The Heartland Season on RTE

johngalway

Philip Boucher Hayes, George Lee, the Ear To The Ground Team and A.N. Other who's name I have forgotten are doing a series of documentaries on Farming and the Irish food Industry starting this coming Sunday I believe.

Check RTE website just in case I've gotten that wrong

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_whats_eating_ireland.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_the_home_place.html

Not sure what it's going to be like but the more farming stuff on TV the better I reckon.

keep going

saw the programm about food tonight,thought that was a programm that needed to be made but do ye think it will have any impact

reilig

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

johngalway wrote: »

Philip Boucher Hayes, George Lee, the Ear To The Ground Team and A.N. Other who's name I have forgotten are doing a series of documentaries on Farming and the Irish food Industry starting this coming Sunday I believe.

Check RTE website just in case I've gotten that wrong

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_whats_eating_ireland.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_the_home_place.html

Not sure what it's going to be like but the more farming stuff on TV the better I reckon.

bob charles

and what do I usually say about advisors, preachers, journalists etc in the Ag industry. seems to shine through here. didn't see the programme and sad to hear how things went for the chap

Box09

Very negative comments here Reilig.

Dara comes accross as a well educated guy and is justifiably in the position he is in. Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06. He could have spent all his life working every hour god sends for half of the income he has now. Thats no standard of living. He now has a guaranteed income and a supplementary income from the farm. He gets to meet people and have a life and balance this with some evening work on the farm. This is a much better life than a full time dairy farmer.

He saw an opportunity and went for it. Perhaps he should have wet his toes a little first with onions. However there is no shame in taking a risk. The guy is bright and will do well for himself.

The objective of ear to the ground is to appeal to the wider public like BBC Counrtyfile.

reilig wrote: »

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

reilig

If i was negative, I was only passing on the negativity that he gave during the interview. It was as if he was saying that there was no future in Dairy farming so he took a big gamble and lost big on it. When his father talked about the dairying, he spoke positively and he seemed a bit angry that his son had squandered everything that he had worked to build up.

Darragh said that farming for him wasn't about the money - he said that farming was the one thing that he wanted to do all his life - but that quickly changed when he made a baLL$ of the family farm.

Some people don't have an off farm job or a third level education to fall back on. They have to rely solely on their farm - but if you were to follow Darragh's advice and lead, then nobody should be involved in farming unless they have an off farm job to supplement their income - Bull$h1t!!!!!

While the objective of Ear to the Ground may be to appeal to the wider public, 75% of their stories are still farm based. Just because Darragh writes about farming doesn't mean that he has knowledge of or is an expert on farming.

Look at the BBC's Countryfile' Adam Henson - a brilliant presenter who regularly allows filming on his own farm to show the good and bad things happening. Information and advice given byb him is solely based on experience - he and his family operate one of the biggest farms in the uk.

You cannot compare Adam and Darragh - and they are both trying to produce a similar type of tv program.

Box09 wrote: »

Very negative comments here Reilig.

Dara comes accross as a well educated guy and is justifiably in the position he is in. Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06. He could have spent all his life working every hour god sends for half of the income he has now. Thats no standard of living. He now has a guaranteed income and a supplementary income from the farm. He gets to meet people and have a life and balance this with some evening work on the farm. This is a much better life than a full time dairy farmer.

He saw an opportunity and went for it. Perhaps he should have wet his toes a little first with onions. However there is no shame in taking a risk. The guy is bright and will do well for himself.

The objective of ear to the ground is to appeal to the wider public like BBC Counrtyfile.

MfMan

The way I understood it reilig, the first few years growing onions were ok, it was the 3 wet years, which no-one could have predicted that put the kibosh on him. Give him some credit, he could have gone the easy route and reared livestock; instead he's willing to try something outside the box in growing daffs on some of the farm. He didn't say what he did with the rest of the land, whether it's set (most likely) or sold.

reilig

MfMan wrote: »

The way I understood it reilig, the first few years growing onions were ok, it was the 3 wet years, which no-one could have predicted that put the kibosh on him. Give him some credit, he could have gone the easy route and reared livestock; instead he's willing to try something outside the box in growing daffs on some of the farm. He didn't say what he did with the rest of the land, whether it's set (most likely) or sold.

They interviewed his neighbour who is suckling - I presume they interviewed him because he rents the rest of the land from him. I think he only grows 5 acres of daffodils. The other 200+ acres are leased out.

keep going

g wiz relig go easy on him. didnt see the program but i kind of agree with you but havent we all got a couple skeltons in the closet

Box09

There was no future in dairy farming when the cows were sold only heartache for pittance. Its easy to say that we all wanted to farm when we were growing up but when reality hits its not so attractive when you have bills and mortgage to pay. Its very harsh to say that he made a baXls of it. Luck went against him. I'm sure he didn't squander everything his dad built up. I would assume that the sale of the cows went to his parents. He probably has a better standard of living by renting it out and keeping a small acreage for himself. Nothing foolish there.

