17:51So we're letting
17:51the sheep up.
17:52It automatically
17:53catches the sheep.
17:55There's some sensors there.
17:57So it's squeezing her
17:58to hold her
17:59and then what's happening?
18:00On the screen here
18:01it's saying
18:02that she's going to X-RAM
18:03and it automatically
18:05swung that gate
18:06to go that way.
18:08So it knows automatically
18:10when her number comes in
18:12it's already matched
18:13her to a RAM.
18:14Yeah.
18:14How much was this?
18:15Are we allowed to say
18:16on camera?
18:17Yeah.
18:17Over £30,000
18:18I paid for it.
18:20Is it worth it?
18:22So we're reducing
18:23labour on farm
18:24by having this machine.
18:25We're increasing efficiency.
18:27I dose all my sheep
18:29through this.
18:30It's taking control
18:30of the sheep
18:31so I'm not wrestling
18:32with them.
18:34While the selection process
18:35is high tech
18:36the next step
18:38needs nothing more
18:39than a tub
18:40of colourful paint.
18:42We put it on
18:43the RAM's chest here
18:44and that way
18:45then when he jumps
18:46the sheep out the field
18:47he leaves the mark.
18:48Leaves this yellow mark on it.
18:50And why as a farmer
18:51do you want that to happen?
18:51So we want to know
18:52that the RAM is working.
18:54It's a way of identifying
18:55which sire
18:56has sired which lamb.
18:59The other two RAMs
19:00were marked
19:01red and blue.
19:04The yellow RAM
19:06meanwhile
19:06couldn't even wait
19:07until he got out
19:08into the field.
19:10So he's wasted no time?
19:12Yeah, they're active.
19:13That's what I like to see.
19:18All things going well
19:19these yews
19:20will have their lambs
19:21in April.
19:25David has been running
19:26this farm since 2012
19:28when his father Richard
19:29passed away suddenly
19:31at the age of just 54.
19:35At that time
19:37David was in college
19:38studying design.
19:41I was away
19:41living my best life
19:42in Letterkenny.
19:44I was 21 at the time
19:45and eh...
19:46Big shock.
19:47It was a huge shock.
19:48Yeah, it was tough now.
19:50Yeah.
19:52I was the eldest
19:53of three of two
19:54younger sisters.
19:56And sure,
19:57you can only imagine
19:58how my mother was.
20:00So I suppose
20:00I took it upon myself
20:01to try and
20:02ease the burden
20:03of the farm
20:04and stuff like that.
20:05And I threw myself into it.
20:08I suppose I didn't know
20:09where I was going
20:10at the time
20:10and this
20:11gave me
20:11focus
20:13and now
20:14any euro I earn
20:16is through agriculture
20:17and listen,
20:19I'm happy.
20:21Initially,
20:22David continued to farm
20:23just as his father
20:25had done
20:25with the lambing done
20:26indoors
20:27and being on hand
20:28day and night
20:29to assist the yews.
20:31I never felt
20:32stressed like it
20:33in that year.
20:34So much work
20:35and I said
20:36I can't be doing this
20:38for the next 30 years.
20:39Something has to change.
20:41It was during
20:42a trip to New Zealand
20:44in 2014
20:45that David first
20:46saw Romney sheep,
20:48a popular breed
20:49over there.
20:50It's renowned
20:51for its extreme hardiness.
20:55They were lambing
20:56outdoors.
20:57They were using
20:58rams with
20:59good growth rates.
21:00They were using
21:01the technology
21:02there to help them
21:03farm.
21:04So there's definitely
21:05an opportunity here
21:06if I want to go
21:07at this full time
21:08for the rest
21:08of my life.
21:10This outdoor-based
21:11system
21:12and the labour-saving
21:14sheep handler
21:14offers David
21:15a better work-life
21:17balance.
21:18And there is
21:19another advantage.
21:21Romney sheep
21:22produce a
21:23high-quality
21:24wool.
21:25Three years ago,
21:26David helped
21:27to set up
21:28the Emerald Romney
21:29Breeders Group.
21:31All their wool
21:32is sold to
21:33Eru,
21:33a Wicklow-based
21:34company owned
21:35by Zoe Daly
21:36and her husband
21:37Lionel Mackey.
21:38And for you,
21:40is it a matter
21:40of the breed?
21:41Do you need
21:42sheep farmers
21:43to change to Romney's?
21:45From our point of view
21:46for textiles
21:46and fashion,
21:47there are certain
21:48breeds that are better.
21:49But the Romney
21:50we're discovering
21:51kind of together
21:52is such a key sheep
21:54for Ireland
21:54and how we believe
21:55we can scale it up
21:57from the production end
21:58and how we can make
21:59it viable
22:00for farmers.
22:01Is it your sense
22:02that there is
22:03a growing market
22:04for the kind of textiles
22:05that you want to make
22:06from the wool
22:07off David's sheep?
22:08There is.
22:09We're selling it
22:10to the hand-knit market.
22:11Our wool is
22:12at the higher price.
22:13But we're seeing
22:14there is a demand
22:15for this full traceability,
22:17valuing of the farmer,
22:18and they're paying
22:19for that as well.
22:20And it is beginning
22:21to grow.
22:23It's been more
22:24than 13 years
22:25since David
22:26and his mother,
22:27Bernie,
22:27lost his father,
22:28Richard.
22:299, 10, 11.
22:30Go, go.
22:31In that time,
22:32David has reshaped
22:34this farm
22:34into a productive
22:36and profitable
22:37one for him,
22:38his wife, Claire,
22:39and their three children.
22:42You're such a rare breed
22:43yourself.
22:44You're a full-time
22:45young farmer
22:46in the west of Ireland
22:47and you very much
22:48see your future
22:48not only in sheep farming
22:50but also getting money
22:51off the wool.
22:52As we're standing,
22:53I think it's working out
22:54between maybe 12%
22:55and 15%
22:56of the profit now
22:57is coming off
22:58the sheep's back,
22:59I suppose.
23:00And it's allowed me
23:01and given me the confidence
23:02to invest in
23:03things on the farm
23:05to help improve
23:05what we're doing.
23:07We're in that position
23:08there now
23:08that it's working now,
23:10thank God.
23:11We're making all the bills
23:12anyways.
23:18Well, that's it for this week
23:20on the show.
23:20Next week on
23:21Air to the Ground.
23:23Dara will be finding out
23:24about a community-based
23:25initiative to bring
23:26hot meals
23:27to smaller schools.
23:29This is an opportunity
23:30to put local produce,
23:31good quality food,
23:32fresh to our children.
23:34Stephen will be finding out
23:35how future changes
23:36to regulations
23:37might impact
23:38some dairy farms
23:40more than others.
23:41And I'll be spending
23:42the day with Yvette
23:42using acupuncture
23:43to treat some
23:44of her patients.
23:45I went to do it
23:46and actually realized
23:48it does work
23:49and it was a revelation.
23:51Don't forget
23:52that this program
23:53will be repeated
23:54on Sunday at lunchtime
23:55after the farming weather.
23:57You can follow us
23:58and contact us
23:59on social media
24:00and you can hear
24:01more farming stories
24:02on Countrywide
24:03this Saturday morning
24:04on RTE Radio 1.
24:21RTE Radio 1.
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