This working life: 'Working on a farm, there is no separation with your home life'

Kylie Woodham, Owner/manager, Magners Farm in conversation with Mary McCarthy

Beliefs: Magners Farm owner Kylie Woodham is keen to maintain high ethical standards

Mary McCarthy

March 19 2020 02:30 AM

The pecking order

When I moved to Ireland from Australia in 1998, it was my willingness to empty the bins that got me a job with Coolmore Stud.

I started in the advertising department, working up to media director 11 years later. I had been working for 'Racetrack' magazine in Japan and my boss put me in touch with Richard Henry, who is in charge of advertising at Coolmore Stud.

On the day we were to meet at the Irish Derby, there was a mix-up and I waited two hours - this was before we had phones.

Eventually, he turned up and invited me for a tour at some vague stage in the future.

So when I went straight to Fethard the next day, he was a little taken aback; I was extremely keen to get a job there.

Hatching a plan

I met my husband Billy working at Coolmore and when a position came up for him in the Australian operation in 2009, we grabbed it. We had four children and the plan was for me to stay home, though I set up an advertising company while they were at school. I can't go half in on something; it is all or nothing.

Coolmore instilled in me exacting standards on animal husbandry and farm management that I use as my benchmark now I have my own small egg farm in Tipperary. When Billy's father died in 2017, we moved back to the farm we had bought 13 years previously.

I started out with 10 hens as a hobby and eight months later took delivery of another 150. I never set out to create a brand or a company; demand grew for the eggs and it turned into a full-time job.

Our kids, aged 11, 14, 15 and 18, are a massive help and are treated like proper workers, putting their hours in the wage book. I had not factored in how much work it would be - Billy jokes he has two full-time jobs as he usually heads straight out after dinner - but also how beneficial it would be for our family. The kids are so aware now of where their food comes from. They know exactly how much effort goes into producing a carton of eggs.

Racing interest

I grew up in New South Wales on a mixed farm and when I was 12, my father died so we moved into town. I really missed that life and every summer would go and stay with the Lavis family in Braidwood NSW, and work on their farm with horses.

When I finished school in 1989, I took a year off and went to work in Japan riding race horses, returning to Sydney to study for a bachelor of business in agriculture business.

Afterwards, I returned to Japan and when my brother decided to move to Ireland for a working holiday, I thought why not go with him? I have always welcomed new adventures.

Farmers are always working from home. Unless farm workers get sick, production won't be slowing with Covid-19. Coming into spring is such a busy time - there is no question of remote working and most farmers live on their farms anyway.

I am lucky my kids are a bit older so I don't have to supervise them and over the next few weeks, they will be giving me a hand once their school work is done. I know people are stockpiling eggs but the hens won't stop laying.

If anything good comes out of this pandemic it will be that people have a renewed awareness and appreciation of the supply chain that puts food on their tables.

Sunny side up

I am part of a producers' group - the Tipperary Food Producers - and we meet up at the farmers' market at Cahir Castle most Saturday mornings. Farming can be quite isolating so it's important to chat with other farmers, and to have a good whinge so you feel you are all in the same boat.

The Tipperary Food Producers have a WhatsApp group and it's a comfort to know that they are there if you need help.

I would be hyper-conscious of supporting them. I try to source my fruit, vegetables and meat from my farmer friends. There is a real sense of community.

Work-life balance

Working on a farm, there is no real separation with your home life. Your lifestyle is inextricably linked to your work.

But it is all how you frame it. I love working outside and if I need to relax, I go for a ride on a horse or do some gardening.

We are still a small farm producing 700 eggs a day, but we are working toward our organic certification and plan to grow.

I have no ambitions to change the world. I just want to stick to my ethical beliefs and offer up as many delicious and nutritious chemical-free eggs, produced by happy hens, as I can.