Arthritis and two “dodgy knees” were the main reasons behind John Liston’s move from dairying into suckling two years ago.
The Croom, Co Limerick farmer turned his dairy herd into organic production 20 years ago and was one of the founders of the Little Milk Company, which provides organic milk to cheese producers.
Their cheese has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Coup de Coeur in Paris and Gold in the World Cheese Awards in 2018.
However, John’s herd of Friesian and Jersey cows were turned into a 40-cow suckler herd to allow him to farm his 200 acres less labour-intensively.