Ross Murray
County Down, Northern Ireland
Beef & sheep
BEEF & SHEEP, COUNTRY DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND: Ross is the seventh generation of his family to farm, and runs the family farm amid the rolling hills of County Down with his mother, father and brother. The farm, given to Ross’s parents by his grandfather on their wedding day, comprises 30 acres (12 hectares), and an additional 70 acres (28 hectares) which are rented. Their grass-rich fields are home to 150 breeding ewes, 26 breeding cows and 50 beef cattle.
Ross is passionate about continuing Northern Ireland’s tradition of small family farms, which have largely disappeared from the rest of the UK. Most of his fields are just four or five acres (around two hectares). The farm is unable to provide a livelihood, so all the family have full-time jobs elsewhere too. Ross works as constituency manager for a local member of parliament.
The welfare of the farm’s animals is a priority and they are checked twice a day to ensure they’re in good health and to detect any problems as early as possible. To build up his livestock’s resistance to worms and parasites and ensure good quality grass, Ross uses traditional methods of rotation, with sheep and cattle alternating grazing fields. In winter, animals are provided with straw bedding (rather than slats) to keep them as comfortable as possible.
The main difference from the way Ross’s father farmed is that Ross artificially inseminates his cows using semen from Belgian blue and Limousin bulls to improve their carcasses for a top quality meat. In the case of the sheep, he buys in rams in the autumn to improve the stock but uses his own home-bred ewes to breed replacement ewes.
Ross enjoys watching rugby, reading biographies and books about the two world wars, and walking along the River Lagan with his partner and three dogs. He is strongly involved in his local rural community; he is on the board of governors at his local primary school and is a trustee of his local community hall.
Talking Point
Ross is keen to continue Northern Ireland’s tradition of small farms and would like to see more government support to ensure they survive. “I believe family farms are at the very heart of our rural communities and the continued loss of these farms is having an irreversible impact on our proud social history of family farming,” he says.
He is also concerned that Northern Irish farmers are being unjustly blamed for the outbreak of blue green algae in nearby Lough Neagh, a menace that’s persisted for decades. “Any member of the public listening to the news or social media would come to the conclusion that blue green algae was caused by farming practices such as slurry and fertiliser. Conveniently, the news fails to focus on other causes, such as the pumping of raw human sewage into the lough, invasive zebra clams and warming temperatures. Farmers are taking the flak which is unfair. Government proposals for tackling the issue should be targeting the sewage companies and those disposing of industrial waste, not just farmers.”
Declared interests
Member of Ulster Farmers Union
On Board of Governors of Maralin Village Primary School
Trustee of Magheralin Community Hall