THE SOUTHERN STAR AND CELTIC ROSS HOTEL ‘WEST CORK FARMING AWARDS’ FARM FAMILY WINNER: THE SALTER FAMILY

AS a teen Philip Salter enjoyed showing Dairy Shorthorns on the West Cork and national circuit.

‘My late father Robert would have shown cattle in the 70s and I grew up seeing photos of him at shows around the house, and I hounded him until he bought me a Shorthorn so I could do the same’ Philip fondly remembers.

The Castlehaven man has been a regular at shows since 2014 and is now joined by his three children, and together they are all enjoying incredible success.

He’s the third generation to farm at Rea in Castlehaven, following in the footsteps of Robert, and his grandfather James. Growing up Philip said he ‘has always had a passion for farming’.

Robert, and his late wife Lily were dairy farmers and when they retired Philip, who by then was a trained accountant, found himself at a crossroads. He realised he would have to fully commit to a dairy enterprise, switch to a less work-intensive suckler farm which he could combine with an accountancy career, or even step away entirely from farming.

‘Stepping away was never a real option – farming is like a drug. It’s in the blood and there’s no cure for it, it’s in me for better or worse! It many ways it would have been far easier to walk away but I never considered it,’ said Philip.

He completed an agriculture course in Darrara College, invested heavily in the farm’s infrastructure and after the dairy herd was sold he worked tirelessly to gradually build up the sucklers.

‘I always had a few stock of my own and when I took over the farm I decided to go down the pedigree line,’ he said, choosing Shorthorns as they’re ‘docile and placid, easy to manage and very saleable.’

Currently, the stock comprises of 30 suckler cows in which around 25 are pedigree and followers. Philip has built up a highly-sought-after Castlehaven Beef Shorthorn herd using AI straws from all over the world and top-end bulls.

Their current stock bull is a former champion at Tullamore, and they also bred a bull to go into an AI station, which reflects their success.

‘A lot comes down to trial and error and experimentation; you won’t get it right every time but you try to judge it as best as you can,’ said Philip.

Married to Caroline, from Dunmanway, the couple are parents to Gemma, (19) who is in her second year studying Ag Science in UCD; Zoe (16) who is in 5th year in Skibbereen Community School; and Ross (12) who is in 6th class in Abbeystrewry NS. They are all involved in the day-to-day running of the farm and in showing animals.

Farming family the Salters - Philip; Gemma; Zoe; Caroline and Ross - on their farm in Castletownsend, West Cork, Ireland. Photo: Andy Gibson.

With Philip and Caroline working off-farm, it’s a huge bonus to have an available, and more importantly, willing and enthusiastic ‘work force’ to help with everything from feeding, calving, and bedding .

Their involvement in showing started very organically, remembers Philip.

‘I stopped showing probably for around a decade as dad was laid up and we were caring for him at home, but we decided to return in 2014, as the kids were stronger and we could all go as a family. They all grew up with it and loved it and couldn’t wait to get involved themselves,’ he said.

The trio tirelessly train their animals, and are responsible for all the grooming and clipping, as well as the other elements.

Ross is the current All-Ireland Young Handler for Shorthorns, having won the title in Elphin, Co Roscommon. That was made even more impressive given Ross only met his calf the morning of the show.

Zoe won the intermediate title that day, while Gemma won the reserve senior title.

Gemma and Zoe claimed the prestigious Senior and Intermediate All-Ireland Young Stockperson titles at the highly contested Ballinrobe Show in Mayo recently and again, after just meeting their animals that morning. The long drive from West Cork meant it wouldn’t have been fair to travel with their own animals.

‘My favourite time of year on the farm is at calving season, seeing the new arrivals and picking the next year’s show team.

‘During the summer, I enjoy taking those calves to shows and being able to walk them around the ring,’ said Ross.

Meanwhile, Zoe is involved in the Shorthorn Youth Development Programme.

‘I found my involvement in the Development Programme very useful, learning valuable knowledge that I can apply on the farm and show day. I really enjoy participating in shows, not only for my love of cattle but also for the people I’ve met along the way, making it really worthwhile,’ she said.

Gemma, like her dad, has a clear passion for farming so choosing Ag Science as a third level option was ‘an obvious choice’.

Like Philip, Caroline is very proud of the children and their achievements.

‘There’s a lot of life lessons to be learned on a farm. They do it willingly, because they love it, and it’s a great way to learn that hard work pays off, to learn discipline and a good work ethic that will stand to them in life.

‘It’s not a matter of being handed a rope on show day. They’re involved with the animals right the way through.’

Winning The Southern Star Farming Family award came as a genuine shock to the Salters.

‘It’s a great way to finish off what has been successful year for us as a family,’ said Gemma.

‘It’s such a surreal feeling and a lot of the credit has to come back to dad because we learned it all from him, and couldn’t have done it without him.’

‘We might be in the ring showing animals but we’re not ones for the limelight. This is a big surprise but a really brilliant one!’ concluded Philip.

Why we support West Cork farming

‘Cultivate’ is the Credit Unions’ national farm finance brand, and available at three West Cork Credit Unions – Access, Bantry and Macroom.

Between us, we have six local offices, in Bandon, Bantry, Castletownbere, Macroom, Schull and Skibbereen. Nationally, Cultivate is now available through a network of nearly 200 credit
union offices.

We are delighted to continue our association with The Southern Star West Cork Farming Awards, and we are pleased to sponsor the Farming Family award again this year, for the fourth year running.

Farming is part of the fabric of West Cork, and the family farm is its bedrock. Last year, this award was won by joint recipients Denis and Colette O’Donovan from Glandore, Veronica and John Cullinane from Ballineen, Marie and John Hurley from Dunmanway, and Sean and Fiona Deasy from Timoleague.

They had set up a scheme to reconnect primary and secondary school students with the agri-sector through farm visits.

We’ve been looking forward to seeing who wins this year’s Farming Family award.

Credit Unions are rooted in our communities. We employ local people to deliver local services to local communities, and we go the extra mile.

The Credit Union mantra is: keep it local, keep it personal, keep it simple. These characteristics have always been the hallmarks of the service provided by Credit Unions in the personal lending market. They have led to the Irish people having a great trust in Credit Unions.

For 11 years in a row now, Credit Unions have been voted number one for customer experience in the CXi Ireland Customer Experience Report.

Credit Unions have brought these values into our growing relationship with farmers through Cultivate.
Nothing is more important to Credit Unions than relationships, because Credit Unions are financial co-ops, and we at Access, Bantry and Macroom Credit Unions value more than anything our relationship with our members, the people of West Cork.

That’s why we are so delighted to continue to sponsor the West Cork Farming Awards. Kudos too to The Southern Star, the Celtic Ross Hotel, Ifac and all the other sponsors of the West Cork Farming Awards.