Tomás' Blog

Week 3

The three tasks this week were animal handeling, a fencing task and farming events.

The calf task involved selecting a calf number, finding your calf and putting it in a trailer and closing the door. It took me a while to find to find my calf and I found the tailor hard to close as it was very old.

For the fencing task we were split into pairs I was paired with Peter. I was happy, as I knew Peter would be a good worker. Our method was to get the basics right and the rest will follow. My goggles kept steaming up so I couldn’t see a that well which held us back a bit.

When my name was called out and I was eliminated from the competition I was disappointed but overall it was a great experience for me and I wish the best of luck to those fine young farmers.

Week 2

I was really excited about week two because we were finally getting down to the tasks. When I heard our first task was going to be a cattle dosing. I was nervous as cattle dosing is an every day task for the ordinary farmer but being put in a situation where you are under pressure with the judges marking you, and the added pressure of being on camera, I was feeling the heat. Over all I was pleased with my performance I forgot to put on the gloves when dosing the cow but I feel I dosed her properly and that was the main thing.

The breed’s task involved attaching the correct animal names to the correct breed. I knew a lot of the breeds but there were a few that threw me a bit. I was disappointed with my performance on the tractor task. My tractor at home is small and fairly basic I’ve had her for years. When I was presented with the John Deere tractor I knew I it going to find it difficult.

The judge’s comments to me were very kind and fair in particular Mauras words of encouragement.

Week 1

I was really nervous and excited on my first day of Feirm Factor; excited for what challenges lay head. It was great to meet the other eleven farmers from different farming backgrounds. They are a friendly bunch and everybody is excited for the tasks ahead. We were given a fab new Snickers and Dunlop gear. We sure look the part anyway!!

I enjoyed the open forum talking about the issues that affect the farmer of today. I think the forum was as good as primetime anytime!!!

We received the Keys to the Land Rover off the lovely Maura its very exciting knowing that I have a one in 12 chance of winning it.