My father is an Agricultural Contractor, so I grew up around farming and agriculture. I got my tractor licence at 16 and joined the family business drawing silage during my summer holidays from school. I would still have a huge interest in the family business and continue to work there in the evenings and weekends and organise my holidays from work around the silage and grain season.

Here are five reasons why I love working in agriculture.

1. My love of animals.

I have had a huge love for animals and working on the land from a very young age, it was something I was always brought up with and like most Irish country people it was bread into me.

2. The work is very rewarding.

I find after a day setting/ploughing or even a day fencing, it’s very rewarding as you can see the improvements you are making to your farm and that is a very satisfying feeling. It is a completely different feeling to completing a pile of paperwork on your desk in the office. Even though it is very tough, physical work, it is the most rewarding job you can have.

3. You can't find other people like farmers.

I feel that farmers are a completely different breed of people that you wouldn’t find anywhere else, especially Irish farmers. Irish farmers have a completely different way of thinking and working to anyone else on the planet. This really intrigues me, and I feel that you can learn a lot from these people and they are always willing to help out a young person like myself and share their knowledge from years of experience.

4. Where would all the food come from?

Without farmers and the agricultural industry, there would be no food in the world. People underestimate farmers and people in agriculture. You may be laughed at growing up in school or being the “farmer” of the class, this was especially evident in an all-girls school in a town setting, but if farmers were to stop doing their work and peoples food source dried up, you would appreciate farmers a lot more.

5. A culture you can find in no other industry.

A farmer’s work is never done; there are no set hours, you don’t clock in at 8 and out at 5. You start first thing in the morning and you finish when the last job is done at night, there are very few jobs that this is the culture. That is why I love working in agriculture mainly the farming side if it as it is a culture you would find in no other industry. The love people have for their job in this industry even though during harvest season or calving season you may never see sleep but farmers still love their job.