Farm Smart: From farming simulator to YouTube farming superstar
Co. Longford farmer and YouTube creator Philip Stewart — better known as Farmer Phil — uses Herdwatch to keep records on a 500–700 head dairy calf-to-beef operation, one-handed, while filming for his channel at the same time.
Philip Stewart farms in Killashee, Co. Longford, alongside his father and uncle. Together, the three-generation partnership runs a dairy calf-to-beef system, buying in around 400 calves every year and carrying anywhere from 500 to 700 cattle at any one time. In addition, they grow just over 200 acres of grain annually — all of which, as Philip puts it, “walks off on the cattle’s backs when they’re finished.”
Beyond the farm, Philip has built one of Ireland’s most-watched agricultural YouTube channels. Known as Farmer Phil, he now attracts between 500,000 and 800,000 views every month from over 120 countries. Consequently, keeping farm records fast and efficient is not just a convenience — it is essential to fitting everything into the day.
Four generations of farming — and a contracting business built alongside it
Philip’s grandfather moved to Killashee in 1938 at the age of 19, arriving with two horses, a trap, a plough, and a bag of oat seeds. Since then, the family has farmed the land continuously. In 2019, Philip, his father, and his uncle officially formed a partnership — pooling all the cattle, land, and farming assets into one streamlined operation.
Alongside the farming, the Stewarts run an agricultural contracting business. Their services cover baled silage, pit silage, slurry spreading, dribble bars, ploughing, combining, reseeding, and more. As Philip jokes, it is nearly easier to say what they do not do — and that list begins and ends with hedge-cutting.
From farming simulator to 500,000 views a month
Philip started his YouTube channel in 2015 while in college, after a conversation about how people were building audiences online. Initially, he posted farming simulator videos — but they never gained traction. In 2017, he switched to filming real life on the farm. The videos were rough at first. However, views started climbing and Philip kept improving his craft.
After getting his first GoPro in 2018, the channel took off. Today, he posts every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday — spending between two and four hours editing each video, usually from 11pm until the early hours. It is a significant commitment on top of a full farming day.
Why Herdwatch matters when you are filming and farming at the same time
For Philip, the combination of running a busy farm and filming a YouTube channel means every minute counts. Herdwatch fits naturally into that — because it is fast enough to use while the camera is rolling.
The notebook that went through the washing machine
Before Herdwatch, medicine recording was done with pen and paper. At one point, Philip switched to a dedicated notebook — and it worked well for six months. Then it went through the washing machine.
Now, as soon as a medicine is purchased it goes straight onto the app. Furthermore, Philip groups all his cattle into batches — making treatment recording a matter of selecting the medicine, selecting the batch, and confirming. The whole job takes seconds.
Weight recording — from a notebook full of numbers to instant daily gains
Weight recording used to mean a notebook, a pen, and a lot of manual calculation. Philip would write down the tag number, record the weight beside it, then later retrieve the notebook to find the previous weight, calculate the average daily gain, and write it beside that. It was slow, repetitive, and easy to get wrong.
Records on farm, reports in the house — and no more inspection panic
Philip does all the recording on the farm in real time. His mother, meanwhile, handles the paperwork side from the office. Previously, inspection preparation meant evenings sitting around the kitchen table decoding scraps of cardboard and trying to piece records together. Now that process has been eliminated entirely.
Missing tags are handled just as simply. Rather than texting his mother with a list to stockpile and order later, Philip simply pulls up the calf on the app and orders the tag directly. In addition, the sign-up process was straightforward from the start.
Philip uses Herdwatch for the following tasks daily:
- Medicine recording — purchased at the vet, logged immediately on the app
- Batch treatments — select medicine, select batch, confirmed in seconds
- Weight recording — automatic average daily gain calculated instantly
- Missing tag ordering — flagged and ordered from the phone in the yard
- Inspection reports — printed from the computer, no preparation needed
Watch Farmer Phil’s story
Philip walks through how Herdwatch fits into the daily running of the farm — from medicine recording and weight tracking to why the app works perfectly for a one-handed job while filming.
You can read more real farmer stories on our farm case studies page.
One hand on the phone, one on the GoPro
For Philip, Herdwatch makes it possible to run a 500–700 head calf-to-beef operation and produce a YouTube channel with half a million monthly views — without letting either one get in the way of the other.
“Long gone are the days of writing down important figures on a piece of cardboard — because, in most cases, it would get lost.”
Join Philip and over 22,000 farmers using Herdwatch to simplify farm records, save time, and make the most of every day on farm.