{"id":10826,"date":"2020-08-06T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.herdwatch.com\/case-studies\/transitioning-from-playing-professional-rugby-to-full-time-farming\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:57:13","slug":"transitioning-from-playing-professional-rugby-to-full-time-farming","status":"publish","type":"case-studies","link":"https:\/\/herdwatch.com\/en-ie\/case-studies\/transitioning-from-playing-professional-rugby-to-full-time-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm Smart: Transitioning from playing professional rugby to full-time farming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"hw-case-study\">\n  <style>\n    .hw-case-study {\n      --hw-blue: #007dbf;\n      --hw-green: #b5c428;\n      --hw-navy: #001738;\n      --hw-card: #ffffff;\n      --hw-text: #1f2d2a;\n      --hw-border: #e3e9e6;\n      --hw-quote-bg: #f7faea;\n\n      font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, \"Segoe UI\", Roboto, Helvetica, 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<strong>Rory Best<\/strong> swapped the\n          international stage for the family farm near Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh\n          in 2019 \u2014 and uses Herdwatch to manage a pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd\n          of 140\u2013150 head alongside his father and brother.\n        <\/p>\n        <div class=\"hw-meta\">\n          <span class=\"hw-pill\">Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh<\/span>\n          <span class=\"hw-pill\">Pedigree Aberdeen Angus<\/span>\n          <span class=\"hw-pill\">140\u2013150 Head<\/span>\n          <span class=\"hw-pill\">124 Ireland Caps<\/span>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Content -->\n    <div class=\"hw-content\">\n\n      <p>\n        Rory Best needs little introduction. After 124 appearances for the\n        Ireland rugby team and a distinguished career with Ulster, he retired\n        in 2019 and returned to what he describes as something he has loved\n        since he was &#8220;no-age&#8221; \u2014 farming. Today, he works alongside his father\n        John and brother Simon on the family farm near Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh,\n        running a <strong>pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd<\/strong> of between 140\n        and 150 head.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-quote\">\n        &#8220;The transition from rugby to full-time farming has been reasonably good. Even during lockdown \u2014 which was really difficult for everyone \u2014 for me personally, transitioning at that time meant I had no other distractions. It gave me time to readjust and get fully involved in the family enterprise again.&#8221;\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-image\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\"\n          src=\"https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2020\/07\/DELIVERY-CUTS.00_07_47_09.Still004-1024x576.jpg\"\n          alt=\"Rory Best pedigree Aberdeen Angus farmer Poyntzpass Co Armagh Herdwatch\"\n        \/>\n        <div class=\"hw-caption\">Rory Best on the family farm near Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh.<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <h2>A pedigree Aberdeen Angus system built around ease of calving<\/h2>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-inline\">\n        <div class=\"hw-inline-text\">\n          <p>\n            The Bests calve their cows down in March and aim to have the young\n            bulls away by the following July or August. The majority go into\n            dairy herds \u2014 a deliberate choice, given that Angus bulls are in\n            strong demand from dairy farmers who want easy-calving genetics.\n          <\/p>\n          <p>\n            Fertility and ease of calving are the two priorities that drive\n            everything on the farm. Getting a calf a year from every cow and\n            weaning them at half body weight going into housing is the target.\n            Furthermore, keeping bulls suitable for dairy herds means avoiding\n            any calving difficulties on either side.\n          <\/p>\n        <\/div>\n        <img decoding=\"async\"\n          src=\"https:\/\/cdn.agriland.ie\/uploads\/2020\/07\/DELIVERY-CUTS.00_12_31_04.Still003-1024x576.jpg\"\n          alt=\"Rory Best Aberdeen Angus cattle herd Armagh spring calving Herdwatch records\"\n        \/>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-quote\">\n        &#8220;Ease of calving is a big thing for us. A lot of our bulls go into the dairy herd \u2014 dairy farmers don&#8217;t want to be pulling big calves out, and we don&#8217;t want that either on our farm.&#8221;\n      <\/div>\n\n      <h2>Why Rory chose Herdwatch \u2014 and how it kept him connected while still playing rugby<\/h2>\n\n      <p>\n        Rory started using Herdwatch while he was still playing professional\n        rugby. At that stage, being able to keep an eye on the farm remotely\n        and get jobs done between training sessions and matches was essential.\n        The phone-based approach suited him perfectly.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-quote\">\n        &#8220;I chose to go with Herdwatch because the phone is something you have with you at all times. When I was still playing rugby, I was able to pull the phone out of my pocket and keep in the loop and get jobs done. It&#8217;s the simplest way to keep records \u2014 you&#8217;re not writing on scraps of paper.