As Nicole herself says, she’s a bit of a part-time farmer on her grandparents’ farm in Co Cork – but that’s because she’s working on her PhD during the week at college in Waterford. Nicole’s area of study is reducing antibiotic usage in the dairy herd by investigating alternatives, which will have the benefit of preserving high-strength antibiotics for human use, rather than veterinary use. Another angle on dairy sustainability.

“We look after the cows better than we look after ourselves” – Tom tells us about the care that Irish farmers take with their cows, he talks about Irish dairy being the best in the world and he says that culling the national herd would be a disaster. He also lets us know that, rather than being a farmer, his daughter would like to be a unicorn or a fairy.