Ear to the Ground Summer 2014 by Ashville Media Group

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€4.95

SUMMER 2014

GEORGE LEE On how an

economist can cover agriculture

EAR TO THE GROUND SUMMER 2014

Behind the Scenes PLUS...

How Ear To The Ground has changed down through the years ONLINE ADVICE ✱ CO-OPS ✱ PRE-NUPS ✱ FORESTRY HISTORY ✱ ENERGY ✱ DONAL SKEHAN ON FOOD VISITING AIRFIELD ✱ ZURICH FARM INSURANCE

Wild Atlantic Way

Building the world’s longest tourist route

TECHNOLOGY ON THE FARM

Putting GPS and social media to work 15 15 €4.95

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WELCOME

Editor: Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly Deputy Editor: Valerie Jordan Editorial Staff: Conor Forrest, Rachel Murray, Joseph O’Connor Contributors: Paula Kerrigan, Ian Maleney, Darragh McCullough, Liam Lavelle, Aisling Meehan, Derek Owens, Dean Van Nguyen Design: Jane Matthews, Seamus Neeson Advertising Designers: Alan McArthur, Antoinette Sinclair, Jennifer Reid, Colm McDermott, Seamus Neeson Photography: Jason Clarke, Eric Dempsey, Fáilte Ireland, Darragh McCullough, Michael O’Clery, Joseph O’Connor, RTÉ Archive, Donal Skehan, Thinkstock Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Production: Nicole Ennis Sales Director: Paul Clemenson Managing Director: Diarmaid Lennon Ashville Media Group, Old Stone Building Blackhall Green, Dublin 7 Tel: (01) 432 2200 Email: eartothegroundannual@ashville.com All rights reserved. Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate. The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited © Ashville Media Group 2014. ISSN 2009-4310

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SUMMER 2014

Hello ... ...And welcome to a packed summer edition of Ear To The Ground magazine, as we gear up for a 22nd series of the much-loved RTÉ One show. It’s an exciting time to be reporting on agriculture and rural life. Darragh McCullough meets farmers who are using the power of high technology to boost their productivity. Meanwhile, Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly sits down with new RTÉ agriculture correspondent George Lee, who explains what an economist can bring to the role. Joseph O’Connor has produced one of our most unusual farming features yet – travelling to Tanzania to report on the fascinating practice of butterfly farming. Our reports on co-operatives, marts and sustainability show how grassroots and local solutions can really work for rural communities. And let’s not forget the Wild Atlantic Way – the longest tourist route in the world is up and running, and could offer opportunities for the rural economy along the west coast. All of us at Independent Pictures and RTÉ hope you enjoy this summer edition with its mix of serious business and light-hearted lifestyle – and keep tuning in to the show.

GEORGE LEE

On how an economist can cover agriculture

EAR TO THE GROUND SUMMER 2014

Wild Atlantic Way

Behind the Scenes PLUS...

How Ear To The Ground has changed down through the years

Building the world’s longest tourist route

John Cummins Executive Producer Independent Pictures

TECHNOLOGY ON THE FARM

Putting GPS and social media to work 15

ONLINE ADVICE ✱ CO-OPS ✱ PRE-NUPS ✱ FORESTRY HISTORY ✱ ENERGY ✱ DONAL SKEHAN ON FOOD VISITING AIRFIELD ✱ ZURICH FARM INSURANCE

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ON THE COVER Photography: Jason Clarke Make-up: Mary Ellen Darby Location: Kilruderry House, Co Wicklow

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THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY

Contents FEATURES 12 17

PROUD SPONSOR OF EAR TO THE GROUND MAGAZINE

FILMING EAR TO THE GROUND Producer Liam Lavelle recalls good days and bad. FARMING AND TECHNOLOGY Social media and apps are being put to good use, according to Ear To The Ground presenter Darragh McCullough. GEORGE LEE RTÉ’s new agriculture correspondent on economics, climate and how the media handles farming.

29 33

FARM SAFETY Paula Kerrigan chats to farmer Peter Gohery, whose accident changed his life. WILD ATLANTIC WAY Building the world’s longest tourist route along Ireland’s west coast. RESTORED TO GLORY Salvaging Charlie Keegan’s 1964 World Ploughing Championship-winning tractor.

PRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS A solicitor explains the state of play as we hear a Kilkenny farmer’s experience. WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE? Meters, storms, floods... why water is the story of 2014. BUTTERFLY FARMING Joseph O’Connor reports on an extraordinary agricultural project in Tanzania.

6 EAR TO THE GROUND

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CONTENTS

118

BIRDWATCHING

143 FOOD

GEORGE LEE

INNOVATION

56 59 67

73 76 79

RURAL POST OFFICES No shortage of threats – but are there opportunities? EDUCATION Ag science curriculum finally to be updated. IFA INTERVIEW Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly meets IFA president Eddie Downey. FORESTRY How is the industry coping with this year’s bad weather? ONLINE ADVICE Boards.ie Farming and Forestry moderator Rovi talks. HISTORY Jonathan Bell discusses the island’s fascinating farming history.

BUSINESS 85

CO-OPS Ian Maleney on how alternative business models are becoming more mainstream. 88 MARTS The local mart is still an important hub – but the industry is changing. 93 BEEF/DAIRY/CATTLE INNOVATION Clever breakthroughs, from drones to soil. 99 AQUACULTURE Dean Van Nguyen reports on how fish farmers are frustrated. 102 SUSTAINABILITY Can local energy initiatives and passive housing make a difference? 107 ZURICH FARM INSURANCE How the insurer’s drive and ambition are good for competition.

FOOD AND LIFESTYLE

118 BIRDWATCHING Valerie Jordan chats to birdwatcher and author Eric Dempsey about his new book. 120 AIRFIELD FARM Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly visits an urban farm with a long history. 125 FARM STAYS Paula Kerrigan on why tourism and farming can be a good mix. 131 IRISH FARMERETTE Meet farming blogger Lorna Sixsmith. 133 FARMING MUSICIANS Ian Maleney meets musicians with a farming background.

138 FROM THE ARCHIVES Photos from the past. 143 FOOD Donal Skehan resurrects Theodora Fitzgibbon’s recipes. 148 RESTAURANT CALORIES They’re on the menu – but will they make a difference? 151 FASHION This season’s looks, by Rachel Murray. 156 MOTORING Conor Forest drives a Subaru and a Skoda.

160

VINTAGE TRACTORS The top five.

BUTTERFLY FARMING

PROUD SPONSOR OF EAR TO THE GROUND MAGAZINE EAR TO THE GROUND 7

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without aftercare in Ireland. They have a panel of dentists in Ireland which they refer their patients to. This is done via the Irish representatives. Kreativ Dental clinic’s guarantee exceeds most other dentists’ guarantees in Europe. They provide five-year guarantees on crowns and bridges, and a lifetime guarantee on implants. This includes flights and accommodation.

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I was that patient, and sometimes nothing we say to people can alleviate a person’s fear of the dentist, and more especially travelling abroad to a dental clinic. Many people have had bad dental experiences. Many people are looking for excellence in dentistry at much lower costs – 60 per cent less. This is what Kreativ Dental Clinic provides. Our dentists are specially trained to work with nervous patients. Fluent English is spoken by everyone. Budapest is the centre of excellence for dentistry in Europe. Kreativ Dental Clinic is the founder of dental tourism: they are in existence 17 years. This year we have introduced a new free service, whereby I, as Irish representative, travel to the clinic with patients each month. I’m on hand right through the process. This service has become extremely popular with people. Most of our patients come to us via word of mouth, which we are extremely proud of. Our reputation is Kreativ Dental Clinic: one of Europe’s leading five-star dental clinics at 60 per cent less. Now that’s something to smile about!

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NEWS

News RONAN CLARKE REMEMBERED This summer, Ear To The Ground lost a good friend and a talented former colleague. Liam Lavelle, Series Producer pays tribute to Ronan Clarke, a skilled and trusted journalist who is fondly remembered.

Ronan after receiving the Young European Journalist of the Year Award with John Cummins (executive producer) and Mairead McGuinness (presenter).

he first time I met Ronan Clarke was at an interview for the trainee production assistant position on Ear to the Ground in the summer of 1995. He was refreshingly candid in the interview. When I asked him would he like to work in television, he replied “I would prefer to work in radio!” He impressed with many attributes: his intelligence, his interest in farming, his writing ability – all valuable skills in an Ear to the Ground team – but his honesty shone through. Ronan was always honest, even when it didn’t suit him. Fresh out of DCU with a degree in communications, he worked hard at learning the tasks of television production. By the season’s end he had impressed us

so much that we felt he would make the step up to reporter. The next year, he presented stories on BSE and the beef crisis, slurry gas and Sellafield, daffodil farming and drawing the dole. He travelled the country, bringing stories from north, south, east and especially west. He even travelled to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where his work won him a Young European Journalist Award. For the next 10 years he was an integral part of the Ear to the Ground team, bringing his journalistic skill, his gentle presence and his authoritative voice to every programme. In between, he went back to college to do a master’s, went back to Teagasc to do the green cert, went back to Mayo to help Seán milk the cows and save the silage every summer. Ronan also took the opportunity to get back to club football,

TOP: Foot and Mouth disease dominated the news in early 2001. Ear To The Ground did daily news updates presented by both Mairead McGuinness and Ronan. Here he is in the RTÉ studio with producer Suzanne Campbell and director David McKenna.

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News

Ronan on location in Co Wicklow on the day he presented his first Ear To The Ground story, on silage, in June 1996.

Business News

Top of the Rock reach finals Child’s play: a promo for our Christmas show in 1999, with Ronan on the left.

and his proudest moment was when he led Killala to the county championship. The summer break from Ear to the Ground suited him in one way, but he never really liked the uncertainty of working freelance and not knowing whether he would have a job in the autumn. So in 2006 he went back to college and trained as a primary teacher. He still worked in television in the summer, and produced and directed many great stories for GAA and Irish language programmes. He married his childhood sweetheart and found a job near to his home in Killala. Happiness reigned as he found his calling in Breaffy National School and started a family. But all of us were shocked when he was diagnosed with cancer in June 2013. A desperate summer of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation followed, and he passed away less than a year later this June. I am proud to have known and worked with Ronan, and sad at his loss. His three lovely daughters will miss his voice and his goodness. And his father will miss his help around the farm. But when we replay his stories, and hear his voice again, and see his face on video, we will be glad to have the memories, and celebrate his life. BELOW: Ronan started with Ear To The Ground in 1995 as a production assistant, and his talent soon became evident. Here he is on the right, with crew members Liam Lavelle (producer), Mairead McGuinness (presenter) and Piaras McKenna (camera).

ABOVE: The Ear to the Ground seven-a-side soccer team. Unfortunately, no silverware – unlike when he led Killala to a county championship win.

West Cork’s David and Elizabeth Ross have recently reached the finals of the JFC Innovation in Rural Business awards. Their beautifully located farm at the Top of the Rock is central to the Drimoleague Heritage Walkways and the Eastern Sheep’s Head Way. The Rosses have combined earthy simplicity, warm hospitality and unique ‘camping pods’ to produce a Pod Páirc and Walking Centre, which is already gaining a strong reputation as a farm experience where families, couples and walking groups find a real retreat from busy lives. See www. topoftherock.ie.

FarmLab on the up FarmLab Diagnostics is a diagnostic testing laboratory which was established by practising vets John Gilmore and Michael McDonnell in 2012. Since then it has expanded rapidly and is now accredited by Animal Health Ireland to provide testing to farmers and vets for a range of diseases including BVD and Johnes Disease. Farmlab has also recently added collection points in Donegal, Galway, Roscommon, Meath and Offaly whereby farmers can save money on BVD sampling by not having to pay for postage. The lab provides a range of molecular biological tests to aid veterinary practitioners in reaching accurate diagnoses for a range of diseases on their clients’ farms. The use of molecular biology can greatly enhance the diagnosis of a number of diseases in cattle, such as identifying the cause of mastitis outbreaks.

John Kennedy operating by stealth Within the first 12 months of trading, John Kennedy’s Stealth Kompactor 40 trailers have already caught the imagination, with over 40,000 hits on YouTube and approaching 2,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook. According to contractor-turned-manufacturer Kennedy, the K-40 boasts superior weight distribution for safety and soil compaction, increased load capacity, increased manoeuvrability when accessing difficult yards/fields, and improved offloading capability.

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FORESTRY Filming ETTG

A change is as good as a rest Liam Lavelle, Ear To The Ground Series Producer, looks back over his 21 years at the helm – and finds that the more things change, the more they stay the same

fter 21 years producing Ear to the Ground, the most common comment I get from people I meet is “you have really changed the programme

this year”. Of course, I don’t see it that way. For me, the programme is still very similar to the one we pitched to RTÉ in the summer of 1992. But all change is gradual, and of course because we change every story every week, we don’t notice the change until we look back and see where we came from. It’s a bit like farming: the same things happen in a similar environment, at the same time every year – you till, plant, sow and harvest without noticing the small changes you make to the way you do things in order to increase your yield, boost your quality and cut down on your labour or diesel bills.