I didn't compare Darragh to Adam. Adam Henson has a different scale of resources behind him which is not representative of a typical Irish farm.

reilig wrote: »

If i was negative, I was only passing on the negativity that he gave during the interview. It was as if he was saying that there was no future in Dairy farming so he took a big gamble and lost big on it. When his father talked about the dairying, he spoke positively and he seemed a bit angry that his son had squandered everything that he had worked to build up.

Darragh said that farming for him wasn't about the money - he said that farming was the one thing that he wanted to do all his life - but that quickly changed when he made a baLL$ of the family farm.

Some people don't have an off farm job or a third level education to fall back on. They have to rely solely on their farm - but if you were to follow Darragh's advice and lead, then nobody should be involved in farming unless they have an off farm job to supplement their income - Bull$h1t!!!!!

While the objective of Ear to the Ground may be to appeal to the wider public, 75% of their stories are still farm based. Just because Darragh writes about farming doesn't mean that he has knowledge of or is an expert on farming.

Look at the BBC's Countryfile' Adam Henson - a brilliant presenter who regularly allows filming on his own farm to show the good and bad things happening. Information and advice given byb him is solely based on experience - he and his family operate one of the biggest farms in the uk.

You cannot compare Adam and Darragh - and they are both trying to produce a similar type of tv program.

reilig

Box09 wrote: »

There was no future in dairy farming when the cows were sold only heartache for pittance. Its easy to say that we all wanted to farm when we were growing up but when reality hits its not so attractive when you have bills and mortgage to pay.

But in the interview Darragh's father said that he was making a good living from his Dairy herd. While he stated that he supported Darragh's Onion enterprise, he didn't appear all too happy about it.

At the end of the day, Luck goes against a lot of people but we have to pick ourselves up and get on with our farming. Darragh didn't - he had an off farm job to fall back on. And it just looked like he abandoned the farm.

I have nothing against they guy, I didn't think his interview was appropriate for the Heartlands Program. I just thought it was sad for his parents to be interviewed talking about all the work that they had put into their farm and how Darragh's grandfather had bought the farm against the odds. Darragh turned around in the interview and basically said "I gave it a go, it flopped, so I just went back to my job - I grow a few daffodils now just to show that I'm still into the farming.

Life isn't so Rosy for everyone!!

Birdnuts

keep going wrote: »

saw the programm about food tonight,thought that was a programm that needed to be made but do ye think it will have any impact

Sure was!! - but will this government have the b$lls to take on any of the issues highlighted or will they just roll over like they have with the banks!!:(

F.D

reilig wrote: »

But in the interview Darragh's father said that he was making a good living from his Dairy herd. While he stated that he supported Darragh's Onion enterprise, he didn't appear all too happy about it.

At the end of the day, Luck goes against a lot of people but we have to pick ourselves up and get on with our farming. Darragh didn't - he had an off farm job to fall back on. And it just looked like he abandoned the farm.

I have nothing against they guy, I didn't think his interview was appropriate for the Heartlands Program. I just thought it was sad for his parents to be interviewed talking about all the work that they had put into their farm and how Darragh's grandfather had bought the farm against the odds. Darragh turned around in the interview and basically said "I gave it a go, it flopped, so I just went back to my job - I grow a few daffodils now just to show that I'm still into the farming.

Life isn't so Rosy for everyone!!

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,
but he's not the only one to do things like this i see more and more people who were reared on farms have no interest in taken it on no matter how good or bad the set up is, a lot of it is down to the fact its not handed down soon enough and not getting the younger generation involved, i think darraghs father needs to be given a pat on the back for passing it on and stepping back, no matter what the outcome was.

5live

Box09 wrote: »

Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06.

WHAT???????? Damn. I must go back and reconfigure my accounts because i made good money in 06. And 05. And 07. Will i be able to claim a refund on taxes in those years i wonder?

I would have to agree with reilig on this one. The father was putting on a brave face but he took it badly. But he is not the first to hand on a farm only to not like what the sucessor does with it

It must be fairly difficult to engineer a loss on a fully set up dairy farm in 06 but maybe it happened.

Or maybe he didnt fancy the lifestyle involved when he had an alternative income source. Or he didnt fancy milking cows.

