"We wanted to take back control and get more income" was the driving force for Ciara and Robert Stanley from Tullow, Co. Carlow, who decided to diversify their income streams in recent years.

After reassessing the farm business at Coppenagh House Farm during the Covid period, the Stanleys decided that diversification was the way forward.

The beef and tillage 78ac farm was joined by a farm shop with the Country Living fashion brand, a professional embroidery service that was previously based in their house, as Ciara worked full-time, and most recently, a coffee barn.

Meanwhile, Robert continues to run his original business selling, installing, and servicing AGA cookers during the winter months. 

They were originally focused on managing a conventional commercial beef system with a 40-cow suckler herd and breeding bulls for the dairy trade. 

The farm receives support under the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027 through the Basic Income Support for Sustainability and the Eco-Scheme.

Wagyu beef

They added value to their beef enterprise.

Robert said: “Breeding high quality sucklers is what I really like, such as Belgian Blue and Limousin, but we weren’t really being paid for our beef, especially our heifers.

Ciara, who recently took part in the Acorns programme for early stage female rural entrepreneurs which, she said, was enormously helpful, added: "We started with Wagyu beef  boxes, and they proved really popular.

"In between all that, I got the opportunity to buy the clothing brand, Ballybar Ireland.

"It was all very busy and full on at the  time, but we knew that there would be a good relationship between the farm, the shop, the clothing and the embroidery.

"The country lifestyle market was the market that we wanted to hit. Then we finally added the coffee barn," she said.

In 2023, they started selling Wagyu beef  through the shop.

"The demand for this type of succulent and flavoursome meat has continued to grow ever since," Ciara said.

The Wagyu cattle are bought in as weaned calves throughout the year and raised on pasture to ensure a regular supply for sale.

The Stanleys soon discovered that raising Wagyu cattle for their own customers was very different from commercial beef management.

Robert explained: “They are raised on grass and are very slow maturing.

"We were used to slaughtering continental bulls with a kill out fat percentage of maybe 63% and a carcass weight of 520kgs.

"With Wagyus, when you're dealing with a carcass weight of 160kgs and 40% fat, you wonder what you're doing wrong," he said.

Farm shop

However, the clever synthesis of their various income streams through the farm shop shows that the Stanleys are doing something right.

The farm shop now hosts a small AGA, which they use for cookery demonstrations featuring their own beef and other Irish artisanal products stocked in the shop. 

"It benefits everything in the business, including the food business," said Robert, who loves the idea that the chefs are preparing beef that was grown on pasture located outside the showroom window.

“You can’t get much closer than that," he added.

“It’s bringing customers in that want to use good quality ingredients and see how they are cooked,” said Ciara, for whom quality is a watchword of the business. 

“The food products we sell must be Irish and of a very high standard. 

"It’s amazing to see just how good so many Irish producers are.” 

The Stanleys see their farm shop as an opportunity to bring the public onto their farm and counteract negative perceptions about farming that are often portrayed in the media.

“We want to show that it’s not that bad, we’re not scary people, and farming is not what it is portrayed to be. 

"When people come here to the shop, they ask: ‘Where is the farm?’ and we say, ‘You’re in the middle of it',” Ciara laughed. 

Robert said: “When we expanded, people asked us if we were going to have other animals, but we are not a pet farm, we are a working farm.

"Some of the cattle outside in the field are going to be inside in the freezers in a few months’ time. 

"Our butcher is only a mile down the road, so we have some of the lowest food miles in the country.” 

Women in agriculture

Ciara believes there is a generational shift happening in attitudes to women in agriculture. 

“There’s lots of girls around here who are farming, and that’s great to see.

"But having said that, growing up, I would have seen women farming, but there was never an official wage, and too many women never got ownership of the farm.

"It was the male in the family who was always thought of first and women weren't given the opportunity," she said.

She spoke about the potential benefits of encouraging more women into farming.

"I do think that it is changing, but we need more women in leadership roles for younger women to look up to.

"I want to see supports continue to be provided to women in farming.

"Given the opportunity, I think that farms would be more progressive if more women were let go to the forefront.

"Robert would agree that we probably wouldn’t have all these farm diversifications if I wasn’t driving it on.” 

The Stanleys are now where they want to be with their farm, businesses, and lifestyle, and are focused on maintaining high standards and increasing sustainability. 

Robert regularly measures the grass and weighs the cattle to ensure that they are thriving. 

They grow their own barley, which is rolled for feed, and the straw is used for bedding. 

The dung is composted before being spread back on the land. This makes it more available to microbes in the pastures, which is then, in turn, utilised by the grass to feed the next year’s cattle.

Farming life

“Farming is a great lifestyle if you can make a living from it,” Robert said. 

The various income streams are helping the couple to achieve this goal. 

“I would like to see more people do what we’re doing,” Ciara continued.

“If there are more farms selling their own produce, it will become more normal that farms are where people go to buy their food, and neighbours support their local farms.

"I would like to see a national effort to educate the public to appreciate where their food comes from and appreciate the provenance and seasonality of their food and stop all the finger pointing.”