One constant that we have kept throughout the 21 series of Ear to the Ground is the weekly editorial. This is where we argue over which stories to do, how to approach them and who gets to do them. And there are some serious arguments – everybody round the table and every member of the production team has an opinion and that opinion is heard. This is where the stories are selected, rejected, shaped and sharpened to make each programme as entertaining and engaging as possible for the widest range of viewers. This is really where Ear to the Ground gets made, and without those arguments and debates, the programme would not be as good as it has been. The People Of course, the place where all the debate and discussion comes to fruition is on location, on a farm, in a factory, a

supermarket or a forest. The people we talk to up and down the country really make Ear to the Ground what it is – an exciting and fascinating portrayal of Ireland in the 21st century. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things could sum up a lot of Ear to the Ground’s stories. The courage and tenacity of young Antrim farmer Johnjo Bright was inspiring, as he struggled to overcome paralysing injuries sustained in a point-to-point race last year. A promising young jockey before his tragic accident, Johnjo is taking a keen interest in the family sheep farm and is determined to do all in his power to recover his mobility. This year, Paddy Kennedy, a dairy farmer from Borris in Co Carlow, amazed us all with his drive and energy. He lost a leg in an accident on his farm, and told his story with optimism for the future. The best bit was when he jumped the barrier at

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Filming ETTG Nowlan Park when his local hurling club won the Leinster title. Limerick farmer Seamus Sherlock almost lost his farm as he fought an eviction order over a bank debt. Supported by his neighbours, he barricaded himself into the farm for almost a year, and finally settled with the receiver. He told his story to give hope to the many people struggling with unsustainable debts. Another inspiring story was that of Dr Temple Grandin, a renowned animal scientist who has revolutionised the design of cattle handling facilities. Her autism has proved no barrier to academic accomplishment, and she has been named as one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world for her work in the field of livestock handling. Whether it is a young engaged couple talking frankly about prenuptial agreements, or young hurlers talking about their teammates lost to emigration, or survivalists sharing their secrets of self sufficiency, or communities joining together to raise funds or fight fast food outlets, Ear to the Ground has been welcomed in all corners of the country. It is a privilege to meet passionate, articulate people who are willing to open up their hearts, their homes and their lives to us, and to share their stories with the rest of the nation. Rainy days and sunshine I can’t remember a series in which I had as many rainy day shoots as this year. In torrential rain, we filmed broccoli pickers

Johnjo Bright, paralysed in a horse riding accident last year.

harvesting a 50 acre field near Naas. Cameraman Brian Walsh and I were soaked to the skin, but the brocolli pickers were dry as a bone thanks to their oilskins. In fact, one of them told Ella that he preferred the cold and rain to the hot sunshine as it was cooler and more comfortable. I think the

notoriously heat-sensitive broccoli agreed. Another atrociously wet day was in Leitrim, where the forest service were clearing some ash trees in an effort to prevent the spread of ash dieback. Of course, this fungus relishes wet weather and although it came into the country on imported plants, the moist wet climate here was helping to spread it. Hopefully the ash, one of our more important native species of tree, will not succumb. Oddly enough, one of the sunniest days this winter was the day we filmed in west Mayo, where sheep farmer Chris Ginnelly had lost two acres of land, 40 bales of silage and 28 sheep in the storm called Christine. The calm belied the power of the wind and tide that had devastated farms all along the west coast from Kerry to Donegal. Another beautiful sunny day was spent filming with contractor John Dan O’Hare in Co Down. John Dan and his sons showed off his considerable fleet of silage harvesters, mowers and tractors to great effect on a glorious day in June. It’s not often we get to film with fine weather and machinery in action, since most of our work is done between October and February – not exactly peak farming season! Of course, rain was not a problem for Darragh when he filmed the story of Mayo man John Bourke, running the largest camel dairy farm in the world in Abu Dhabi. In fact, water was the most valuable input on this farm. Who knows: with water charges set to increase, our

Helen interviews dairy farmer Donal McDaid in Co Monaghan.

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Filming ETTG

Sligo farmer Henry Judge with Ella, the smallest cow in Ireland and her calf Patrick born on St Patricks Day 2014.

own dairy farmers could be facing a costly input in the future. No matter what the weather, we try and get the story filmed in a day, sometimes to the detriment of the look of the images. In general, in my experience, the weather is drier and sunnier in winter in Ireland than in summer and this year was unusual in the number of very wet days I filmed on. Family Farming We meet some lovely families on our travels around Ireland and this year was no exception. The Dunne family of Killowen Yogurt in Wexford involved three generations, with grandparents Tom and May, Nicholas and his wife Judith and his sisters Pauline, Michelle and Mary all taking part in the farm-based food business, while the children were the chief tasters of the delicious strawberry yogurts. Another farm-based enterprise was that of Liam Ryan of Moyleabbey Organic Farm in Co Kildare. He and his Japaneseborn wife Yuki and their son Kai showed us how by selling their produce direct at Carlow Farmers’ Market and growing a wide range of seasonal fruit and veg, they could make a good healthy living on a 12-acre farm. The Talbot family had a few more acres and had specialised in beef production, but depended on the single farm payment, and good bull beef prices, to make a profit on 400 acres in Laois. Robin and Ann and their two girls brought us into their home and showed us around their award-winning farmyard on a very wet day in January.

And who could forget the lovely O’Dwyer family from Cashel? Martin and Marian’s butcher shop and deli is being well served by their craft butcher daughter Fiona, and the family farm hosts a thriving sausage factory run by Una, former Tipperary camogie star and livewire. While family farms are the backbone

“It is a privilege to meet passionate, articulate people who are willing to open up their hearts, their homes and their lives to us, and to share their stories with the rest of the nation.”

of the agricultural economy, the future is in the energy and innovation of families working to develop new products, markets and ways of producing food. I am always amazed and inspired by the dedication and passion of these rural entrepreneurs in building businesses that will sustain the next generation.

Darragh talks to William Holohan and Mairead Whitty about prenuptial agreements.

Filming at Killowen Yogurt.

Chris Ginnelly shows Darragh where the storm washed away two acres of land and 28 sheep in Co Mayo.

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HIGH-TECH FARMING

FARMING &

Technology THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

Whether it’s social media, genotyping the national herd, getting their phones to work harder or utilising the power of invisible satellites miles overhead, the Irish agri sector is determined to harness the full power of the 21st century’s information revolution, writes Ear To The Ground presenter Darragh McCullough. Kevin Nolan with his latest purchase – a satellite-enabled 280hp Fendt 828.

hen Mark Zuckerberg hit on the idea of Facebook, it’s unlikely that he was thinking about how the app would help farmers expand their businesses. But then the Stanford student never met Kevin Nolan. Also a thirty-something and driven by ways to grow his business, Kevin saw Facebook as a way to give farmers a window into his enterprise. Although the traditional farming stereotype suggests that the last thing that a farmer wants to do is offer a

window to anybody and everybody into the day-to-day workings of your farm, when you’re working to same high levels as this Carlow tillage farmer you know that you’ve nothing to hide. Instead, the Bennekerry man realised that daily posts on his Nolan Farming Facebook page were a free electronic billboard for the rapidly expanding cereal growing enterprise. Of course, it’s no harm that Kevin has the best and newest of machinery gear in use on his 1,000acre farm. But it’s not just diesel-heads that make

up the 2,000-plus followers of this page. The vast majority of Kevin’s land-base is rented or leased, and the various landowners and prospective ones use the page to keep an eye on what the young cereal farmer is doing with their most valuable asset. “The landowners love being able to see what is going on in their fields because the vast majority of them are retired farmers, so they still take a great interest in how their land is being farmed,” Kevin explains. Remember, this was their passion for most of

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High-tech Farming

Kevin Nolan explains how up to 50 satellites can be guiding his machine through the field.

their lives, so often they’re still very passionate about what is going on in their fields. Not only has the social media outlet kept existing landowners informed, it has also helped to bring new ones on board. “I actually took on a new farm last year on the strength of the photos that we were posting on Facebook. The landowner really liked what he saw and contacted me as a result to offer me his land on lease,” says a clearly chuffed Nolan. In an era when access to land is widely seen as the new quota, restricting the development of energetic young farmers like Kevin, you can be sure that more farmers are going to grapple with social media to stay in business. However, social media is just the tip of the technological iceberg that is slowly but surely revolutionising the way farms are being run. When he recently scooped the title of Irish Independent Farmer of the Year, the judges remarked on the importance of satellite tracking systems in maximising efficiencies for Kevin Nolan. “I’m investing in GPS technology for all my tractors and combines now,” he says. “While there might be an initial outlay of up to €10,000, I reckon that I’m getting this back within two years through improved efficiencies.” Nolan shows me how he has up to 50 satellites beaming into the receiver on top of his new €200,000 Fendt 828. “We used to be only able to get an accuracy of plus or minus 10cm, but that has shrunk now to less than 2cm with the amount of satellites that the software can correlate its

position from. Previously, that level of accuracy was the preserve of the military. Gradually it became available to civilians, but only with all kinds of separate receiver stations that you had to set up in each field, and it cost a small fortune. Now we’re at the stage where we’ll be able to use the mobile phone as the receiver, and it’ll only cost us a couple of hundred euro a year in licence fees,” Kevin explains. The benefits of GPS are many for large farmers like Kevin. At his scale, repeated overlaps during the routine field operations such as tilling, planting, spraying and harvest all add up into serious money. He reckons that the elimination of this duplication alone is saving him 5 to 10 per cent in input costs such as diesel, fertiliser, chemicals, wear and tear on machines and time in the field. It also allows farmers to accurately gauge the area in a field that they are actually working, rather than relying on some figure that was passed down through the generations. The tracking systems link yield peaks and troughs with specific areas of fields, enabling operators to target these zones with remedial measures such as fertility or drainage improvement ahead of the next season. However, satellite tracking also throws up some less obvious benefits. For farmers like Nolan who obsess about perfecting their crop husbandry, getting inputs such as weed-controlling herbicides on at the ideal time was not always practical in the past. Herbicides often need to go on when the soil is damp or when there isn’t strong sunlight. Depending on the weather and the particular season, that can often be before dawn, which was easier said than done purely because of the lack of light. “But now we can be at our ease working away in the dark. It also means that the work is less demanding, so you can keep going longer and come home fresher,” he reports.

HERDWATCH

It’s not just world beaters like Dairymaster that are revolutionising the way that farmers work. Long-established companies like Farm Relief Services (FRS), who have traditionally provided farmers with services such as fencing and relief milkers, are also contributing to the wave of new ideas that are targeted at making farmers’ lives easier. IT manager Fabien Peynaud has helped the company spearhead the development of their new app, Herdwatch. “We knew that there was a real need for something that allowed farmers do away with all the lists and scraps of paper that they have been relying on for years to record what they were doing with their animals,” he explains. “As the years move on, the traceability demands have grown, with the result that farmers are creaking under the strain of multiple entries every time a cow calves, moves, or is treated for something.” So the company came up with an app that allows farmers to pull all their existing animal records from the huge national databases created by the Department of Agriculture and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and quickly tag different events to the animals’ individual records in their phones. It has proved a serious hit with farmers, with hundreds of subscribers and thousands of animals live on the system after only a few months. “When I go home, I want to go home, if you know what I mean,” explains recent convert Andrew Darmody, who farms at Horse and Jockey in Tipperary. “Before this I was spending hours transferring notes from the notebook into other programmes to comply with all the traceability rules and regulations. That was fine until I had a child. Now, when I’m home I want to hang with him, not be hunched over a PC until all hours of the night,” he says.

18 Ear to the Ground

ETTG_Spring-Summer 2014_Farming & Technology.indd 18

26/06/2014 15:42:16

You’re not too young to manage the farm – You’re not too young to plan for your future

We know talking about pensions won’t get your pulse racing. And of course you’d rather be developing your farm than worrying about your retirement. But we also know that the sooner you deal with it, the better off you will be in your retirement. Retire from farming – don’t be daft! We’re not sure anyone ever truly retires from a farming life but wouldn’t it be nice to have the option! The average person in Ireland can expect to live between 20 and 25 years in retirement*. That’s great news – if you’ve planned for it. But if you haven’t, you could be relying solely on the State Pension, which is only worth about €1,000 a month**. It’s like a lifeboat: great in an emergency but you wouldn’t want to cross the Atlantic in it! And what’s more, if you’re due to retire after 2028, you won’t qualify for the State Pension until you turn 68 years of age***. Modern farming is very different to how your parents and grandparents farmed. The same can be said for planning for your future. We can’t be sure how the future will unfold but what we do know is that there is a greater need for you to take ownership of your own future. *Source: Department of Social Protection, April 2014. **Source: Central Statistics Office, April 2014. ***Source: National Pensions Framework, 2010.

3. Earn tax breaks as you save Saving for your retirement is down to you, but to encourage us to save for our future, you will receive valuable support from the government in the form of tax relief. It’s one of the most compelling reasons to save through a pension. Other forms of savings, like bank accounts or savings plans, do not attract such generous incentives. Every contribution you make to a pension plan receives tax relief based on the rate of income tax you pay (most of us pay income tax at a rate of either 20% or 41%). Rate you pay income tax at

20% Rate you pay income tax at

41%

Your pension contribution before tax relief

Your pension contribution after tax relief

Your Tax Saving

Your pension contribution before tax relief

Your pension contribution after tax relief

Your Tax Saving

200 200

1. Take ownership of your future Financial Security Planning for retirement is an important step to take, and you need to have the facts at your fingertips. Here are some important things that you need to know when deciding your retirement goals. Don’t delay, start your retirement plan today It’s important to start saving for your retirement as soon as you can. It will get you into the habit of saving, and the earlier you start, the more comfortable your retirement is likely to be. Any delay in saving for your retirement significantly affects what you’ll have to live off at retirement.

Annual income in retirement

11,640

160

118

82 Source: Zurich Life, August 2013

4. Investing in your pension A key factor in helping you grow your retirement pot is the investment return you could earn on your pension contributions. Any contributions you make into a pension will be invested in a fund, with a view to growing your money. Where your money is invested and how much risk you are prepared to accept is completely up to you. However, a general rule of thumb is the further you are from your retirement, the more adventurous you can be with your investment choice. At FBD Financial Solutions we will be able to help you work out what investment choice might best suit you.