&#8221;\n      <\/div>\n\n      <p>\n        Now that he is farming full time, the same simplicity applies in a\n        different context. Whoever has the phone on the day records whatever\n        needs to be recorded. As a result, nothing gets missed regardless of\n        who is working the farm.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <h2>Weight recording \u2014 father and son, working together<\/h2>\n\n      <p>\n        Weight recording is particularly important on the Best farm, given the\n        focus on live weight gain and producing bulls that perform well in dairy\n        herds. Rory and his father John do this together \u2014 one handling the\n        cattle, the other inputting weights into Herdwatch in real time.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-quote\">\n        &#8220;Weight recording is really important for us and the great thing is that my father and I can do it together. When we are weighing our calves, we can input the weights into the app and it gives you the daily live weight gain for each one.&#8221;\n      <\/div>\n\n      <h2>Calf registration, tagging, and customer support<\/h2>\n\n      <p>\n        Calves are registered and tagged straight away on the app \u2014 so nothing\n        gets forgotten in the busy calving period. In addition, Rory highlights\n        the support available from the Herdwatch team as one of the standout\n        aspects of the service.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-quote\">\n        &#8220;The calves are registered and tagged straightaway so that we don&#8217;t forget about it. If you have any issues you can phone Herdwatch \u2014 they can sort it out remotely and talk you through what you need to do. For me, the support you get is invaluable.&#8221;\n      <\/div>\n\n      <p>Rory uses Herdwatch for the following tasks on the farm:<\/p>\n\n      <ul class=\"hw-feature-list\">\n        <li>Weight recording \u2014 daily live weight gain calculated automatically per calf<\/li>\n        <li>Calf registration \u2014 tagged and registered immediately at birth<\/li>\n        <li>Remote farm management \u2014 check stock and jobs from anywhere on the phone<\/li>\n        <li>Shared farm access \u2014 father and son recording from the same account<\/li>\n        <li>Customer support \u2014 remote assistance available whenever needed<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n\n      <h2>Watch Rory&#8217;s story<\/h2>\n\n      <p>\n        In the video below, Rory talks through his transition from professional\n        rugby to full-time farming \u2014 and how Herdwatch has been part of managing\n        the pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd from day one.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <div class=\"hw-video\">\n        <div class=\"hw-video-wrap\">\n          <iframe\n            src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hdBa911ag_M\"\n            title=\"Rory Best pedigree Aberdeen Angus farmer Poyntzpass Armagh Herdwatch case study\"\n            allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\"\n            allowfullscreen>\n          <\/iframe>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <p>\n        You can read more real farmer stories on our\n        <a href=\"\/case-studies\/\">farm case studies page<\/a>.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <!-- CTA -->\n      <div class=\"hw-cta\">\n        <h3>The simplest way to keep farm records<\/h3>\n\n        <p class=\"hw-cta-main\">\n          For Rory, Herdwatch made it possible to stay connected to the family\n          farm during his final years in professional rugby \u2014 and now helps him\n          run a <strong>pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd<\/strong> with his father\n          and brother, simply and efficiently.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <p class=\"hw-cta-quote\">\n          &#8220;Herdwatch has been invaluable in the day-to-day running of the farm.&#8221;\n        <\/p>\n\n        <p class=\"hw-cta-join\">\n          Join Rory and over 22,000 farmers using Herdwatch to keep records,\n          track performance, and make every job on farm faster and easier.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <div class=\"hw-cta-buttons\">\n          <a class=\"hw-btn hw-btn-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/herdwatchng.app.link\/MeKoA6VaqKb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n            Download the Free App\n          <\/a>\n          <a class=\"hw-btn hw-btn-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.herdwatch.com\/en-ie\/price\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n            Request an Instant Quote\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After 124 appearances for the Ireland international rugby team, the Armagh native returned to the family farm near Poyntzpass to help his father, John, and his brother, Simon, in the running of the farm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10827,"menu_order":0,"template":"","case-studies_category":[215],"case-studies_tag":[196,208],"location":[236,245,306],"class_list":["post-10826","case-studies","type-case-studies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","case-studies_category-cattle","case-studies_tag-agriculture","case-studies_tag-case-study","location-gb","location-ie","location-uk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Life After Rugby | Rory Best Farming | Herdwatch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how Rory Best&#039;s farm in Co. 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