Limerick farmer wrapping bales not gifts this Christmas

DURING the freezing cold spell last week while the rest of us wrapped up warm, one Limerick agricultural contractor was out wrapping bales.

Eddie Conway, based in Ballysimon, got a call to cut silage on a farm in Caherconlish while an Arctic airmass was over Ireland and not the summer sun, but he wasn’t long dusting off his machinery and started cutting on December 13. 

“We’ve often cut a lot worse!” laughed Eddie.

Teenager passes away after contracting meningitis

“It was grand, a good covering of grass and we travelled on the land the finest. Grass has been growing since last September because it was so mild up until recently. You had so much rain in October and into November that farmers didn’t get a chance to graze it,” explained Eddie.

The agri contractor with 32 years experience has been asked to do zero grazing - cutting grass and bringing it straight into cattle - once before in December but never baling silage.

After cutting 20 acres on Tuesday, Eddie started baling on Friday.

“We left it down as long as we could so that it would dry out some bit. We made 110 bales,” said Eddie. Its quality won’t be known until next year.

While this is his first time baling silage in December, Eddie famously baled straw in Thomond Park in 2010 after it was used to protect the pitch from freezing temperatures.

But making silage in December has to be the final straw for Eddie who wishes his customers a ‘McHale’ and hearty Christmas.