PER YEAR

5. As your farm changes make sure your pension can change too

8,550 PER YEAR

6,110 PER YEAR

Age Pension Started Age 30

Age 35

Age 40

Based on €200pm escalating at 3% per annum payable from exact age 30, 35, 40 to age 65

2. Work out how much you should be saving How much should you be putting away? It’s a question we’re often asked. Of course, it’s up to you. But a simple way to check is to speak to us at FBD Financial Solutions. Just tell us your details, decide when you’d like to retire and we’ll quickly work out what you may need to start putting away for your retirement.

Setting up a pension is the first step on a journey – but it’s a journey that could last for over 40 years. As your farming life changes, make sure you keep your pension in mind.

START PLANNING TODAY Planning is key to your future retirement, but you don’t have to do it alone. At FBD Financial Solutions, we’re happy to help in any way that we can.

Don’t delay, Talk to FBD Financial Solutions today! †

Callsave 1850 767 560

†Calls to and from FBD may be recorded for training and verification purposes

FBD Financial Solutions, FBD House, Bluebell, Dublin 12, Ireland. Telephone 01 409 3203 Fax 01 460 0240 Email info@fbdfinancialsolutions.ie Website www.fbd.ie FBD Life & Pensions Limited trading as FBD Financial Solutions is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

231582_1C_FBD_CMD_ETTG.indd 1

06/06/2014 13:55:19

BACTERIOSOL®- BACTERIOLIT®

HUMUS CREATOR Offer the best to your soil, it will give it back to you... A natural fertilisation process creating humus to bring your soil back to life, to entance the fertility of your fields. Already used by many farmers.

IRISH FARMERS TESTIMONIES

‘I used both Bacteriosol® and Bacteriolit® on my farm. The fields are recovering really quickly. There is an upsurge in clover and the grass is growing really well. The cows and calves have done particularly well this year. Last year the calves seemed to struggle, however I have some calves weighing 400kg already this year. I would put it down to the quality of the grass’. Kim McCall Aubrac Pedigree Breeder, Calverstown, Co. Kildare

CMJ

‘I used Bacteriosol® with half nitrogen, and to my surprise I got 3 tons of barley to the acre. I will definitely use it again’. Terry Byrne Grain Grower and Agri Supplier, Naas, Co Kildare ‘Where I put the powder (Bacteriolit®) in the Slurry the cattle clean off the grass evenly. Where I used SOBAC I have a better response and faster grass growing back. I have denser grass, higher protein, higher fat levels and sometimes 1 day extra grazing’. John Bergin Dairy Farmer, Nenagh, Co Tipperary ‘The slurry didn’t smell as much, it was easier to agitate and was absorbed quicker in the ground. Where I spread slurry after three days the cattle got out into the field and they had no problem grazing it. There is something happening in the soil anyway, there is more insects and worms’. Donal Dorgan Beef Farmer, Ballyhooly, Co. Cork

U�� / I�� / B�� For more information : www.bacteriosol-sobac.com Brendan : 087 952 9064 (West and North) // Tom : 087 232 8051 (East and South) 231396_1C_Sobac_CMD_ETTG.indd 1

21/05/2014 15:16:15

High-tech Farming

Dairymaster Irish companies and even government departments are taking a leading role in harnessing the best of what technology has to offer for agriculture. While it started out as a small one-man band making cubicles, today Dairymaster is one of the world leaders in milking technology. Founder Ned Harty has seen the business grow into one that employs over 300 at its sprawling 11-acre manufacturing site at Causeway, a tiny little village in northwest Kerry. Today its R&D department is a mix of polymer engineers, mathematicians and games developers from all over the world. They are involved in developing a raft of software that is designed to help farmers manage bigger herds. For example, the firm’s Moo Monitor sends farmers a text message to notify them when it recognises that one of their cows is in heat. How does it do that? A small transmitter on a collar worn on the cow’s neck has built-in sensors that detect movement. Any increase in activity above the norm is an indication that the animal is in heat. This info is read every time the cow comes into the milking parlour. Not only that, but the Dairymaster system can then also automatically separate the relevant cow from the rest of the herd after milking so that she is waiting for the farmer when he is ready to get her inseminated. Impressive and all as this technology is, it’s really only a small part of the 96,000 parts and pieces that make up a state-of-the-art new Dairymaster parlour. And the real holy grail, as Ned’s son and current company CEO Edmond readily admits, is the automation of milking using robots. There are robots milking about a million cows worldwide and they’ve really taken off in some countries. It’s an answer to the drudgery of milking for some farmers but one of the

drawbacks is that you need to shell out €100,000 on an additional unit every time you want to milk an extra 70 cows. “In my mind an even bigger issue is the fact that the machine needs to work 24 hours a day,” says Edmond. “The farmer can leave the farm, but he’s never really off duty while those machines are working.” Instead, he hopes to develop a robotic arm that can attach clusters on a rotary parlour. The company has already taken the first step with a trap-door system containing the cluster units under each animal on a milking goat rotary that was installed in Holland late last year. “I believe that we’ll have cracked this challenge within 10 years but it’s possible that we may be able to roll out the technology within the next five,” the young CEO confidently predicts.

ABOVE: Ned and Edmond Harty of Dairymaster with the milk cluster that built the dairy manufacturing empire in a small corner of north Kerry.

GENOMICS

The most powerful demonstration of the power of the information revolution at farm level is yet to come. Just last year the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, launched an innovative scheme designed to harness the power of cutting edge genetic prediction techniques tailored to Irish conditions by researchers at the State farm advisory body Teagasc, and ICBF. The Beef Genomics Scheme is an attempt to drag the painfully conservative beef sector kicking and screaming into the 21st century. It is couched as an aid to the struggling cattle farmer, but the pervasive nature of these schemes means that it is likely to have tens of thousands of participants. Many will do so primarily to avail of the €60 per calf that will be paid out to every farmer that fulfils all the criteria. One of these requirements is for the farmer to take a tissue sample via a specially designed ear tagging device from a number of pre-selected animals in the herd. This, in turn, will allow geneticists build up the most accurate picture of the genetic potential and – crucially – weaknesses of the national herd. It will be unique in the world, and give those designing a national breeding strategy a real advantage over the competition.

Ear to the Ground 21

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26/06/2014 15:42:51

Advertising Feature

Duhallow

Leads the way In Protec ting

River Banks

The River Allow, near Kanturk in Co Cork, is benefiting from innovative and careful water management driven by IRD Duhallow: the environment, the economy and the threatened freshwater pearl mussel all stand to benefit, according to Maura Walsh, CEO and Dr Fran Igoe, Life+ Project Scientist.

he rural development model developed by IRD Duhallow is helping to lead the way in the evolution of long-term and sustainable environmental management strategies suitable for the countryside. In parallel with the many EU LEADER projects promoted by the company which have a focus on rural living and agriculture, the IRD Duhallow LIFE+ project showcases practical solutions to very real environmental management problems in the Irish countryside. Working closely with the farmers, the project has fenced over 20km of river bank along the River Allow near Kanturk in Co Cork, to help reduce cattle access to the river. Why is this important? Well, unmanaged cattle access to a river has been shown to cause water pollution, with serious consequences for both human health and aquatic life, such as fish â&#x20AC;&#x201C; though agriculture is not the only source of pollution, as we will see later. The River Allow is protected as a Special Area of Conservation for rare wildlife species such as the freshwater pearl mussel, and under European law Ireland is obliged to protect them. Like many underwater creatures, freshwater pearl mussel as well as salmon and other fish are sensitive to water enrichment due to organic pollution, and therefore the management of cattle near rivers is important. The LIFE + fund is specifically designed for the improvement of such Special Areas of Conservation and IRD Duhallow and their project partner, Inland Fisheries Ireland, have been working hard with all involved to try and improve the aquatic environment for these important wildlife species. But it is important to realise that an

improvement of water quality is beneficial to us all, even if it just means saving money on chemicals needed to treat water before it is safe for human consumption. A complex issue The management of water is a complex issue, far more complex than the current debate over water charges would imply. A binding European directive known as the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires EU member states to maintain good water status, where water quality is good, and to improve water status where it is poor. What this means is that Ireland must reduce water pollution. But how can this be done, when the factors causing water pollution and water shortages are so many, varied and often difficult to identify? Agriculture is not the sole cause, and other sources such as domestic septic tanks, commercial forestry, water treatment works and road run-off all contribute significantly. What is needed is an integrated catchment management process that involves everybody, from the local community to the government at both local and national level. In recognition of the complexities facing our rivers including the River Allow and the challenges faced by the WFD, IRD Duhallow have teamed up a European project known as TRAP (Territories for River Action Plan), an INTERREG IV project being co-ordinated in Ireland by the South Western Regional Authority. The aim is to draw on the best international practices and develop a process of effective water management for the Irish situation. IRD Duhallow and its LIFE+ project have already undertaken large-scale works to improve water quality and the river banks, so it was a logical follow-on

22 Ear to the Ground

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26/06/2014 18:29:31

Advertising Feature

Above: Working with landowners to restrict cattle access to river and limit the time it takes for animal crossings reduces pollution and improves water quality; Below left: School children get a chance to experience waterlife with the assistance of Inland Fisheries Ireland and IRD Duhallow LIFE+ project; Below right: Dr. Fran Igoe demonstrates river bank restoration work to stakeholders attending the River Allow Catchment Management workshop.

to engage the other stakeholders that can effect meaningful change. After all, as mentioned earlier, farming is only one of the many pressures affecting water quality in Ireland. Our inaugural meeting of the River Allow Catchment Management initiative got off to a great start with representatives from the Irish Farmers’ Association, the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association, Macra, individual local landowners, Coillte, the Irish Wildlife Trust, Mary Immaculate (UL), Inland Fisheries Ireland, Teagasc, Cork County Council (planning, roads and environment sections), the South Western Regional Authority, IRD Duhallow Rural Social Scheme, Kanturk Trout Angling Club, Duhallow Bird Watch Group, Duhallow Environmental Working Group, Kanturk Chamber of Commerce, the Office of Public Works and the Environmental Protection Agency – literally a who’s who of those who should be involved in water management of a river in Ireland. But it doesn’t end there, as the aim is to hold regular inclusive meetings, where issues regarding water management can be resolved quickly and in a more inclusive and holistic fashion. Research in the USA, Australia and closer to home in the UK has shown that this approach leads to a better use of resources, saving of money for the

public purse, better public engagement and pride, and better water quality outcomes in terms of public health, the economy, recreation and wildlife conservation. It just makes good sense. Engaging farmers To move this process further on the River Allow, it is important that it is relevant to the stakeholders, and as agriculture is the most important industry in the River Allow catchment, engagement of the farming community is key. The new Rural Development Programme (2014-2020) recently announced by the minister for agriculture provides an ideal opportunity to build on the great work achieved so far and really drive home this innovative water management system in the catchment. Leading up to the announcement, IRD Duhallow had made a submission on its vision for the Agriculture and Rural Development Programme. Now that the programme has been announced, we are delighted that our recommendation for “a more enlightened approach” to the agri-environment schemes has been taken on board and that priority funding is being allocated to nine freshwater pearl mussel river catchments. The River Allow, on account of its freshwater pearl mussel and the considerable amount of work

carried out in the catchment to date (river bank fencing, river bank restoration, large scale removal of non-native plant species, extensive public awareness in the media, schools and the local community, innovative ways of fencing land in flood areas, silt trapping of drains – to name but a few), together with the River Allow Catchment Management initiative and IRD Duhallow’s Focal Farmer Programme must surely place the catchment into an ideal position for further support. To quote the EPA, one of the key reasons why the water management approaches and plans that Ireland has taken to date have failed is because “stakeholder involvement and local ownership is lacking”. The IRD Duhallow model, which has been steadily building on its experience with the LIFE+ project, moving into catchment management and hopefully integrating the new NDP, could see real progress in the improvement of the River Allow’s water quality and the long-term survival of a highly threatened freshwater pearl mussel population. IRD Duhallow has been invited to address the EPA’s National Water Event 2014 to outline the practical mitigation measures and the concept of community/landowner involvement being developed for the River Allow and the Duhallow region in Co Cork. Ear to the Ground 23

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26/06/2014 18:31:26

INTERVIEW

George Lee What Does

Know About Farming?

