Paul Ryan from Rathdowney, Co Laois has no doubts or regrets about his choice of career.
"I have known since I was a child I was going to be a farmer. I like everything about it. It's fantastic, and a noble activity. I love it. And it does allow for time off. As I've got a bit more organised, I've got better at it and I can go away. But I can't afford it. Farming is a super career, but the money is absolutely poxy. If we're to get anything approximating comfortably-off, the price of cattle will have to rise several-fold and more, but that won't happen. All other negatives, the weather or whatever, the farmer should take on the chin.
"We live in a recently-renovated cottage on the edge of Rathdowney, not on the farm. We're working on plans to build a house on the farm. We have no kids, but we do have two dogs, a sheepdog called Lacka, and an Irish water spaniel called Curley or Bridie - we're not sure which yet, although it's a year old.
"The farm is about 170 acres in total, a little bit of which is still owned by my family. The rest was given to me by my father in the 1980s. He bought the land in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He's a retired solicitor. I farm it all."
The farm has both cattle and sheep. The bovine herd comprises beef cattle, sold when about one year old, and pedigree Charolais cattle, nurtured to be sold as genetically-superior stock bulls. The sheep flock numbers about 200 ewes, mostly to produce lamb for the export market to France, about 30 of which are pedigree registered Charollais. "We also produce stock rams to sell to commercial producers. There are all kinds of simple, and complex, procedures for producing genetically superior stock bulls. Some are very simple and old fashioned - we breed the best of the best - and others are complex. It's very technical and mathematical - a complex procedure where a particular sire is used over several flocks. It's all about prowess."
Paul's wife Solenn brings French flair to the enterprise. "I met her in France when I went with my brother to look at Charollais sheep. We'd bought Charollais sheep in England, formed a breed society and went to France to meet up with the parent society. Solenn was working for them at the time. She spoke Chinese, and the French were trying to get Charollais sheep into China. She was the export director for the French marketing company. She's from Paris - her family had a tillage farm not far from Charles De Gaulle Airport. She has been teaching French for the past few years and she's an accomplished shepherdess."
"You can feel isolated in farming, frequently. It's repetitive. It doesn't involve meeting too many people. I'm not a loner by nature, but I am working all the hours God sends in spring and winter. It's very intensive and it's very difficult, but it is a job where you can drop tools and fix your roof, or go away for a few days. My extended family know farming and would throw an eye on cattle while I was away. You could say I share farming with my brother, Michael, who's a solicitor in Rathdowney (and who also has a farm) when I'm away. I come from a family who turn a pound as solicitors, but whose hearts are in the land, really.
"But the truth is, my income is so pithy it doesn't allow for continental holidays. But I am fortunate enough to have a place I can visit in Perugia. It feeds the senses. It's relaxing. And the Italians are lovely people. I love their style, their food, their hospitality and their culture. What I like most about Italy is being invited by friends to dinner parties. I love sitting on a veranda in the evening sipping wine and chatting."