The Southern Star and Celtic Ross Hotel ‘WEST CORK FARMING AWARDS' OCTOBER MONTHLY WINNER: Gretta Cleary, Schull.

The October monthly award is sponsored by

FOURTH-generation Schull farmer Gretta Cleary has the distinction of owning the best beef cow in the country.

Gretta’s Salers-Cross-Charolais was awarded the ‘2025 Euro-Star Index Award’ at the prestigious RDS Livestock Awards, which promote excellence in breeding and genetics, in April.

The Euro-Star Index is a breeding index designed to aid beef farmers in the selection of more profitable breeding animals.

It quantifies the genetic component of an animal’s performance across all traits of importance for Irish suckler farmers.

‘It was a complete surprise to win the award, but lovely recognition of the work done on the farm over the past 36 years,’ Gretta said.

For those that like the technical details, the cow is currently on her fifth lactation and boasts an exceptional Replacement Index of €257 which places her in the top 1% on the Replacement Index nationally. She first calved down at 28 months and her average calving interval is 376 days.

Gretta pictured with her grandchildren Timmy and Kayla.

The winning cow mightn’t look like a show cow but she’s a very high performing animal and importantly with a lovely docile temperament, Gretta added, reflecting her genuine love for all her cows, award winning or not.

The tragic death of her brother Tim Joe Daly in a car crash in 1989, when he was only 36 years old, saw Gretta and her family take over the running of the farm in Dereenatra, where she was born and reared herself.

Her father Jack was a dairy farmer, however Tim Joe had converted to a suckler enterprise which Gretta continued, clearly enjoying considerable success.

‘We started off with a small herd of pedigree Charolais and over the years any replacements were crossed with AI Salers. Today our Limousin stock bull runs with some of the herd, while we use AI for replacements,’ explains Gretta, adding that in total they have 30 cows in their Mount Gabriel pedigree herd.

‘We also contract rear jersey calves for a local dairy farmer,’ said Gretta. ‘We receive the herd after they’ve been weaned off milk when they’re around six months. When they come into heat we inseminate with sexed semen before returning to the owner for calving. Once their calves are weaned they come back to us again.’

Gretta is an active user of the Icbf HerdPlus service.

‘It’s been an invaluable tool for improving our herd management and enhancing the genetic quality of our cattle. Having all the information to hand of every animal allows us to make breeding decisions. AI is also a great way to produce high merit genetic replacements and having the advice of an experienced AI technician like Connie O’Driscoll in Schull makes a great difference.’

Gretta is a mother of three. Gavin lives in Toormore and is a joint herd owner with Gretta; Lorraine is a teacher in Schull and Donna is a rural development officer in Durrus; and she’s a proud grandmother of five.

She is also very well known for her 45-year career as secretary working in the vet clinic in Ballydehob.

‘I started there when Donna was just eight days old, in 1980. She was born on May 22nd, and I started on May 30th, doing a day a week for 10 months and then working full time until three years ago when I reached pension age.’

Schull, West Cork, Ireland. 27th Sept, 2025. Gretta Cleary, Farming Awards winner for October 2025. Photo: Andy Gibson.

Gretta (69) now works there part time and still really enjoys it – and says she’s picked up a fair bit of knowledge over the years that helped at times on her own farm.

She enjoys daily walks on the farm, checking animals, which she says keeps her fit and healthy.

‘It’s very rewarding to see the herd thriving. It’s also one of my greatest pleasures to see grandkids Timmy and Kayla getting involved and helping out on the farm.’

When she’s not working or farming, herself and her partner Sylvie Murphy enjoy country music and going dancing .

A bit like winning the Livestock award, winning The Southern Star award was another surprise – albeit a welcome one.

‘I’m still digesting it to be honest!’ she said. Gretta would love to see what would be the sixth generation taking over the family farm.

‘Farming is part of who I am, I love it and think it’s a brilliant way of life. There were five of us as children, and the jobs were something we had to do, but the older I get the more I want to do it and the more I like it.’

Why we support West Cork farming

Owen O’Driscoll & Associates have been assisting farmers in West Cork for 30 years.

Formed in 1995, we at Owen O’Driscoll & Associates are proud to be October’s sponsor of the West Cork Farming Awards, and would like to wish Gretta Cleary our warm congratulations in winning the award this month.

With 30 years of experience in meeting the agricultural consultancy needs for the people in West Cork and South Kerry, we aim always to provide a professional service to optimise and protect all of our clients’ farm income.

Our reputation and professional farm advice has led the business to significant organic growth, and today we are proud of the substantial experience and depth of expertise we hold in every sector of the agri business. The firm has consistently grown over these last decades to a staff of 14 today, with offices located not only in Skibbereen but Kenmare too. Embedded in the rural farming community of the region, all of our staff members share the original ethos of dedication to quality of service and practical support and advice for our clients.

Providing a confidential, independent, and professional service, we are proud to support farmers across West Cork. We know and understand that the business of farming is ever-more strictly regulated, and we are pleased to be in a position where we can guide all of our clients with a professional service, aiming always to eliminate the stress of paperwork.

We are an approved ACRES/FAS planning agency with the Department of Agriculture, and have been in operation since the opening of the REPS scheme way back in 1995. Not only this, but we are well-versed in the Basic Income Support for Sustainability scheme, the TAMS programme, and the Organic Farming Scheme. We guide our clients through the intricacies of farm partnerships, the obligations of ATV training, and the ever-topical requirements of the nitrates derogation.

We at Owen O’Driscoll & Associates have been committed to the local farming community for three decades, and look forward to many more.