RTÉ’s new agricultural and environmental correspondent is one of the broadcaster’s bestknown faces. But what does George Lee know about farming? The veteran reporter and former Dublin South TD speaks to Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly about what an economist can bring to the role – and how carbon quotas will soon place Irish agriculture in an impossible position.

his time five years ago, George Lee’s life was changing very quickly indeed. Having resigned as RTÉ’s economics editor to become one of the highest-profile by-election candidates of all time, the Fine Gael nominee was elected to the Dáil in a landslide. His departure from politics was even more sudden and unexpected, frustrated as he was at being unable to make any impact on economic policy. Returning to the national broadcaster, he worked on his radio and TV show The Business, on documentaries, and on Prime Time. Yet it’s only now, having been appointed agricultural and environmental correspondent, that he is returning to the newsroom. In many ways, Lee is a surprise choice for the role. “The thing that probably struck people is that ‘this guy does economics. Why is he doing agriculture and environment?’,” he says. “I think that’s a narrow enough way of looking at it, because you can bring economics to everything. Certainly, when I studied economics I studied agriculture economics and environmental economics – huge things. “And if you look at what’s happening with the country, with the way we’re heading, the biggest industrial sector we have is agriculture. The biggest growth in employment is in agriculture, the biggest expected output we have in terms of improvement is in agriculture. It’s full of small businesspeo-

ple. All those farmers are in business – hey, that’s very much close to what I’ve been doing for a number of years. Yes, I can certainly grapple with that, and the mindset.” So when the job was advertised, he said he’d give it a go. But what does he know about agriculture? More than one might think. Although he’s from Templeogue in suburban south Dublin, Lee’s parents both have farming backgrounds. His mother, from Ashford in Co Wicklow, grew up on a farm, which her brother ran when her parents moved on. Lee has great memories of summers visiting and doing all the small farmyard jobs that a kid ends up doing. Meanwhile, his father came from a market garden farm near Dublin Airport and a young George could sometimes be found picking potatoes: “back-breaking work”, as he remembers. “I’m not a farmer. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have what’s required. There are many people who have been business reporters who are not businesspeople. They’ve never been entrepreneurs. The health correspondent is not a doctor or a nurse, it’s a journalist communicating. The security correspondent is not a policeman or an army person, it’s a journalist. So I believe I have what’s required to do the job.” Anyway, there’s nothing to say a farmer is naturally able to communicate the issues or policies in the same manner as somebody with a journalistic background.

24 Ear to the Ground

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26/06/2014 15:46:14

INTERVIEW

Question:

Is Irish farming fair?

Making it mainstream Lee says that the farming public are reasonably well served by the media, in that there are plenty of outlets – but it’s a year and a half since RTÉ’s had an agriculture correspondent and his job will be to make agriculture coverage mainstream wherever he can. “The only way to get things on the news is to make them relevant to the audience. It can’t be a ghetto. You go back generations and business seems like a ghetto as well: it was for people who wore pinstripe suits and knew what the price of various shares were and it seems like a very small cohort of people.” Of course, nowadays everyone fancies themselves to be clued in to economics. Making agriculture mainstream isn’t difficult to do, because what he calls the “growth engine” of the recovery won’t be in multinational companies that contribute relatively little employment and are under global tax scrutiny. It will be in pro-

ducing and exporting food. Agriculture is doing well now, he says – look at the employment numbers and at who the banks are advertising to – but it will boom once quotas are removed, and the exporting opportunities to new markets like China and India are huge. He’s not setting out to break huge stories, but some of them will be big. Politicians are listening, he says, because nothing else can deliver what agriculture will. That also places an obligation on reporters such as himself to reflect what’s going on. Environmentally friendly? In effect, Lee has three portfolios: agriculture, the environment and also energy. They’re bound to overlap at times. He adamantly argues that Irish agriculture is environmentally friendly, but that there are many issues surrounding the topic. It’s something that he’s already encountered in his short time on the beat: he recently

It’s natural enough that the economic and business aspects of agriculture will be a cornerstone of George Lee’s coverage. So with retail dominant and big players stretching their legs, is Irish agriculture fair on the small and medium farmer? “Agriculture is a market. How do you make it fair? You speak to anybody in any business trying to supply, whether it’s cufflinks to Dunnes or Tesco. It’s true. It doesn’t matter: the big guys screw the little guys all the time.” There are ups and downs and you fight your corner. That’s why farmers are so clued in, know the price of everything and get organised: Lee reckons there’s no other business sector where virtually every participant is a member of an organisation. “You’re only one little farmer against these big organisations, it’s the only way to do it. There’s never a level playing field.” More outlets would help break the dependency on big conglomerates, and export potential is huge. But is it a profitable industry? “For some people they’re obviously making money and for some people it’s not. The banks all seem to think it’s profitable. But there’s no one answer to that question. Some farmers are making a lot more money than they’re letting on, and some are making absolutely nothing.”

Ear to the Ground 25

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26/06/2014 15:46:35

INTERVIEW

Question:

Is there an elitist Dublin Media?

There’s a perception that a Dublin or media elite just doesn’t ‘get’ rural Ireland, or farming for that matter. “I don’t think that’s true,” Lee says. “I don’t think it’s that. I guarantee you, there are plenty of elite people who have shares in Glanbia and everything else that moves in terms of food. I think that sometimes it’s about relevance: the news agenda.” Journalists are trying to compete with civil war in Ukraine or the kidnapping of hundreds of girls in Nigeria. “That would be my number one objective: to try and make people aware of the relevance of what goes on in the agricultural sector,” he says.

“Removing milk quotas while imposing sledgehammer carbon emissions obligations on the agriculture sector is the most ironic thing you could actually think about” reported on electric cars and received an email from a man who said that electric cars weren’t emission-free, and said Lee should have known better. “He went on about the carbon emissions and said that the only solution is to kill all the farm animals. Obviously I don’t agree with that! But no matter what you say, you’re going to find people who say farming is not environmentally friendly, and those who say it is. I know it is. “I believe that the nitrates issue in terms of the flow-off is significantly improved and I think we’re going to find some data on that in the coming weeks from the EPA. You have to measure it out: our nature of farming is much more environmentally friendly than other countries. Given that food has to be produced, it’s the most low-carbon method of producing food we probably have. Obviously if we just planted crops we’d have something different, but that’s unrealistic. The world would have a demand for meat and for dairy. If we don’t produce it here it would be produced somewhere else and add to the carbon emissions globally.”

Time ticking on carbon Carbon emissions. There’s a subject that’s going to dominate the agenda in the years to come. Lee’s position is nuanced. Firstly, he believes that very little has been done to meet Ireland’s carbon commitments and that we got a “free pass” when the economy collapsed, dragging down the use of energy. It will rise once again with economic growth. Secondly, he believes that the current targets are completely unfair on Irish agriculture and need to be renegotiated. He’s well aware that the latter view is likely to attract criticism. The sticking point is how the targets have been calculated, something the the IFA has campaigned on: they argue that the large number of multinational companies skew the calculations, as do Ireland’s useful carbon ‘sinks’ such as bogs. It was recently reported that the Government has seconded an official to Brussels to encourage movement on the issue. To Lee, the problem is that Ireland is facing a 20 per cent cutback, whereas the European average is around 10 per cent. Falling

short will incur fines or the need to buy carbon credits. “How did that happen?” he asks. “Who was at the table negotiating that when this absolutely impossible-to-achieve target was given for Ireland because we have a bigger agricultural sector? Were they not measuring other stuff and explaining properly that if you do this, you’re going to increase overall European emissions in agriculture if you take the Irish out of the equation?” In fact, when asked the unreasonable question of what he’d do if he were minister for agriculture for one day, it’s a theme he returns to. “Removing milk quotas in 2015 while imposing sledgehammer carbon emissions obligations on the agriculture sector is the most ironic thing you could actually think about.” Just when the dream of a domestic-owned exporting sector is to be realised, this comes along. But will he be accused of being a climate change denier for wanting to renegotiate? “I think you can be very much a climate change non-denier, and very much concerned about it and seeing it as a really important issue, which I do [...] But it’s very easy to square that with trying to support the Irish model of agriculture, because the Irish model of agriculture is the lowest carbon model of agriculture that there is. You won’t produce food in the same manner with the same low-carbon content in most parts of the world.” Interesting times, then, to be agriculture correspondent. If it’s going to be about carbon quotas, export figures and growth statistics, then perhaps no-one will mind if an economist with a south Dublin accent rolls up his sleeves and gets stuck in like he did during childhood summers years ago.

26 Ear to the Ground

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26/06/2014 15:46:49

ADVERTISING FEATURE

www.ndc.ie

50 YEARS promoting the dairy industry.

THE EXPERTS IN DAIRY. NATURALLY.

230740_2L_NDC_SN_ETTG.indd 1

22/05/2014 12:06:02

UNLOCKING THE NATURAL potential OF IRISH DAIRY The National Dairy Council continues to play its part in helping to unlock the potential for the dairy sector, particularly given the opportunities for expansion when milk quota restrictions end in 2015.

his could to be worth €1.3 billion per year to our economy creating 15,000 jobs if the dairy sector reaches its potential and continues to act smartly, making the most productive use of our rich natural ‘green’ resources in a sustainable manner. A new NDC ad, filmed on the family farm of professional rugby icons Rob and Dave Kearney, was launched to mark National Dairy Week in May. It marks the NDC’s 50th Anniversary and rests within the three year strategy, “Irish Dairy: Sustainable & Nutritious by Nature”. The strategy aims to promote the image, quality, taste and

WWW.NDC.IE

nutritional credentials of Irish dairy across the full spectrum of Irish dairy produce. THERE ARE FOUR KEY PILLARS WITHIN THE NDC STRATEGY: 1 IRISH DAIRY EXCELLENCE: Promoting quality, sustainability and excellence. This includes the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, which showcases our top quality dairy farmers; promotion of Irish cheese and its nutritional benefits; and the NDC Guarantee on milk and cream. 2 INDUSTRY REPUTATION: Protecting and enhancing the status and reputation of the Irish dairy category – can involve engaging with Irish

www.facebook.com/NDCireland

consumers who have questions or misconceptions about dairy and includes projects such as National Dairy Week, May 12th to 18th, 2014. 3 DAIRY NUTRITION & SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE: Using global alliances and research to resource the provision of evidence-based information to consumers and healthcare professionals, positioning the NDC as experts in dairy nutrition. 4 DAIRY EDUCATION FOR SCHOOLS: Improving attitudes to and relevance of dairy produce, the dairy education programme includes Moo Crew: The Primary Dairy Moovement for primary schools and the NDC Milk It Awards for secondary schools.

@ndc_ie EAR TO THE GROUND 27

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26/06/2014 13:19:53

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Farm Safety

Peter’s story

Paula Kerrigan talks to Galway farmer Peter Gohery, whose life-changing accident five years ago has turned him into a farm safety activist.

eter Gohery from Eyrecourt, Co Galway, is interested in one thing: changing attitudes towards farm safety in Ireland. The agricultural sector is acknowledged worldwide as a dangerous work environment and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) reports that while farms make up just 5 per cent of Irish workplaces, the sector is responsible for almost half of all workplace deaths in Ireland. For Peter, these statistics are not just numbers. In October 2009 his overalls became entangled in an uncovered power take-off (PTO) shaft. He broke his arm, his right leg was stripped to the bone, and his left leg had to be amputated. A PTO shaft is a common and inexpensive piece of farm equipment that transfers energy from a tractor to an accessory (in Peter’s case a diet feeder). Peter is keen to stress that his life-changing injuries were caused even though the PTO was just ticking over, not functioning at a regular or accelerated speed. He was a normal farmer, using a normal piece of equipment, in a normal way. That may be why his story is working to bring about change in Ireland. Peter spoke to Ear to the Ground presenter Ella McSweeney in 2012 and his interview resonated with farmers

throughout Ireland. He particularly noticed a reaction from the women in the farming community, who spoke to him about competitions and local events they had organised to raise awareness as a result of his interview. Changing mindsets Having been raised in a farming environment all his life, Peter readily acknowledges that there is an inherent attitude of disregard towards safety in the farming community in Ireland. He even has to gently threaten his own mother to be more careful on occasion, but he doesn’t shy away from it as others might because the consequences are now very real for him. After the accident, Peter noticed that local garages were inundated with orders for PTO shaft covers, suggesting that if this accident hadn’t happened to Peter it would have happened to someone else. “When you get talking to farmers on health and safety, everyone has had a near miss,” he says. One of the most important parts of his engagement is speaking to national school children. Unlike most employment sectors, children are involved on farms at a very early age. In fact, the agricultural industry accounted for all four of the child fatalities in the workplace in

2013. “There could be more done in the national schools,” says Peter. He believes that instilling healthy attitudes towards farm safety before children can form bad habits will improve the overall culture and might even have a knock-on effect if children pass the information on to their parents and community. “They’re changing the agricultural science syllabus in secondary schools at the moment, why not add in a course on health and safety?” suggests Peter. Since his recovery, Peter has spoken at events such as the National Ploughing Championships as part of the ‘Champions for Safety Campaign’ set up by the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee under the HSA. He also speaks at agricultural and horticultural colleges throughout the country and has decided to go back to college to gain formal training on the subject. Although it’s an uphill battle, Peter has noticed an improvement towards farm safety, and indeed farm-related accidents were down by 23 per cent in 2013 compared to the previous year. It takes a brave man to turn tragedy into a cultural change, but Peter is determined to use his experience to turn a spotlight onto this issue and improve the welfare of people in his community. EAR TO THE GROUND 29

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FEATURES

Features OUT AND ABOUT

here’s plenty happening out there. The folk behind the Wild Atlantic Way are hoping that the world’s longest tourism route will draw visitors all along the west coast. It’s a time of change in so many different ways: in educating the next generation of farmers, in how we use our water, in how our towns and villages work – and whether they’ll have a post office or not.

Wild Atlantic Way Ploughing Tractor Pre-nuptial Agreements Water Butterfly Farming

33 39 42 46 50

Post Offices Education IFA Interview Forestry Online advice

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28/05/2014 16:17:35 18/6/14 18:22:48

Tourism

From

Inishowen Kinsale to

building the world’s longest tourist route

A new Fáilte Ireland plan to create the world’s longest tourist route aims to bring Ireland’s diverse west coast attractions into one tourist package – and build opportunities for rural communities. Derek Owens reports on the Wild Atlantic Way.

he west of Ireland is known to offer almost anything a tourist could wish for: outstanding natural beauty, a laidback atmosphere, toptier food and culture in abundance. However, all these attractions are spread out across the countryside rather than a small resort – in other words, while the region has lots to offer, it’s difficult to ‘sell’ to potential visitors as an easily-understood holiday offer. With that in mind, Fáilte Ireland has launched the Wild Atlantic Way, a new initiative to bring the west’s unique attractions together in a 2,500 kilometre

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Tourism

Malin Fanad Head

Sliabh Liag Mullaghmore head downpatrick head

Keem Strand

derrigimlagh

cliffs of moher

Loop Head

Blaskets Skelligs Viewpoint dursey island

Old Kinsale Head Mizen Head

touring route. “The objective is to give scale and singularity to the whole of the west coast to encourage more visitors. Essentially, it’s a touring route from Kinsale in the south to the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal – or vice-versa, depending on which way visitors choose to attack the route,” explains Head of Project Fiona Monaghan. “3,000 tourism businesses are in the locality that we would be encouraging visitors to engage with – to slow down and really experience the west of Ireland.”

