By Gordon Deegan

A dairy farmer "at breaking point" sold off his entire herd with an estimated value of between €500,000 and €600,000 without telling his estranged wife, a court has heard.

At the Family Law Court, the farmer told Judge Adrian Harris: "I disposed of the cattle because I was not able to do it anymore."

The man said that he is at his "wit’s end" since his marriage with his wife ended.

The man denied to solicitor Shíofra Hassett, for the wife, that he sold the herd ahead of a court hearing concerning his wife’s application for an interim maintenance order.

He said: "The price of milk is down 30% this year... I am losing money hand over fist and the farm is going to go burst and I can’t cope with it anymore... I can’t do it."

He said: "Every dairy farmer is on their knees... We are down a couple of hundred thousand already this year."

In evidence the wife told the court that her estranged husband "made a decision to sell the cows without telling anyone".

She said that when they were married she "worked seven days a week, milked cows twice a day".

"I did the cooking, the cleaning, and I reared the children."

She said: "We always made money despite drought, Covid, rains and storms knocking down buildings."

The woman was seeking an interim maintenance order of €500 per week pending a full hearing in the case, and Hassett said the farmer received a "substantial" partial payment for the sold cattle, and estimated that he could ultimately receive between €500,000 to €600,000 from the sale.

The farmer told the court that he was not in a position to pay an interim order.

The farmer told Hassett that he has "lost everything" with the sale of his dairy herd "and I did not take that decision lightly to watch my whole livelihood be brought away in a number of lorries after 38 years of work".

In his ruling, Judge Harris granted an interim maintenance order of €300 to the woman, and €60 per week for one dependent child.

Solicitor Máiréad Doyle, for the dairy farmer, told the court that her client "is at breaking point".

Doyle said that her client has significant assets but also significant debt, with a debt of €1.2 million attached to the farm, and it costs €244,000 per annum to service the bank debt.

The farmer told the court: "We have come to a point that if I don’t do something now, we will end up with nothing."

He said: "I have done my best to keep it going. The farm is probably going to go to the wall... I can’t pay the finance and everything has gone bananas."

He said: "I haven’t the head to go to it anymore. I had 14 cows when I took it over and built it [to] where it is today."

The farmer said that milk was 52c/L last year compared to 38c/L this year.

He said: "We are getting the same price for milk this year as we were in 2013."

He said: "We have no more income now. We have no more milk. There will be no more milk cheques… After today... I just don't know what I am going to do."

"There is too much pressure on me and I made the decision for the good of the animals as well. I have to go to get a job now."

He said: "This is the hardest time of my life... I have walked away from it. I haven’t slept for weeks - two or three hours every night."

The man told the court that his ex-wife "didn’t want her name on any of the loans".

"She is not liable for any of the loans - I am liable for all the loans," he said.