I stopped recording ETTG a good while back as at this stage its just a fluffy lifestyle programme a bit like watching gorillas in a nice strong cage you dont have to enter but can have a laugh at the eejits inside from the safety of your own couch. With the exception of Ella who made a brilliant programme on the killing and processing of her own pigs, the other two presenters have as much connection to agriculture as a duck to the sahara

reilig

F.D wrote: »

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,

I heard that too - but didn't want to quote it as it was second hand info.

whelan1

F.D wrote: »

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,
but he's not the only one to do things like this i see more and more people who were reared on farms have no interest in taken it on no matter how good or bad the set up is, a lot of it is down to the fact its not handed down soon enough and not getting the younger generation involved, i think darraghs father needs to be given a pat on the back for passing it on and stepping back, no matter what the outcome was.

very good post... i live near there too.

vincenzolorenzo

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

Tora Bora

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

Why a shame to see five acres in daffodils? Maybe there is good money in them.

reilig

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

I was being critical of his attitude rather than what he is doing now. As a presenter, he's supposed to be a role model for farmers. He was well able to talk about how the only thing he wanted to do when growing up was to become a farmer. His father gave the whole lot to him. He tried it for a few years, suffered a bit of hardship and gave up. What would your father do if it was you?? I certainly know that my father wouldn't allow himself to be interviewed on TV if it was me.

By the way, I understand that it was his decision to give up the dairying. The farm might have been in his father's name at the time, but Darragh made the decision that he wouldn't be dairying when his father retired so the father took it easier for the last year of his work by giving up the milking.

MfMan

I stopped recording ETTG a good while back as at this stage its just a fluffy lifestyle programme a bit like watching gorillas in a nice strong cage you dont have to enter but can have a laugh at the eejits inside from the safety of your own couch. With the exception of Ella who made a brilliant programme on the killing and processing of her own pigs, the other two presenters have as much connection to agriculture as a duck to the sahara

ETTG aren't the only culprits; see Damien O Reilly's column in the back page of the Countrywide section in the IFJ, esp. the bit about 'sentimental' cattle and the A-one man!

pakalasa

MfMan wrote: »

ETTG aren't the only culprits; see Damien O Reilly's column in the back page of the Countrywide section in the IFJ, esp. the bit about 'sentimental' cattle and the A-one man!

...well, my AI guy is A-one, in fairness...sound man!

Corsendonk

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

I don't think he is too harsh on him, Dara just hadn't got a clue about the large difference between dairy farming and horticulture. Incidentally 3 other growers in the north co dublin area have grown onions successfully and better quality in the same years as Dara but then again they had years of knowledge growing potatoes and other outdoor veg crops.

Min

reilig wrote: »

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

Helen Carroll's father was an agricultural advisor with Teagasc here in Kilkenny, sadly he died rather suddenly.

keep going

listen lads we all get things wrong ,sometimes big sometimes small and it bothers me to see a situation like that but as i say to my wife if we dont get them right(our kids) we are wasting our time .what ever you do buy land, build,or expand remember you must try to rear your children to be happy, hard working,open minded and honest.nothing else matters

vincenzolorenzo

Tora Bora wrote: »

Why a shame to see five acres in daffodils? Maybe there is good money in them.

I meant it was a shame to see just 5 acres of good land in use when it seemed like there could be so much more done with all the other land he has. Wouldn't have the first notion about the economics of daffodil production so there could well be great money in it, just a shame he's not using more of his land

Tipp Man

Nice to see south tipp on the tv tonight.

First family, the o grady's are about 7 miles from me.

vanderbadger

Tipp Man wrote: »

Nice to see south tipp on the tv tonight.

First family, the o grady's are about 7 miles from me.

ya nice looking farm, seemed like sound people, thought it was funny when the sons wife was on about the money they make going back into farm..always a new project..same old story for eveyone i suppose

thetangler

reilig wrote: »

I was being critical of his attitude rather than what he is doing now. As a presenter, he's supposed to be a role model for farmers. He was well able to talk about how the only thing he wanted to do when growing up was to become a farmer. His father gave the whole lot to him. He tried it for a few years, suffered a bit of hardship and gave up. What would your father do if it was you?? I certainly know that my father wouldn't allow himself to be interviewed on TV if it was me.

By the way, I understand that it was his decision to give up the dairying. The farm might have been in his father's name at the time, but Darragh made the decision that he wouldn't be dairying when his father retired so the father took it easier for the last year of his work by giving up the milking.

I'm with Reilig on this one. Supposed to be a role model (in his present job) and caved in before the first shower fell.

