A New Life:From the milking parlour to the lecture hall, Lory Higgins tells Michael Kellyabout his decision to leave farming to become a mature student in construction
With all the talk of farmers' markets, it would be easy to believe that we are in the middle of a purple patch for farming.
The reality for farmers in Ireland is quite different - the number of dairy farmers for example has declined substantially from more than 40,000 in the early 1990s to less than half that number now and Teagasc predicts that the number will continue to decline by 1,000 a year over the next decade.
Behind this trend there are individual stories of profound upheaval for the farmers involved. While some choose to work part- time in farming, many opt for a new career and 39-year-old Lory Higgins who ran a dairy farm near Rathnure in Co Wexford falls into the latter category.
Higgins started farming with his father on 70 acres at the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains when he left school and took over running the farm when he was 25.
"I knew from before the time I did my Leaving Cert that I would be farming and when I was 18 or 19 there wasn't a whole lot else for me to do anyway. Farming was good at the time too and I was making good money."
During the late 1990s he began to notice a substantial decline in income. "Each and every year the amount of money coming in was falling. I just saw no future in it. If you wanted to stay in, you had two options - either go part-time, which I didn't want to do, or expand.
"We would have had to double the number of cows, bought more land, got bigger sheds, more machinery. I just didn't want to get in to a very large debt when there were no guarantees that it was going to be viable longer term."
Along with financial concerns, Higgins increasingly felt hemmed in by the lifestyle. "It's a seven-day week, milking twice a day with no let up and when cows are calving it's even busier. I was big into hurling as well so I just seemed always to be rushing from one place to another.
"There's no such thing as two-week holidays when you're farming and for four or five years I didn't go on any holiday at all."
The decision to leave farming is a difficult one for any farmer but another consideration for Higgins was how his father would feel about it.
"He had built it up to what it was so if he had been against the idea that would have been really hard. My father is a forward-thinking man and he was very supportive which was a big boost. It was still tough to see everything that you have worked so hard at being sold off. The day of the sale was very tough."
The question was what to do next. "I suppose I could have done labouring on a site or something but I always wondered what it would be like to go to college. I had done a few night-time courses before and I was interested in engineering."
In the end he opted for a three- year degree course in construction management and engineering in Waterford Institute of Technology.
How did it feel to start student life at 36 years old?
"There are four or five other mature students in the class so it's not too bad, although I am by far the eldest. They treat me the same as anyone else and I have made some very good friends.
"The lecturers do treat you a bit different and I think they understand that it is a big thing for mature students. It's totally different for the young lads straight out of school. They still tend to mess."
He describes his new life as "not quite the full student experience" due to the fact that he's living at home and commuting up and down to Waterford.
"I have joined some societies like the kayaking club and had great craic with them - that's been a fantastic experience. But it's not all night partying or anything."
During breaks from the course, Higgins has worked in engineering and construction firms and he is currently working with a project management company in Dublin on a work placement.
"The placement element of the course is what really attracted me to it because I am playing catch up so it's really important for me to get some experience before I graduate."
So does he miss farming?
"I miss being out on the farm but I don't miss milking cows. I'm having the time of my life. I'm sure when I get out there working it won't all be a bed of roses but for the moment there is no pressure on me and my quality of life has improved 100 per cent.
"I've had golfing holidays and skiing holidays in the last few years which I would never have been
able to do before. I was standing on the side of a ski slope last year thinking that there was no way I could have done this when I had the farm."
Like any student, his plans post graduation may well include heading off to see the world. "I saw my brother travelling when he was young and I could never do it because of the farm," he explains.
"The course is recognised in Australia and New Zealand so I could head off and work abroad. With the Olympics coming up in London, it might be nice to work there for a while too."
It was tough to see all you have worked so hard at being sold off. The day of the sale was very tough