Taking the tour The touring holiday remains attractive to people who don’t simply want to sit on a sunbed for two weeks and, Monaghan explains, is already a big part of Ireland’s tourism. “Ireland has traditionally been a touring destination in that overseas visitors don’t tend to stay in one location – they move around. The average length of stay is in the vicinity of eight nights and they would tend to spend one night or maybe two nights in different locations,” notes Monaghan, adding that the example

of top-class touring trails informed Fáilte Ireland’s planning for the project. “The Wild Atlantic Way was benchmarked against some of the iconic touring routes in the world, such as the Garden Route in South Africa or the Great Ocean Road in Australia as part of the development phase. These types of touring routes do resonate with visitors. The bulk of visitors in the early years would tend to drive them, but there are huge opportunities for green ways, cycle ways, blue ways also along these routes to encourage visitors

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Tourism

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The success of the Wild Atlantic Way, in my opinion, will be the communities that embrace it and adopt it, and the tourism businesses that recognise the motivations and the needs of visitors.â&#x20AC;?

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Tourism

Tapping the

potential Seizing the opportunity, of course, requires some initiative, and completely new players in the tourism market may be anxious about it. That’s why Fáilte Ireland are offering help with a string of community briefings. “We engaged with a series of community briefings back in February where we met with communities along the route and, in addition to tourism businesses, the whole objective of the briefings was to engage communities, community leaders and non-traditional tourism businesses who may have something that they feel could be of benefit to visitors – or may see an additional opportunity to expand their current businesses,” says Laura Monaghan. There is still time to see how your community or agri-business could benefit from the Wild Atlantic Way in this tourist season. “The best way to start would be to visit the Fáilte Ireland website – failteireland.ie/wildattlanticway. You can find the relevant contacts and personnel there, or people can contact their local Fáilte Ireland office.”

to change their modes of transport and engage with the local landscape. They are becoming increasingly popular as visitors are becoming more discerning. They don’t just want to sit on a coach and look out the window: they want to get out and engage with the culture, with the people and with the landscape.”

in Donegal, while others will offer a new experience even to seasoned tourists. Already, Fáilte Ireland has begun marketing the route overseas, with dedicated cinema campaigns over the Christmas and New Year holidays in Germany, France and the US, and some extremely strong initial feedback.

The route The result of Fáilte Ireland’s planning is the world’s longest touring route, travelling through some of Ireland’s most beautiful places. e10 million is being invested in the project during 2014, to include 3,850 route signs and 159 selected ‘discovery points’. These distinct sites, large and small, are chosen for their ability to offer an authentic, intimate experience of the natural beauty and culture of the area. As the route develops, discovery points will have parking and picnic facilities, along with plenty of information and interpretive signage. Some of these include established attractions, such as the Cliffs of Moher in Clare and Sliabh Liag

Creating opportunities All this creates opportunities for locals – including ‘non-traditional’ tourism businesses – to offer and profit from a rich visitor experience, says Monaghan. “We see this as an opportunity to showcase the best of the west of Ireland, and food is a huge element of that. Local producers, artisan producers and even local restaurants can make more of their menus and talk up where their meats come from, where their fish come from, and relate those to the area,” she notes. In fact, one initiative from a previous Fáilte Ireland project should get any farmer’s creative juices flowing. “One great example of that was in the Mayo Greenway, the walking and cycling tour from West-

port to Achill Island. A hotel in Mulranny along the route, in an attempt to encourage more visitors, engaged with local producers along the route and one or two farmers in developing what they called the ‘Gourmet Greenway’. They were offering a package whereby you could rent a bike, visit the six producers that they had teamed up with, and see the food being produced,” Monaghan reveals. “Then, that evening, their main meal was an amalgam with the various producers and their output. It really brought it to life for visitors, and is something we’d like to see replicated in various locations along the route as well. There’s huge potential.”

“This first round of community briefings was very much that – a first round,” she affirms. “As we move into the summer, tourism businesses will be very much doing their thing but, in the autumn again, we’re going back out to talk to communities, encourage them, and also pass on research and findings that we hear from visitors on the ground in terms of what they’re looking for, what works well. “We have a team of Fáilte Ireland personnel located from Letterkenny all the way down

to Cork in various locations along the route, and we’re here to work with local groups, local communities, to help them understand the project and make the most of it for their particular area.“ Not every business will tap into the project’s potential, and the route won’t spoon-feed communities with tourist cash. But as a brand to attract visitors to the region and explain its unique offering, the Wild Atlantic Way is already making a big impression.

Community engagement Fáilte Ireland estimates that 1,300 people attended community briefings in 13 locations across seven counties along the route [see above right]. Moreover, Monaghan pledges that the support from Fáilte Ireland will be ongoing. “The success of the Wild Atlantic Way, in my opinion, will be the communities that embrace it and adopt it, and the tourism businesses that recognise the motivations and the needs of visitors.

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18/6/14 11:30:56

Ploughing

Ploughing ON Charlie Keegan’s Deutz D40L tractor that triumphed in the 1964 World Ploughing Championships has been found and is being restored. But the search goes on for his plough.

arlier this year, a charming story started to do the rounds: that of Charlie Keegan’s tractor. Keegan was the first world ploughing champion from south of the border, a feat accomplished just outside Vienna on a Deutz D40L. His prize? Another Deutz, this time a D15. This year marks the 50th anniversary of what was a high-profile achievement at the time: on his return to Dublin Airport he was carried away on the crowd’s shoulders. It would be nice if something were done to commemorate it – Keegan died in 2003. His grandson Michael

and Michael’s wife Hannah Bolger are perseverent types determined to mark the anniversary. They eventually found the original match-winning tractor in a farm near to their own Waterfall Farm, near Powerscourt in Co Wicklow. After much persuasion, a deal was struck. That was only the first step. The next was to restore the thing in time for this year’s National Ploughing Championships, a task that’s easier said than done. Time has taken its toll on the old Deutz, and there’s the availability of spares and expertise to factor in. But Hannah put the word out in a blog post, and it caught many people’s imagination. EAR TO THE GROUND 39

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Ploughing

PREVIOUS PAGE: The Deutz D40L that powered Charlie Keegan to his world championship in 1964, and his grandson Michael Keegan. ABOVE LEFT: The Deutz D15, Charlie’s prize. ABOVE: The Deutz D40L ready to be restored. BELOW: An advert for the championship-winning model of plough that Michael and Hannah are trying to trace in time for this year’s Ploughing. LEFT: The Pierce plough that Charlie used to qualify for Vienna is still at Waterfall Farm at Powerscourt.

“The story has now moved on quite a bit since my first blog and the Irish Times coverage,” Hannah tells Ear To The Ground. “The D40L tractor is now in a thousand bits being restored by a man on the northside of Dublin. The Pierce plough that Charlie used to qualify for the World Ploughing has been found and is back here in the yard. The D15 tractor, the prize tractor, is also here in the yard.” The only missing piece of the jigsaw is the plough Charlie used on that historic

day. Hannah reports that some examples of the elusive Kverneland Hydrein Special plough have been tracked down – in different countries. Frustratingly, they can get hold of a three-furrough Kverneland in the UK, but not the two-furrow match plough Charlie would have used. Will they find one in time for the Ploughing in Laois this September? Follow their progress on www.waterfallfarm.ie – or better yet, help them find a certain Norwegian plough.

40 EAR TO THE GROUND

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Advertising Feature

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26/06/2014 18:34:06

Pre-nuptial agreements

Look before you

Leap

Pre-nups: the law

Agricultural solicitor Aisling Meehan looks at the law on pre-nuptial agreements and whether couples should consider one in advance of their wedding day.

n the EU, Ireland and Britain are the only countries without legislation on pre-nuptial agreements. However, in October 2010, a landmark judgment in the UK saw pre-nuptial agreements recognised as enforceable under British law for the first time. In Ireland, traditionally pre-nuptial agreements were regarded as contrary to public policy and in conflict with Article 41 of the Constitution, in which the State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of marriage. However, there has been a departure from this traditional view with the enactment of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 and the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. The Civil Partnership Act makes provision for cohabiting couples to regulate their joint financial and property affairs during and after a relationship by drawing up a cohabitant’s agreement. It is similar to a pre-nuptial agreement, but only applies to unmarried cohabitants. The Divorce Act allows the court to vary the terms of a pre-nuptial or postnuptial agreement in making a property adjustment order on granting a decree of divorce. The significance of this provision is that the legislature has recognised the existence of such agreements and although it empowers the court to alter the contents of those agreements, by corollary it does not oblige the court to alter or

ignore such agreements. The overriding consideration as to whether the court will have regard to the terms of a pre-nuptial agreement is that the agreement should provide that proper provision exists or will be made for the vulnerable spouse as at the date of the separation or divorce. If the court takes the view that proper provision has been made under the terms of a pre-nuptial agreement, they may give effect to the provisions of that agreement. However, if proper provision has not been made, the court can disregard the terms of the pre-nuptial agreement and instead make their own orders as to the division of assets to ensure that proper provision is made for the vulnerable spouse. What constitutes ‘proper provision’ depends on the facts and circumstances of each case and there is considerable case law on the issue. Worth considering? Given the uncertainty concerning the legal status of pre-nuptial agreements, is it worth considering such an agreement before marriage? Many couples have chosen to enter into a pre-nuptial agreement to at least record their intent and respective financial positions at the time of the marriage, as these factors have been relevant in the determination of ancillary relief disputes upon separation or divorce. Benefits to drawing up a prenuptial agreement have been cited as including:

■ Control over the course and conduct of the relationship ■ Choice as to the nature of the relationship ■ Conflict in the future can be reduced ■ The cost of any future dissolution of the marriage can be reduced. To ensure that a pre-nuptial agreement will be considered favourably by a court, there should be full disclosure of all assets and both parties should receive independent legal advice. Issues which can be addressed in a pre-nuptial agreement include the division of present and future property, lump sum payments, pensions, maintenance and custody of children and provision from the estate of a deceased spouse. The pre-nuptial agreement should provide for periodic reviews where, for example, children are born to the marriage or if there is a fundamental change in circumstances. Further, it is important that each side be given time to consider the terms of the proposals prior to signing (generally three months), otherwise it could be claimed that there was undue influence if an agreement is entered into too close to marriage. In New Zealand, which has a common law system similar to Ireland, the Property Relationship Act makes provision for an agreement akin to a pre-nuptial agreement and provides that it is not allowed to be challenged unless implementation would lead to a serious injustice. However, I understand few farming families choose

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Pre-nuptial agreements

this option, preferring instead to use a company/trust option. Given the penal tax regime applicable to discretionary trusts in Ireland at present, it is not a model that can be easily replicated in Ireland. Divided in half? Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the case that a family farm will automatically have to be sold if a marriage breaks down or indeed that the farm will have to be divided in half. In a recent Supreme Court case of G v G, the court ruled that the spouse was entitled to 25 per cent of an inherited farm. The situation and the facts will be different in each case. The contribution of each party will be taken into account including the financial and the personal contribution of each party within the marriage and family, particularly where there are children. The length of the relationship and marriage is also a factor, together with the ongoing

financial prospects of each individual spouse. There is also the matter of debts owed on the farm. Legal documentation creating a charge over property requires any person claiming a beneficial interest in the property to declare that interest and to give priority to the banks’ charge. In the case of a house, once a married couple reside in a home it becomes a family home whether it is in the name of one spouse or not, and cannot be sold without the consent of the other spouse. Alternative structures which take the asset out of the direct ownership of the farming son/daughter while still giving them a share in the farming enterprise could be explored as a means of protecting assets, such as the formation of a partnership or farming company. In a family farm transfer, the most important aspect is the need to balance three considerations:

■ Parents have financial and emotional security ■ The succeeding child has a flexible and resilient long-term plan ■ Non-farming children are treated fairly. While a pre-nuptial agreement might help in achieving this, it is only part of the process in achieving a seamless transfer of the farm from one generation to the next. Aisling Meehan is a solicitor and chartered tax adviser specialising in agricultural law and taxation. Email: aisling@agriculturalsolicitors.ie. Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended as a general guide only. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in this article, Aisling Meehan Agricultural Solicitors does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising.

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Pre-nuptial agreements

First Person

Pre-nups: Bet ter Safe Than Sorry? Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly speaks to Kilkenny farmer William Holohan, who shared his experience of pre-nuptial agreements on Ear To The Ground.

