Aidan Cousins

Clondra, Co. Longford

My name is Aidan Cousins and I have a farm in Clondra, on the Longford Roscommon border.

I have a Hereford herd here on the farm, and I run a Hereford bull with around 25 suckler cows. I’ve been farming Herefords for a long time, about 30 years. It has always been the most successful breed for me. They are very easy calving, they’re quick to get up, good sucklers and as cows they always have plenty of milk.

I monitor the herd’s weight gain closely, in July I’ll go through all my 1 ½ year old stock, I’ll pick out which bullocks and heifers are going to finish off grass. I prefer to finish the heifers off grass, it’s the better environmental way to go and Herefords are very efficient that way.

I have mixed grazing system with the ewes and the Herefords, the combined grazing really benefits both the cattle and sheep.

I’ve been farming Herefords for a long time, about 30 years. It has always been the most successful breed for me.

The farm also has a small forestry plantation, that was started in 1990, it is predominantly citrus spruce. We harvested that in 2019, which was a great income boost for the farm, we replanted a year later in 2020.