""What would your father do if it was you?? ""

Tipp Man

vanderbadger wrote: »

ya nice looking farm, seemed like sound people, thought it was funny when the sons wife was on about the money they make going back into farm..always a new project..same old story for eveyone i suppose

As the programme indicated they have farmed there for a long time and the farm was always big. 200 acres was lot of land 50 years ago. The land from which he was driving in the cows is very good land, dry and sound. The 100 acres that the son inherited first is on the other side of the river so much closer to the mountain and would not be as good quality. Still its all together so they have that advantage

As the son said himself it never stops with farming, there is always something to be done and money to be spent. I was only saying to the auld fella a couple of weeks ago that with the fairly new parlour and shed we are nearly done spending money for a while once they are paid for. He proceed to list about 10 things that will need to be done in the next few years. It never stops.

I think non farming people greatly underestimate the money that a lot of farmers spend on the rural economy

JohnBoy

would it have killed him (the first guy last night) to run a power washer over the parlour before filming?

There was a layer of cowsh*t on the whole place.

whelan1

JohnBoy wrote: »

would it have killed him (the first guy last night) to run a power washer over the parlour before filming?

There was a layer of cowsh*t on the whole place.

was saying the same... jesus especially if you're going to be filmed:o

Corsendonk

whelan1 wrote: »

was saying the same... jesus especially if you're going to be filmed:o

In defence of the farmer, perhaps the documentary markers wanted to show the warts and all so requested he didn't powerwash the place down.

leg wax

no one ever sees their own dirt:rolleyes:

johngalway

Most people watching probably wouldn't have noticed, I didn't

pajero12

F.D wrote: »

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,
but he's not the only one to do things like this i see more and more people who were reared on farms have no interest in taken it on no matter how good or bad the set up is, a lot of it is down to the fact its not handed down soon enough and not getting the younger generation involved, i think darraghs father needs to be given a pat on the back for passing it on and stepping back, no matter what the outcome was.

Are you sure? That parlour they were standing in didnt show any sign of traces of modern machinery!

MfMan wrote: »

ETTG aren't the only culprits; see Damien O Reilly's column in the back page of the Countrywide section in the IFJ, esp. the bit about 'sentimental' cattle and the A-one man!

Ah we can blame spell correct for that one, My ag science examiner was impressed with my cattle section of my project...She didnt cop that i had wrote sentimental about 25 times

stanflt

im sorry i didnt post on this topic earlier- i only watched the mcculloughs being interviewed today

growing up the Elmgrove herd was one of the finest pedigree herds possibly in the country- the reality of it was never mentioned in the tv article

the robotic parlour was the beginning of the end and it never got a mention- the cows didnt get used to the parlour and wouldnt come in to get milked- extra labour had to be got just to bring cows in and make sure they were being milked at least 2a day- the parlour never worked properly and was thrown out within 2 years- this expences along with the onions unfortunately crippled the farm

the reality is that it could happen to anyone

whelan1

stanflt wrote: »

im sorry i didnt post on this topic earlier- i only watched the mcculloughs being interviewed today

growing up the Elmgrove herd was one of the finest pedigree herds possibly in the country- the reality of it was never mentioned in the tv article

the robotic parlour was the beginning of the end and it never got a mention- the cows didnt get used to the parlour and wouldnt come in to get milked- extra labour had to be got just to bring cows in and make sure they were being milked at least 2a day- the parlour never worked properly and was thrown out within 2 years- this expences along with the onions unfortunately crippled the farm

the reality is that it could happen to anyone

we where talking about this earlier at home....the cost of the robot alone would have been massive.... onions was a strange choice after growing up with fantastic cows all your life.... its his dad i felt sorry for really.

JohnBoy

Corsendonk wrote: »

In defence of the farmer, perhaps the documentary markers wanted to show the warts and all so requested he didn't powerwash the place down.

If he cared he would have had it done before they got there. Projects a poor image of dairy farming, but didnt hugely surprise me.

The two tractors are fairly new and well on their way to being beat to pieces, the box they were loading the calves into was only hanging together. The bales he was stacking with the front loader were just being tossed into a shed.

Those things were poor, but just a rough farmer investing his money in things like the parlour and the underpass, but the state of the parlour was terrible imho.

Surely to god if RTE are making a documentary about you then you'd try and have things half right.

whelan1

surely if the dairies came round and inspected the parlour they would not be impressed.. i t only takes a minute to wash the wet crap off the bars as the cow does it...

pakalasa

What ya think of the lazy-weeder?
Had to laugh at that one.:D

vincenzolorenzo

Thought it was a great idea! And i loved yer mans attitude-open up the throttle a bit and make them pick a bit harder

whelan1

missed last nights.. it was past my bedtime;)

keep going

JohnBoy wrote: »

If he cared he would have had it done before they got there. Projects a poor image of dairy farming, but didnt hugely surprise me.

