How was 2021 for you?

Built a new shed. Delighted with result but pity I didn’t build a year earlier. Cost well over budget. Got a few other pieces on tams. Made great fodder during summer. Worked from home for most of it with no official e as a result of covid.

great lamb prices. Was a great year really.

Not a great one. Family illness and working from home during Covid has led to it being a pretty poor year all round. Hardly been out the door since Covid started.

On the farming side of things it's been okay. Got plenty of fodder gathered up and a few less cattle so winter has been very stress free this year. Got good prices for most of what we sold. Disappointing weights for some of this years calves, but having sat down and looked through them I've got mitigations for most of it and hopefully now they are in shed they'll kick on.

Will be glad to see the back of it regardless of how things went on the farm.

Started building our house in the summer, slow progress but hopefully it'll be finished in 2022. Got married in September. On the farm front it was like any other year really, had a real nice bunch of weanlings that never weighed as heavy and topped the sale but had an equal bunch of middling stragglers too that I really need to tighten up on. Got a lot done but found it a stressful year to be honest and don't think next year will be any better. Between organising the wedding and keeping on top of the build and doing small jobs off farm aswell it felt like I spent most of the year chasing my tail on farm. Dreading calving starting again 🤮

It has been a great year, weather has really compensated for the Covid. I think had it been a bad year, weather wise, there would've been a lot more depression about, Farmers are really least affected by the Covid, Product prices were the best part of it., it didn't matter if extra feed was required. it was cost effective.

However I didn't get my boat on the shannon ........yet

Probably one of the best years here, started of with birth of 4th baby. Finished off building house that started Nov 21 moved in start Dec and ended with baby no 5 coming 2 weeks later.

Farming had a good lambing with very few loses, but was busy and let growth rates drop by going into grass too heavy. Cut back on fert while still selling off extra grass for zero grazing.

Good year here aswell. Everyone healthy. Was a busy year contracting. Finally retired from the military so way more time at home with the farm and less stress with the off farm job.

Changed a few machines which surprised me as I feared the cash flow upset from retiring but that thankfully didnt materialise. Was supposed to build a shed but didn't happen due to a few things. I have it only its flat on the ground.

Learned lots with the reseeding in 2021 with the different crops and results from different experiments that farmers did.

Christmas was a bit of a disaster with covid but sure we will have to move on. Next year is looking promising already as have people ringing about reseeding already so hoping it will be as busy as this year.

A good idea I think at year end to make a note of machine / tractor hours, car mileage, water meter readings etc. for year-on-year comparison. Also, a note of stock on hand and bank balance(s). Big help for again when compiling accounts.

Yea thanks, everyone says the pacemaker will make a big improvement, I hope they're right, I'm getting it on monday week.

Best of luck with it. Dad is on his third one here.(long story) He was constantly fatigued and had taken a few mini strokes. He’s like a new man after getting them.

The first year in 10 that things did go right for me, and some of those years were as low and soul destroying as it could get and at times were close to being more than I could handle.

Everything comes better in time.

You definitely become less worried about other people as you get older, and happier because of it. If only we could tell the teens and young adults that and they’d listen

Pretty **** really this covid thing is starting to isolate us a bit down here, used to have some friends and family call down over Christmas and never came this year, The few that's around the place here are not moving around and staying in there palaces with the electric gates closed, piss off gates as I call them, probably on social media and zoomcalls, not great in my opinion, lucky enough I work outside the farm and meet the work colleagues and we have the bit of crack.

Let's not sugar coat whelan, they can be right bitches at all ages!!

Hey grass she ain't your partner anymore she's your wife.

Ya may get used to the idea 😉

I was thinking that when I hit post alright

It was a bad year on grass growth around here. Even the good back end came a bit late. Got away with not much going wrong on the farming front but it was hard enough going all year to keep on top of everything.

Trying to heal the body before calving. 43 now and feel as though I have aged by about 5 years in the last 12months. I've alot of repetitive strain injuries to heal.

5 day family holiday planned for January. Might keep them happy because I'm very bad at getting away all year for any more than 2 milkings at a time.

Happy new year everyone.

That’s tough going. I lost both my parents within six weeks of each other in spring. Be sure to have someone you can talk to.

2021 can just go get f**ked.

On a farming note things went fairly well bar the odd hiccup. Have lots of fodder and got decent prices for both lambs and cattle only major blip is 5 empty cows at scanning.

Personally I've never found a time as tough as this year. Wfh in the first couple of months of the year meant that myself and the wife were like two ships passing in the night with me working 9-5 and her minding the two small ones and then swapping at 5. We also had two miscarriages over the course of the year and I will never forgive the staff in Mullingar hospital for the ordeal my wife endured especially for the DNC procedure for the second missed miscarriage, anyone who would force someone through that on their own and banish their partner to the carpark has no real empathy. I will never give another cent to any fundraising for Mullingar. This year I have had to stop listening to news, most social media and even to an extent boards as impending doom from a lot of it was too much especially with no end ever in sight. Christmas in isolation here was the last straw and I have vowed not to pass anymore heed to guidelines and regulations any more, I will wear my mask and wash my hands and after that I don't care anymore.

It's really a great feeling to be up early heading for the mountains down there. Especially on a clear day when the weather is on your side it's great for the mind. I try to get there as often as possible each year myself

Shitte TV didn't watch it, I was in local town Christmas eve and everyone was so nice and welcoming and I said to myself why can't we be like this every day, I have found that the last few years everyone seems more stressed not happy in there jobs, like builders providers, go in to a lot of these places with my work but jesus some of these guys would nearly take the head off you, like the puss on some of them. Maybe they are short staffed and there bosses tightening the screw for more profit and add another zero on to there bank account I don't know. Look that's my rant over as well happy new year to ye all.