William Holohan, Darragh McCullough and Mairéad Whitty

ransferring the family farm through the generations has always been a sensitive matter at the best of times: done right, and the business passes to the next generation at just the right time for new ideas and energy. Done wrong and the older generation hangs on too long, or infighting and instability threaten to break up the farm itself, making it unviable – along with the damage it can do to a family. These days, there’s an added complication: what happens to the farm if the parents’ marriage breaks up? That was the concern of Kilkenny farmer William Holohan in the run-up to his marriage to Mairéad Whitty, due to take place around the time we went to press. William popped up on Ear To The Ground in December to talk about pre-nuptial agreements, uncertain territory under Irish law. Since then, he’s been encouraged by the response. “It got a positive reaction. People were saying ‘everyone’s thinking about it – but at least he’s going out and saying it’. They understand where myself and Mairéad were coming from. There was no negative reaction.” William wanted to highlight the transfer of land to younger farmers, and family businesses to younger people. There is a fear that if a marriage broke up, the business would be halved. This is something he has heard happening to other couples and in the community, particularly while he was at college in the UK. He felt that if pre-nuptial agreements were fully-functional in Ireland, these fears could be allayed. In 2007, the Study Group on Pre-nuptial Agreements reported to then-Minister for Justice Michael McDowell. It recommended that pre-nups should be legislated for. Little happened. The traditional argument against is that it will undermine marriage. However, there seems to be less and less resistance, as the often-

conservative farming base adapted to the reality that farm breakups could be more preventable. The IFA began campaigning on the issue and has received support from opposition politicians. Changes afoot? Those in favour of pre-nups received a boost last year with reports that the Department of Justice was looking at the issue, possibly in a Children and Family Relationships Bill, but a spokesman for the department says that “there are no plans to include provision for the recognition of pre-nuptial agreements in the Children and Family Relationships Bill. That is child-centred legislation rather than dealing with property affairs of spouses. Legislation for the recognition of pre-nuptial agreements is not currently proposed.” Nonetheless, William thinks that change is on its way, just as it took time to introduce divorce. He doesn’t regard himself as campaigning on the issue, but has raised it at Macra meetings and encouraged the organisation to make it a policy. “For the next generation, if myself or Mairéad were killed, it would be nice to know that the business would be in safe hands and it wouldn’t be halved. If you half the asset, you’re going to half the income. [But] you’re losing out on an awful lot more than the asset – you’re losing out on your livelihood.” After all, a family farm is much more than the sum of its parts. Holohan is a tillage farmer who, in turn, took over from his folks. He’d like to see an increase in the transfer of farms and businesses to younger generations. “By the time they might get the business they could be too old for change. Handing over has always been tricky. I’ll probably be the same when I get to that age!” It’s a circle of life, but Holohan is adamant that it’s one that could be made easier by giving certainty around farm succession.

44 Ear to the Ground

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Water

Water World W With the establishment of Irish Water, the government has moved to upgrade and update the nation’s water services – albeit by imposing water charges on residential properties. Water metering is currently being rolled out throughout the country, sparking protests from those who oppose fees and causing tension between the Government parties as the election approached. Yet amidst these moves to regulate a scarce resource, there is also an excess of water to worry about, as floods and stormy weather wreaked havoc in many rural areas earlier this year. Dean Van Nguyen examines the controversies surrounding Ireland’s most precious commodity and looks at their impact on the farming community.

ater is the most precious commodity in the world – the sweet elixir of life, if you will – and the process of making it usable in Irish homes, farms and places of business is complicated and largely unfamiliar to consumers. Yet public policies surrounding how our water systems are best serviced, sustained and funded have proved controversial topics since the debate over water charges ignited. The roll out of a metering system to charge the public for what flows from their taps has sparked protests across the country. Incorporated as a semi-state company under the Water Services Act 2013, Irish Water was established with the remit of bringing the water services previously run by the 34 local authorities together and providing acceptable public water services. The new group itself says that the previous model was not sustainable and large investment is required to tackle the system’s failings, which include high leakage rates and low quality standards in certain regions. “Over the last number of years we’ve seen the investment in water services fall below critical levels and as a result the network has suffered,” says Elizabeth Arnett, Irish Water’s Head of Communications and Corporate Services. “We see ourselves today, in 2014, with water services that are really not fit to meet the needs of a modern economy. We have problems

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water with prolonged boil water notices [which notifiy locals that their water is unsafe to consume until it is boiled] in parts of the country, particularly in Roscommon. We’ve almost one million people with their drinking water services constantly at risk. We have waste water treatment plants all over the country that don’t meet the required standard of treatment. And we’re missing at least 40 per cent of our water that we produce is unaccounted for because the pipes are in such bad state of repair. In fact, over 800 kilometres of pipe in the Dublin area is over 100 years old. So the network itself requires an enormous amount of investment.” Many of the problems with the Irish water supply stem from a substance called cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause disease in humans if consumed. Many of the treatment facilities in operation don’t have adequate filters to remove cryptosporidium and Irish Water has set its single greatest priority as providing safe drinking water for everybody that’s on the public system and to ensure that long-term boil water notices are a thing of the past. “For those of us who live in urban areas and for those of us who have never really thought about our water before, the very notion of not being able to brush your teeth with your water, not being able to prepare food with your water, or to drink your water is something that we’ve never thought about,” says Arnett. “It’s actually devastating for communities when they can’t drink their water. And it’s a concern when you’ve kids in the house.” Water metering While few would argue that prolonged boil water notices are acceptable and our water services require no investment, Irish Water’s remit is bringing significant costs to the consumer. In its relatively short existence the group has become best known for the roll out of water meters – the most ambitious metering programme that has ever been attempted. “Our target is to install 27,000 meters a month and we are doing that now,” explains Arnett. “It is a huge logistical challenge to get a programme of this nature up and running. On any given day we have 1,200 people out on various different building sites, making it the biggest construction project underway in the country by a long shot.” However, the introduction of water charges has sparked protests around the country. There have been reports of standoffs and injuries as irate protesters have attempted to block construction workers from installing the meters. Meanwhile, a tense local and European election campaign saw reports of rows at cabinet level, as Fine Gael and Labour quarrelled over the precise water charge regime. Ear to the Ground 47

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Water

Opponents of charges argue that they are standing up for the principles of public ownership, and that people have suffered enough through austerity. It is, at times, a bitter debate. For example, in 2009 independent councillor and current Mayor of South Dublin Dermot Looney ran for the Labour Party, whose local election manifesto opposed water charges – something later endorsed by party members at its national conference without opposition. Earlier this year, Looney resigned from Labour. He claims that without any consultation with its members, the leadership of the party committed to introducing charges as part of the Government – something he now calls an “utter disrespect for democracy”. “I continue to believe that water provision should be paid for through general taxation,” he affirms. “The establishment of Irish Water and the installation of thousands of meters to date means we are a lot further down the line than in 2009. It is already clear that there will be a fight on our hands to retain Irish Water in public hands, for example. “The majority of the people in areas in which I have canvassed are older persons. They are genuinely fearful of the impact of water charges on their limited means. By way of example, I have met many people on a widow’s pension of €230 a week who are trying to pay for all their bills from that income. This extra charge pushes them closer to the brink.” Impact on farming The Irish Farmers’ Association has also been deeply critical of the scheme, insisting that farmers have already been paying hefty water charges for years as commercial users. The organisation is currently seeking a reduction in charges. In its manifesto for the European Parliament and local government elections, the IFA argued that the “expansion of the customer paying base to include domestic customers will result in economies of scale, which must lead to a reduction in the water charges being imposed on farm families”. Many farmers who have a mains supply on their property are currently considered non-domestic customers and are billed by their local authority with an allowance for their domestic use. This system will remain in place and, according to Arnett, Irish Water is currently in a process of consultation with the Commission for Energy Regulation. If there are to be changes to the non-domestic tariff, the group believes it should be done in a very gradual way so there isn’t a bill shock for customers. For the agricultural community on the public mains, there will

“Last winter an overabundance of water caused by floods and bad weather caused millions of euro worth of damage across all sectors of the farming and rural economy.” be a domestic charge just like everybody else and it will be coming in October, with the first bills in January 2015. Unlike customers in more urban areas, however, Arnett believes farmers are more in tune with what Irish Water are trying to achieve as many have first-hand experience in producing water. “I found there was a great awareness of what water services are and what they do and you don’t necessarily get that awareness in urban areas,” she says. “So it will be interesting to see when that awareness starts building up and people become more aware of how much energy it takes to produce their water, how much cost it actually takes to produce their water, how people change their usage patterns, etc.” With so many negative headlines, the relatively new Irish Water has got off to a bad start. But Arnett believes that an improved reputation will come from how they conduct themselves. “From my own perspective, your brand is what you do and your brand is how you behave. If you can install on any given day up to 2,000 meters safely without disrupting your customers in a cost efficient way, as [efficiently] as you can do, and if you can send all of those workers home safely that night, that is your brand value and that speaks for itself.”

Stormy times Paradoxically, while the control of our water supply continues to be a hot topic, last winter an overabundance of water caused by floods and bad weather caused millions of euro worth of damage across all sectors of the farming and rural economy. Perhaps most destructive was Storm Darwin. Hitting Ireland hard on February 12th, Irish Times reports estimate that 7.5 million trees fell in forests under the force of winds that reached as high as 160 kilometres an hour. In statements released via its website, the IFA revealed the difficulties stormy conditions caused farmers. Saturated land meant all livestock needed to be housed, resulting in an increase in workload and costs. After electrical cuts, the ESB agreed to facilitate the transportation of generators and other equipment to farmers, particularly those who were unable to milk cows or provide water for their animals. Even prior to Darwin striking, IFA President Eddie Downey visited farms along the River Shannon to survey the damage caused by heavy rains and flooding, emphasising that a considerable investment programme would be needed in the long-term to aid farmers living near rivers and coastal areas. Focus has now switched to what rural Ireland can be learn from the storms. Teagasc – the Agriculture and Food Development Authority – has been active, recently holding events on managing storm damage in farm forests. The events preached the message that good preparation and step-by-step plans can minimise the negative impact future storms may have. Over 400 forest owners were present at the events. “I was very pleased to see so many forest owners attending,” said Local Teagasc Forestry Development Officer Michael Somers at the time. “This is one of the biggest natural disasters to happen recently in Irish forestry. Not since 1997 has the south of Ireland experienced a storm of this magnitude. The main point to be taken from this event is that the crop can be salvaged with good planning.” While it may be the most valuable resource on our planet, mismanagement of how we harness water and ineffective structures to handle natural catastrophes can prove devastating to the Irish farming community and Ireland as a whole. With debates underway and lessons being learned on the supply – and the oversupply – of water, Ireland’s relationship with its aqua may prove a saga that rumbles on for quite some time.

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farming Abroad

The

Butterfly effect

Joseph Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor travelled to Tanzania to discover how one method of farming is helping to supplement the income of locals and empower women in their villages.

nside a small netted enclosure situated deep in the East Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, a young man tends to his butterflies by replenishing a plate of rotten fruit. A soft-spoken, unassuming man from Fanusi Village, Alfonsi Kalage has been a butterfly farmer for 10 years. And it shows, as he casually plucks one of his butterflies (a male Euxanthe Wakefildi, he tells me) from the air and secures its body between forefinger and thumb, allowing the insect to boast its turquoise-blue patterned wings for my camera. Farming is a profession often associated with demanding, physical labour, and while this is generally the case for most agricultural work in both developed and developing countries, Kalage shows no signs of having spent the last decade carrying out back-breaking work. Instead, he is one of 400 locals benefiting from the Amani Butterfly Project, a non-profit organisation, located in the heart of a serene area of protected forest covering 20,000 acres in north-east Tanzania. The project has been generating income for local butterfly farmers from six villages by helping them to farm and market native butterflies to foreign buyers. The initial mission of the project was to reduce poverty and create an incentive for forest conservation, but it has proved to have other positive knockon effects. The brainchild of a young American biologist by the name of Theron Morgan-Brown, the project benefits from the support of the Tanzanian

Forest Conservation Group (TFCG), an NGO that has assisted the enterprise, both financially and administratively, with the help of funding from various donors. Loosely based on a similar venture in Kenya, Morgan-Brown produced a feasibility study while in university on how butterfly farming could be introduced to the East Usambara Mountains, an area renowned for its ecological importance. With this initiative, locals were given the opportunity to generate an alternative source of income through an activity which encourages conservation. Furthermore, it would take place in an area which was suffering from the detrimental effects of logging by those seeking to produce charcoal or clearing forest to create farmland. The Farming Process The butterfly farming process begins with farmers catching a small population of female butterflies from the wild and transferring them to an enclosure where they lay eggs on host plants. The farmers collect these eggs and when they hatch, the caterpillars that emerge are placed on fresh plants, which must be regularly replaced to satisfy their appetites. The caterpillars continue to feed until they become pupae. It is at this point they are ready to be transported. The average life cycle of these butterflies is two to three weeks, so foreign buyers usually order new pupae every fortnight. In its 10-year existence, the Amani Butterfly Project has been generating revenue through the sale

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Farming Abroad

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The initial mission of the project was to reduce poverty and create an incentive for forest conservation, but it has proved to have other positive knock-on effects.â&#x20AC;?

