Glyn Surgenor, a twenty-four-year-old farmer from Hillsborough and current club leader of Hillsborough YFC says that “no two days are the same” when it comes to farming.
Nestled within the green peaks of Hillsborough, County Down, Glyn lives and works on the farm he inherited from his Grandmother and has lived there from birth. “I was always involved in the farm from a young age, I enjoyed feeding the calves and being in the tractor. I guess this made me realise that it was a farmer I wanted to be when I grew up”. With a small herd of thirty-eight Pedigree Irish Moiles cattle and several pigs, Glyn spends his time looking after his livestock when he isn’t refurbishing machinery out in the shed at home. Glyn explains that the family farm has gone through many changes over the years. “We stopped working with the Cattle in 2007 and moved towards growing and selling fruit and vegetables in 2010 which included tomatoes, cucumbers, corn on the cobs and pumpkins” he explained. “Following on from that, I left school after my AS Levels and started at Loughry College in 2018 studying a National Diploma in Food Technology. It was at this time that Mum and Dad retired from the Fruit and Vegetables and went into growing haylage for horses and selling it”. The farm was officially handed over to Glyn in 2020, when he started buying beef cattle, which led to him starting his own line of machinery refurbishing work in 2021 and introducing pigs to the farm in 2023.
A typical day in the life for Glyn begins when the alarm goes off at 5:30am and he travels a short distance down the road to offer relief milking at a neighbouring farm. Aiming to return to the house for his breakfast after 9:00am, there could be porridge, poached eggs and wheaten bread on the menu, or a quick stop is made to the nearest hot food counter. When breakfast is over and a can of Red Bull is enjoyed, Glynn begins checking his livestock at home before starting into shot blasting around 10:30am. “I do a lot of my machinery refurbishment type of work in the evenings as I like to be on the farm with my brother Bobby at the weekends”, Glyn explained. “I also have to allow time to catch up on admin work and the VAT, I do all of that myself”.
In May 2024, Glyn contacted the Lisburn Food Bank, expressing an interest in taking some leftover perishable items for his pigs. This includes excess bread, fruit and vegetables and Glyn identified the cost saving advantages of using this food instead of buying meal. “My Mum helps to prepare this for the pigs and it’s a good to be able to make use of items that couldn’t be given out to people anymore”, he explained.
Over the years, Glyn has sadly been the victim of two serious farming incidents and is actively promoting farm safety within his Young Farmers’ Club today. “Bobby (brother) and I were going up a hill in the field when the tractor tipped and went on its side. Thankfully Bobby was able to phone 999, and I was treated in Hospital for a split at the side of my head and concussion and Bobby, a sore back. You never forget accidents like that, they stick with you, and I was so thankful we were together because it could have been much worse if we were alone”, Glyn explained. More recently in 2021, Glyn’s tractor and dung spread went into flames just a short distance from his home on the road, “I was able to act quickly and when I saw a flame coming from the back of the tractor, I took the key from the ignition and stood out at the side of the road. I rang the neighbour to bring a fire extinguisher but minutes later, the tractor and spreader were in flames and the fire brigade were on their way. If I hadn’t seen that flame when I did and got out of the tractor, it would have been a totally different outcome”, Glyn explained.
Having been a member of Hillsborough YFC since 2012, Glyn currently holds the role of Club Leader and enjoys sharing his passion for the organisation with his fellow members. “I would say my favourite thing about the Young Farmers’ is the people, I enjoy meeting new people at different events and competitions. I have fond memories of the raft race we used to do prior to Covid, it was held at Newtownards Sailing Club and was always great craic”. Glyn explained, “I was privileged to go on the Rural Youth Europe European Rally to Germany in 2022 and strongly encourage any member interested to apply for it, the experience was once in a lifetime. I also went to the 5 Nations Conference to Scotland in 2023 and recently hosted a Canadian and Scottish Exchangee, where I enjoyed showing them how to milk cows and we even went on the Belfast City Bus Tour. Hosting an Exchangee is a great way of doing things you wouldn’t normally do”.
Glyn’s story may hopefully inspire others to consider farming as a career, get involved with their local Young Farmers’ Club and promote farm safety. Please contact our Headquarters office on 028 9037 0713 for information on joining.