This Farming Life - September on Castlefarm

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

At Castlefarm it is time for our annual oat harvest. We supply our oats to Flahavan’s. Because we are organic we don’t use any sprays or artificial fertilizers. Once our contractor sows the oats in spring, we shut the gate and don’t do anything else until the end of August/early September when they become ripe to harvest. Then we organise the contractor to cut the oats and they are transported to Flahavan’s. It’s a lower yielding system than conventional, but also a less time consuming one.

Our organic chicks are growing at a fast rate and their yellow fluffiness is long gone. They are a Brown Lohmann breed, inquisitive birds which are popular within organic farming circles and lay brown eggs.

Their feathers are turning brown and they have quadrupled in size over 4 weeks. In late autumn I will sell most of these chicks and keep 50 for myself. I am also rearing some young ducks as replacements for my laying ducks. They are mostly Khaki Campbell, a breed that is popular on Irish farms; they are prolific layers and good for families to raise.

We have moved the spring born calves onto an out farm, to extend our grazing season on the home farm. We have also retired the bull. Although he is only 4 years old, we are fattening him up to sell him for beef.

Since we bought him, two years ago, annual lameness has caused him fertility problems. Although we do 2 months of AI, our Aberdeen Angus bull is an important safety net. If a cow does not go in calf, economics means we have to sell her on, so we need a more reliable Aberdeen Angus bull for next year.

Also on the farm this September we are making the last batches of Castlefarm cheese. We make cheese off grass produced milk. In my opinion it makes better cheese. We are also waiting for our honey to be harvested. Unfortunately it was a bad year for honey, with yields on our farm down 50% on last year.

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Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, log onto www.castlefarmshop.ie or telephone 087 678 5269 Follow us on facebook or on twitter @castlefarmjenny