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farming Abroad

of pupae to live butterfly exhibits in the United States and Europe for between $1 and $2.50 each. Of that sum, 65 per cent goes directly to the farmers, 28 per cent goes back into the project, while the remaining 7 per cent goes to a community development fund that contributes to projects in participating villages; all in a country where an estimated 58 per cent of the population live on less than a dollar a day. Empowering Women Back in Fanusi Village, a number of farmers outlined to me the positive impact that the project has had on their lives. I was particularly interested to hear from the participating women about the changes it has brought about. Involving women in the project was an important focus for the Tanzanian Conservation Group from the outset, and for much of the project’s existence, women have accounted for up to 50 per cent of the farmers. Rosie Marishali, a young woman from the village, has been a butterfly farmer for seven years. “Since becoming a farmer, there have been many changes to my life,” she says. “I now have a house, a bicycle and my conditions have improved a lot. When we began the butterfly farming, people were laughing at us. They said we were wasting our time but then when they saw the changes it had brought about, they decided themselves to apply to become members of the butterfly farm.” She also explains how she has managed to gain the respect of others in the village because of her new profession. “I have inspired a lot of my friends and I have made more people trust me. If I need something from a shop I can just go and ask and I’ll be given it because they know I will have the money at the end of the month.” More important than gaining respect from the local shopkeeper, being involved in the project has enabled women to have a voice at the local village meetings where they decide how community funds, generated through butterfly farming as well as through other means, should be spent. It was at a Fanusi Village meeting that the women pushed for the development of a new pipe water system so they would no longer have to travel many miles by foot each day in order to access a crucial daily amenity. Founder Morgan-Brown believes butterfly farming is an ideal activity for local women, mostly due to it not involving strenuous work. “In the Tanzanian context it doesn’t really conflict with some of the other responsibilities that society puts on women,” he says. “So it’s something you can do in your back yard. It doesn’t involve a lot of demanding physical labour and it is the perfect income-generating activity for anybody to participate in.”

The Sleeping Giant With a population of 49 million, Tanzania is a country in eastern Africa bordering the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Mozambique. Tanzania’s agricultural sector accounts for much of the economic activity in the country, making up around 25 per cent of its GDP and 30 per cent of its exports. It also provides food and employment for over three quarters of the population. Incomes in the sector are stagnant however, with poor access to markets and a lack of infrastructure. There are over 15 million smallholder farmers in Tanzania, around half of whom are women. Tanzania is still considered one of Africa’s ‘sleeping agricultural giants’ due to its abundant land, water resources and rich soils, which have the potential to provide food not only for the country but the wider region.

A Time to Look Local Despite its successes to date, the Amani Butterfly Project has faced significant challenges since 2010. The first project sales took place in 2004 and by the end of that year $20,000 was made from the sale of pupae. By 2009, sales had increased to $90,000. However, this rapid growth came to a sudden end in 2010 when new regulations were introduced on the exportation of live animals, which included the shipment of pupae. These regulations increased costs significantly, making it an unprofitable business for big courier companies, with the courier used by the project opting to cease shipping the pupae to Europe as well as the US. Until these new regulations were introduced, the project was selling upwards of 50,000 pupae per year to 13 buyers, but now the project has lost all but one buyer in the UK and by the end of 2010 sales had dropped 30 per cent. Dur-

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Farming Abroad

â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we began the butterfly farming, people were laughing at us. They said we were wasting our time but then when they saw the changes it had brought about, they decided themselves to apply to become members of the butterfly farm.â&#x20AC;? CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A new water supply which the butterfly project helped to fund; the people of Fanusi village; butterfly farmer Mwanamisi Juma; a male papilio dardanus butterfly; a male euxanthe wakefildi butterfly.

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farming Abroad

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Butterfly farmer Omari and family; project founder Theron Morgan-Brown; women of Fanusi village; butterfly farmer Alfonsi checking the status of the caterpillars feeding on their host plant.

ing my visit, some of the farmers expressed concern that they are now producing many more butterflies than are needed. According to Amiri Saidi, who has been manager of the Amani Butterfly Project since its inception: “As an alternative, we are forced to use the air cargos which are very expensive, especially when you are shipping the pupae in small quantities. It’s difficult for the small exhibitors and buyers to afford. Now we are just relying on one wholesaler, a company based in Stratford, UK. I suppose it’s great that we are still surviving but we are relying on this one client to buy in the region of 1,500 pupae per week.” Although seen as a significant blow to the project, it has highlighted its dependency on foreign buyers and exportation procedures. The project is now eager to source buyers in local regions such as Kenya, Uganda and other parts of Tanzania, and perhaps establish butterfly exhibits in areas where there is lots of tourist activity. It is also in talks with a French courier company to re-establish some of its former shipping routes.

Release the Butterflies Morgan-Brown, who is now based at TFCG’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam, has reduced his involvement with the project, but he continues to act as an adviser whenever Saidi and his team require a second opinion. Having originally conceived the idea for the project, MorganBrown retains high hopes that the project can obtain alternative sources of revenue through spin-off markets to ensure its survival. He shares one innovative idea with me: “In the US and a few other places, there’s quite a large market for butterfly releases at weddings. In Tanzania, weddings are a very big deal. People invest a lot of money in them. There are certain traditions that once they get established here, everybody has to have it at their wedding and it would be fantastic if we could make that happen for butterfly releases. There are certain species of butterflies, ubiquitous in Tanzania, which you could farm relatively easy and release anywhere in the country, without creating any kind of ecological danger. It would be fantastic

to see it happen.” With no shortage of innovative ideas among those involved with the project – from butterfly releases to establishing local butterfly exhibits near tourist attractions – it is hoped that the Amani Butterfly Project will remain resilient, despite market challenges, for the next decade and beyond, and continue to generate income for local farmers, empower women and encourage conservation. This is all the result of an idea born out of a college paper but one which has spearheaded a new and profitable Tanzanian export industry owned by the producers and solely reliant on local resources: the butterfly. Joseph O’Connor travelled to Tanzania with support from the Simon Cumbers Media Fund.

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12/5/14 15:33:37

Rural Decline

Rural Centre

WHY IRELAND’S POST OFFICES ARE UNDER THREAT Last year the closure of rural Garda stations threatened to alter the lifeblood of small communities across Ireland. Now many post offices face a similar threat. Dean Van Nguyen looks at dangers currently facing the traditional Irish post office and what’s being done to save them.

he humble ritual of letter-writing may long be considered obsolete since ever-evolving digital communication methods have become increasingly prominent over the couple of decades. But in small towns, village and other rural areas across Ireland, the traditional post offices provide a focal point for the local population while providing many vital services that ensure they remain sewn into the fabric of communities. However, the post office may become confined to history in such areas, as many teeter perilously close to shutting down. According to a report written by chartered

accountants and business advisers Grant Thornton, should An Post lose their current contract to deliver cash payments on pensions, dole and children’s allowances for the Department of Social Protection, as many as 557 outlets would be at risk of closure. The report warned that post offices currently operate with a “high dependence on a single contract with the Department of Social Protection”, adding that the “financial viability of the post office network is challenged as a consequence of the significant decline in traditional revenues”. The report was commissioned by the Irish Postmasters’ Union, the representative body for postmasters in Ireland. According to IPU President

Ciaran McEntee, the loss of the social welfare contract represents more than just a risk to rural post offices. Closures would, in fact, be a dead cert. “If we lose the social welfare, post offices will close. That’s the facts of it,” asserts McEntee. “If we don’t get social welfare contracts, that’s our main business, so post offices will close. The big post offices will stay because they’ve more staff, but it will be reduced staff. But the small one-man office will not be [able to survive].” A Town’s Lifeblood The closure of post offices would represent another blow to country communities that risk becoming ghost towns if recent trends

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Rural Decline continue. Last January saw 95 Garda stations from around the country close their doors despite last-minute campaigns by opposition politicians to keep them open, while a report published last year by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland claimed the number of Irish pubs fell by 959 from 2007 to 2012. The closures of these institutes have serious knock-on effects. For example, the DIGI report outlined 6,000 job losses from 2008 to 2011 as a result of pub closures. In rural areas, a lack of a local post office could result in significant losses in money and time for local businesses as they would be forced to travel to larger towns to conduct essential business, while losing the banking and financial services provided could also prove seriously troublesome. In their report, Grant Thornton pointed to the UK, where similar issues occurred following a number of post office closures. According to McEntee, should post office closures occur, these effects could be felt on Irish towns as soon as six months later. “If you look in England what they did, they closed post offices in towns and villages and the villages closed,” he says. “You’ve no services in the area. You’ve nothing in the area then so [the local population] have to go to somewhere else, so then the money is not being spent in the area.”

The replica post office at Bunratty Village

“The closure of post offices would represent another blow to country communities that risk becoming ghost towns if recent trends continue.”

New Business As the internet and how we interact with it have become increasingly sophisticated, the need for conventional post as a way of passing messages from one person to another has faded. This is reflected in the report that states that An Post has seen revenues fall from e876 million in 2007 to e806.7 million in 2011 – an 8 per cent decline in just five years. In particular, revenues from what are considered traditional mail services have suffered a 20 per cent decrease over recent years. It’s clear from the numbers that regardless of the socio-economic factors their presence influence, post offices need to adapt in order for them to remain viable in a business sense. But their contract with the Department of Social Protection is not the only potential source of revenue. The report also identified other potential service contracts that might be available to the post office network. They included motor taxation, household charges, hospital charges and an extension of the banking services already available. In fact, the report concluded that potential service contracts for the post office network could lead to savings of €85m, with €53m going to the taxpayer. “If we got banking we’d be fine,” claims McEntee. “We’re looking for more

business; if we can get more business into the post office we’ll take it. If we got banking, the post office would get a big boost; if we could get the car tax it would be a big boost.” The report also looked at the nonquantifiable benefits of relocating services to post offices, consulting with organisations that included St Vincent de Paul, the Irish Farmers’ Association, Irish Rural Link and Age Action Ireland. Commenting shortly after the review’s release, the IPU general secretary affirmed that “the consensus from these community organisations was that the post office network plays an important role in the community and offers vital services to many people that would be difficult to replace and the decline of the network could have many unintended social and economic consequences notably in rural areas.” Future plans While the reliance on a single contract appears to be a rather insecure position to be in, last February Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte claimed the Government has no plans to close post offices. Speaking in the Dáil, Rabbitte was responding to newspaper headlines centring around the Grant Thornton report that suggested the loss of the social welfare contract was on the horizon. “An Post didn’t lose the social welfare contract,” said Rabbitte, as reported by The Journal. “In fact they won it in a tender process as recently as last year. So the Irish Postmasters’ Union is prudently asking what might happen into the future.” In addition, Rabbitte made a recent appearance on Prime Time and discussed the avenues that might bring new business to post offices including motor tax renewal and the payment of property tax. This followed on from further discussions in the Dáil in March, when the minister called for “innovative new ideas, new products and services, that will enable, consist[ent] with law, that the post office network may be used as front of office for the provision of government services”. For their part, the IPU plan to continue to lobby for new business and highlight the need for keeping the Irish post office network alive and thriving. “We’re lobbying every TD, every minister this last year and a half looking for new business,” claims McEntee. “The Grant Thornton report showed that they can save lots of money by doing the car tax, but we’re willing to do other business. “I’m very happy with the way things are going at the moment. We’ve taken on new advisers ourselves and we’re working with the government to try to sustain the network and keep urban and rural areas alive.” EAR TO THE GROUND 57

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3/6/14 17:10:25

Education

Ag-education FOR THE NEXT GENERation

The 40-year out-of-date syllabus for agricultural science is set to be revised to reflect modern technique and farming practice. But why has it taken this long, what changes will be made and when we can expect it in schools? Valerie Jordan investigates.

n March this year it was announced that the Leaving Certificate agricultural science syllabus would be updated. The move was welcomed by teachers, who have been working from a syllabus that is more than 40 years old, and the ag-industry. Since his appointment as chairman of Agri Aware, Bernard Donohue has been lobbying for an updated syllabus to modernise the teaching of agriculture in schools. “Today’s students will be industry leaders in the future not just at farm level, but right up through the industry so I think it’s only right and proper that they have access to modern practice,” he says. The current syllabus came into being in 1972. To put that into perspective, Ireland joined the then European Economic Community in 1973 – the syllabus has no mention of quotas. Similarly, it doesn’t really reflect modern agricultural policy, technology, animal production systems or farm safety procedures. The other complaint is that there are no official guidelines for ag-science teachers and the syllabus lacks detail – it’s just five pages in length, compared to the biology syllabus which runs into hundreds of pages. Iain Wallace, president of the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers’ Association and teacher at Wesley College Dublin, has experienced the practicalities of teaching this subject. “There are certainly outdated practices on the syllabus that don’t reflect the way that we farm today but the big difficulty is that because it’s so loose, questions are asked in the exam paper on modern techniques, like sexed semen and maize, that are not really on the syllabus. This is where you’ll get a real outcry from teachers and students,” he says. Consequently, EAR TO THE GROUND 59

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Education

for the last seven years IASTA and the Irish Farmers’ Journal have partnered to deliver supplementary study guides to assist agscience teachers and students Timelines Bill Lynch is the director of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. We asked him why it has taken 40 years to initiate a revision of agricultural science and what should be included on the new syllabus. “We started a process of revising it 10 or more years ago. We got a committee together that would be involved with agscience, as we did with physics, chemistry and biology, and tried to develop a new syllabus,” he explains. “They didn’t agree on content and they certainly didn’t agree on assessment and it didn’t get to completion at the same time as physics, chemistry and biology. We reconvened the committee around 2002 or 2003 and tried to finalise the syllabus. But again we came up against the difficulty of assessment. “We want [the new syllabus] to reflect modern day agricultural practices, environmental awareness and sustainable development that wouldn’t have been

