Articles

May was a great month for growth at Castlefarm. The combination of heat and rain was perfect for grass and clover growth. The cow paddocks are full of lush grass and the cows are producing great milk, high in butterfat and protein.
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Yay December, our quietest month on the farm. We have dried off the cows and the whole farm is in winter holiday mode. No milking for six weeks. The main job each day on the farm is feeding silage and straw bedding. It’s time to catch up on work and prepare a little for the spring. This month we will be fixing fences and clearing calving sheds for the spring.
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What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce
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At Castlefarm the breeding season has finally ended. The Aberdeen Angus bulls that were brought onto the farm to ‘clean up’ after ai have been sold. We have cut our second cut of pit silage and have cut and wrapped 130 bales for the winter. Half of our spring born heifer calves have been farmed out to another organic farmer, who will rear them under organic standards for the next year. We are constantly under pressure for grass, hence the need to have our calves contract reared.
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At Castlefarm the breeding season has begun. This month we begin 6 weeks of intensive AI before the Angus bull arrives to join the herd.
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What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce
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What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce. This month Jenny gives us food for thought by comparing subsistence agriculture in Ethiopia with their own high tech Irish farm.
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The farm is in muck. It is cold, wet and dreary so I am glad we will finish milking in mid December. At present we are milking 60 cows once a day. The other cows have been dried off. Calves born earlier this spring have been housed for the winter and heifers (first time calvers) have been brought back to the home farm.
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What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce
more...

What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce
more...