The two tractors are fairly new and well on their way to being beat to pieces, the box they were loading the calves into was only hanging together. The bales he was stacking with the front loader were just being tossed into a shed.

Those things were poor, but just a rough farmer investing his money in things like the parlour and the underpass, but the state of the parlour was terrible imho.

Surely to god if RTE are making a documentary about you then you'd try and have things half right.

hold on lads i bet ya that if we took a camera into any of your yards we could all pick holes in the place. or are ye like the lads who say they never lose an animal :rolleyes: we are gone very negative on what should be a positive thread

whelan1

keep going wrote: »

hold on lads i bet ya that if we took a camera into any of your yards we could all pick holes in the place. or are ye like the lads who say they never lose an animal :rolleyes: we are gone very negative on what should be a positive thread

i know no one is perfect, i will be the first to hold my hands up there:D but seriously would you let a camera in to your milking parlour with crap embedded on to the bars

JohnBoy

whelan1 wrote: »

i know no one is perfect, i will be the first to hold my hands up there:D but seriously would you let a camera in to your milking parlour with crap embedded on to the bars

Exactly.

No-ones perfect, and the place is a bit rough, so be it, as I said, he's clearly been diverting money over the last few years into productivity and upgrades, like the parlour, and the underpass, and the two tractors. I'm sure in time the rest will get sorted.

But in all fairness, if you're going on national TV, being filmed producing milk, one of our great clean, green, national exports, would you not think it a good idea to wash the layer of sh*t off the parlour?


Seriously, it's on the RTE player, go take a look again at the scene where he's milking.

johngalway

pakalasa wrote: »

What ya think of the lazy-weeder?

I had herself (city girl) watching it last night, thought yer one was onto a good thing there. I said why wouldn't she be with all the child labour (no offense intended!)

Username John

Have to agree with keep_going - we are making this thread a bit negative.

If the parlour was perfect - would we be saying that a bit more time with a power hose would make the tractors look cleaner...
and then - why didnt he fix that broken indicator on the Zetor...
and then - why didnt he fix up the old trailer - or borrow one from a neighbour when RTE were there...

Oh no - I remember a thread here commenting on the new tractors in the tractor-cade there a while back, and it made people think all farmers had lots of money. So new clean tractors are a no-no

I hear what yer saying that a bit of time with a power hose in the parlour would give a better image. But lets not be too critical...

It was a good show I thought, very interesting and a good mix of views from people in different situations.

Corsendonk

pakalasa wrote: »

What ya think of the lazy-weeder?
Had to laugh at that one.:D

Seen a more hightech version in the UK used to pick strawberries, good idea and cuts out the backache.

Muckit

I watched Mondays and last night's episodes. Didn't get to see ETTG gang (and haven't viewed it on RTE player yet.

I thought it was a very good programme. I felt it protrayed a very realistic image of farming. And thought that lad of the O'Grady's was dead right when he said that farming would drive you into the ground if you let it. There's always something to be done, work is never finished. So I suppose when he'd his 160 cows milked at 'cowtime' in the morning and again in the evening and fed the calves and done his few other bits, doing a bit of powerwashing and fixing up the place for the TV cameras were the last things on his mind. They came across to me as hardworking down to earth lads that knew what life was about.

The farmtrac and Zetor, not to mention the Daihatsu and the trailer were there to be worked, not admired !! The place definitely wouldn't win the IFJ tidy farmyard competition, but it could possibly be as viable, if not more so than a farm that would win it.

I thought the woman that lost her husband was a great example of the Irish farming Mammy. Very straight talking and under no illusions about anything

Min

I agree with Muckit about Mrs McEntee who lost her husband to a farm accident.
The part about the death of her husband was very sad.

The O'Grady's seemed like your typical farmers in that they were down to earth and hard working.

I thought the sociology woman was a bit too negative about the future of farming.

pakalasa

Jeez, I just watched the 3 programmes, the 2 'Home Place' and 'Ear to the ground'. We've a right bunch of gossipers on here...:D.
I think ye're being a bit too hard on yer man Darrgh McCullough. It was just downright bad luck that he got into onions right when we got the very wet summers. As for the cow sh1te on the O'Grady milking parlour, that was funny...they're probably looking at it everyday and never even notice it. I thought the son had a very good head on his shoulders. Good programmes though - better than Farm Factor anyday.
Some scary figures on farm incomes -

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1098092
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1097860