“A lot of research has gone on over the last 20 or 30 years that isn’t reflected in the syllabus.” recognised in the past, and things we have knowledge of now like soil testing and crop rotation. A lot of research has gone on over the last 20 or 30 years that isn’t reflected in the syllabus,” he says. However, revising a syllabus and assessment is a lengthy process. The first step is the production of a background paper, which sets out the necessary changes and topics to be included. This involves contribution by relevant parties, such as Agri Aware and IASTA, in conjunction with industry. This was due around the time Ear To The Ground went to press. The NCCA will then establish a development committee who will be given a 15 to 18

month period to produce a new syllabus, which is then sent for consultation and approval. The new syllabus can then be introduced to fifth year students starting the agricultural science course – so it will take a considerable amount of time. “People hear of ‘new syllabus’ and think it’s going to be next September but I think it will be about three years. I suppose the key thing is we have the opportunity to get it right and sort of future-proof it as well. There are such changes in agriculture at the moment, and things are going to really change in the next few years with the abolition of quotas; we’ve got to keep on top of it,” says Iain. “The positive thing is there is an opportunity to bring in a syllabus that is really top of the class in an international context. We need to use the time to ensure when we do update it that it’s bang up-to-date in a European context and that we put systems in place that we’ll never again wait another 40 years to update,” says Donohue. Education that’s applicable Interest in agriculture is growing. Last year more than 7,000 students sat the

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Education agricultural science Leaving Certificate exam, up from 2,000 in 1997. It’s also becoming an increasingly popular career choice for young people. Statistics from the Central Statistics Office show a 12 per cent rise in those picking the subject as their first choice at third level. “Agriculture is on a roll – it’s great to see students choosing ag-science as a career choice; there are loads of opportunities in the ag-industry. We export 90 per cent of the food we produce, we feed 36 million people worldwide so every student in Ireland should have access to this course if they have an interest in that progression,” says Bernard. Agriculture is worth €10 billion in exports and 300,000 jobs to the economy. With Food Harvest 2020, food exports are hoped to increase to €20bn. The opportunities cannot be underestimated, but according to Bernard there are a number of jobs in the agri-food area that we are currently struggling to fill. “We need to have clearer guidelines for students right the way through second level to where the jobs are. We need to match up where the opportunities are with education to have the talent to work within the industry,” says Bernard. Iain Wallace agrees that education needs to be applicable to promote and develop the agriculture industry. “We are unique as a subject in that we are directly linked to one of the country’s major industries. Agriculture is at the core of Ireland’s economic revival, and we hope that this move towards a new syllabus will position teachers to develop agriculture and ensure that our pupils will play a significant role in the future of the agri sector.” A revision of agricultural science is well overdue, but there is now an opportunity to develop a thoroughly modern and relevant syllabus. If agriculture is indeed the key to the recovery of the Irish economy then giving young people an education and interest in the industry is the first important step.

Leaving CERT in Numbers

7,000

2,000 students

Applications up over last year

AG-SCIENCE 2013

AG-SCIENCE 1997

THIRD LEVEL AG

students

12%

1974 CURRENT SYLLABUS

2017? NEXT SYLLABUS

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he host farmers at this year’s national open day are John and Graeme Taylor, who have been farming in a milk production partnership since January 2011. There are five generations of the family associated with farming the land at Cloonboygher. The milking herd of that era was Shorthorn breed but that all changed three generations ago when Friesians were introduced in the 1970s by John’s parents Harold and Betty with the purchase of 12 heifers from a farm in Co Meath. Thankfully, with the introduction of AI coinciding with the purchase of these heifers, a love of breeding black and whites began, thus introducing Friesian genetics across the entire herd. Growth The herd progressed in terms of production and type and grew to a total of 50 cows. One of the most influential sires used was Bossir Lou Rahls, and two of the top cow families in the present herd are descended from his daughters: Alice and Dolly. Keen to develop and progress the herd for the future and with an innate appreciation for working with efficient stock, the Taylors graded up

their herd to pedigree status, ably assisted by IHFA Field Officer Bobby Franks. Classification is used as a tool to refine the breeding policy. Additional cow families, Molly, Nova, Rachel, Goldengel and Vera, were purchased from the Rathcline, Bencroy, Loughryn and Monamore herds – all of which will be represented in the sale on the day. Today the herd comprises of 100+ cows with replacements supplying all milk to Lakeland Dairies, of which John is a board member. John and Graeme farm 250 acres including 60 acres of rented ground. This farm is an example of how dairying can be managed at its best under difficult land and weather conditions. High rainfall and claybased soils that hold water readily dictate that drainage and reseeding become standard management practice on the farm. In the calendar year 2013, an average number of 98 cows supplied 718,831 litres to Lakeland Dairies with a total milk solids production of 559kg per cow. John and Graeme agree that the investments they make in their herd are returned to them in the tank. Herd health is vital and because of this they routinely vaccinate all animals for BVD, IBR, leptospirosis and salmonella. This is only one small part of the management

programme in place: Body Condition Scoring, attention to nutritional requirements at all stages of lactation and a keen interest in grass quality (be it for grazing or silage) all help to produce the animal you will see on the day. The selection of bulls – for breeding the future cow in the Cloonboygher herd – will be aimed at continuing improvements in functional type, high solids output, and adequate milk supply; an extension to the breeding plan already in place. 85 per cent of the milking herd is classified in the top two grades of conformation thus indicating the success of the breeding policy so far. The Clonboygher herd is affiliated to two clubs: West-Midlands and Breffni Oriel. The quality of the stock produced in the herd has been recognised by both clubs: Overall Champion Herd. National recognition came in 2011 in the National Herds Competition when they won Reserve Champion Herd Judges’ Choice. IHFA Services, Grade Up, Herd Registration and Classification have helped to develop and progress the herd through the years. This year’s national open day is unique in that it is the first time it has ever been hosted by a herd in Co Leitrim. The three generations of the Taylor family invite you to join them on July 9th at Cloonboygher.

EAR TO THE GROUND 65

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Interview

Quiet Guy the

At The Back Of The Class

Earlier this year Eddie Downey took over as president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, making him one of the most high-profile figures in Irish agriculture. The Meath man talks to Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly about battling the retail sector, the eternal CAP wars, and preparing for his son to return and become the fourth generation of his family to farm at Slane.

ate last year, at the culmination of a long and hardfought campaign, the Irish Farmers’ Association elected its 14th president. For the next four years Slane farmer Eddie Downey will be at the helm. As the incumbent deputy president he was very much an insider candidate, an unusual route to the top of the IFA – only John Dillon had trod that path before him. The campaign, fought against Jer Bergin of Laois (later elected treasurer), is not a process Downey would like to repeat any time soon. “It was frightening to see my name on a poster when it started first,” he admits, and a hard slog covering every part of the country, but a good team behind him made the difference. “There was a hell of a turnout and a great engagement from the members’ point of view,” he says, and he reports full meetings and involvement at grassroots level.

Now settled in nicely, Downey’s experience has helped him come up to speed quickly. “I know all the people within the department, within Teagasc, within the industry because I’ve been there for the past four years, and particularly within the Farm Centre here. But it is a big step up from deputy to president in that the buck stops with me.” Downey is the third generation of his family to farm their lands at Slane, Co Meath, with 140 acres along with some rented land. “We have tillage and suckler cows, and a very intensive poultry unit. Farming is in the blood: I’m farming since I could walk.” Two brothers and a sister also farm. His son is due home from agricultural college soon, and he will become the fourth generation. His first involvement in the IFA, over 20 years ago, might ring a bell with farmers who’ve been in similar situations. “There was an APS scheme for cattle that finished

in the end of January and it delivered 118 pence a pound for cattle. I missed it. I didn’t know what it was about, I hadn’t got the proper information. Cattle prices fell from 118p to 106p a pound, and I ended up taking 106p a pound for a lot of cattle that we had reared from calves and I said ‘that’s not going to happen me again.’” After that, one thing led to another. Initially, two priorities stand out for his term. Delivering a better profit is a must for the livestock industry, which he says is “inherently unprofitable”, or at least a very low-profit business, and he looks forward to minister-led round-table talks. Secondly, there’s preparation to be done for the removal of milk quotas. “A lot of people talk about moving from the livestock industry into the dairy industry. Some people will do that but the vast majority of farmers will stay with the industry that they’re in. I hope that we can maintain that suckler herd because I see it EAR TO THE GROUND 67

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Interview

as crucially important to securing quality beef markets out there,” he says, and it will be important to manage the milk price in order to give a decent price to farmers. Political matters Much of his work will focus on Europe, with the IFA Brussels office pressed into action. Having MEPs with influence and agricultural knowledge will be crucial: this is “one of the most important European elections we’ll ever have. There’s a lot of change happening in Europe. There will be a mid-term review of the CAP. It’s important that we get that balance back so that productive, active farming is looked after in that process. “Our politicians are pretty savvy when you get them out there in Europe. Most of the time they know what’s going on.” Back at home, despite the occasional confrontation, Downey acknowledges that Minister Simon Coveney has performed well. “I think if you look at the fisheries side, the fishery people appear to be very happy with him because he set out to get a deal and he got close enough to that deal. If you look at from the cold light of day and what’s been achieved with agriculture, if you talk to other farmers’ unions, they’re all saying that our

“The worry I have with this current reform is that good, active, productive farmers in the middle section – medium sized farmers who have reasonably high payments per hectare but a small payment overall – are going to get particularly badly hit.”

minister is absolutely brilliant. But they can’t understand why we’re still giving out to him! I suppose that’s the nature of what we do.” More than anything else, CAP occupies the mind of the farming lobby. The past few months have been stormy, with reform of the system generating winners and losers. “The minister set out with an approximation model. He came home with that approximation model pretty much intact. It’s not a wonderful deal. But it’s probably the least worst deal, I think is the best way you could describe it,” says Downey. There was less money in the pot than in previous reforms. “I’m not happy with it, but nobody’s happy with it.” In fact, CAP is a constant battle for the IFA: with Europe, with Government – and even among competing cohorts of farmers themselves. “The worry I have with this current reform is that good, active, productive farmers in the middle section – medium sized farmers who have reasonably high payments per hectare but a small payment overall – are going to get particularly badly hit. That was always my worry throughout the process, and what the IFA was fighting for. That was deemed as fighting for the big farmers. We weren’t.

68 EAR TO THE GROUND

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Interview We were trying to protect the active guy in the middle because we see him as the most vulnerable in this process.” But it was a process that created divisions and ill-feeling within the farming community and the IFA itself. The organisation came under attack from members upset at a ‘sell-out’ of the smaller farmer. “Misinformation creates division,” says Downey, and the consultation process encompassed angry meetings across the country. “We battled the position because there was a lot of misinformation, as if IFA was trying to sell out smaller farmers, or farmers with low payments. We went and met them and stood our ground. We explained that we look at CAP reform as a full package. Balancing Pillar One plus Pillar Two. That’s the way the previous system worked and that’s the way we wanted the new system to work. The biggest difficulty I had during the process was trying to convince people that we would get matching funding for Pillar Two. They said we wouldn’t. We did. Certain political people said we wouldn’t. We did. We have a system that we can find some balance in.” Even so, he says it’s not a fair system. Does bitterness remain? “Yeah, there’s a bit of that. Look, people feel sore over it. Some people felt they should get more out of it, they haven’t got as much as they’d expect. Some people felt they shouldn’t lose as much as they’ve lost.” He says that the IFA is stronger than ever, with membership up and meetings attended strongly. Further battles It’s not just CAP that’s causing disquiet. Big retailers are a powerful force in 21st century Ireland. Late last year, farmers protested against below-cost selling of vegetables: at Dunnes Stores in Dublin’s Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Downey’s predecessor bought a trolley of 6c/kilo bags of carrots and handed them out to passers-by because they were as good as free anyway. Aldi’s and Lidl’s carrots were reportedly 5c/kilo. It was a stunt, but one that carried a very serious message. “The abuse that took place of our vegetable growers last Christmas was outrageous,” says Downey. “I told the retailers quite clearly – and I’ve met every one of them since – that we were in the middle of an election process, but the next time we’ll be ready for them. If there’s another effort like that coming up to this Christmas I think we will respond. I’ve a few ideas and I think we might just frighten a few people.” Downey’s been elected chairman of a European working group to deal with retail regulation, and Irish retail regulations are going through the legislative process. He’s not too confident that they will have enough power to bring retailers into line,

Eddie Downey on...

but they will be a step in the right direction. He’d prefer a Europe-wide approach though: in a single market, one country’s regulations are a very small cog in the machine. There’s another battle on the cards over imported beef. Deals with Mercosur (the South American trade bloc) and with the USA will be resisted. “We have to impress the political system, both here and in Europe, and we’ve got to get a message to other countries like Brazil and the US that it’s not going to be simple to do a deal with Europe, and that the Irish are particularly awkward: we fight a battle. “It’s absolutely essential that we resist the Brazillian deal, because there’s nothing in that for Irish agriculture,” he says. Back to Slane All of these things, and many more, will occupy his mind throughout this four-year term. What happens then, though? Would he consider entering politics? Looking around his office at the portraits of previous IFA presidents, he guesstimates that 40 per cent of them have gone on to dabble in European or national affairs. “No. I can’t see a situation where I

The fodder crisis: “Yes, it could happen again, but I think it’s unlikely. We know now how to respond to it.” Sugar beet: “BEET Ireland have done a lot amount of work there. I’m very supportive of their work and I hope it can come to fruition. The one thing I’ve said quite clearly is: this has to deliver profit for farmers. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure an industry like that gets up and running.” Prenups: “Yes, we will work towards trying to find a way that will protect the family farm. If pre-nuptial agreements is a way of doing that, yeah, we’ll look at that and keep going in that direction. The breakup of a marriage is a very difficult situation for any couple.” Flooding: “There’s a lot of work that we as farmers can do if we are allowed. The problem is getting permission to do it. A farmer doesn’t like taking the risk of going out to repair a bank thinking he could get a fine.” The farming economy: “There’s a perception out there that agriculture is doing very well. That’s got down to people’s minds that farmers are cleaning up. The problem is agriculture is doing very well. But farming is not. That’s a difficult position for us.” Including the membership: “My aim at the end of this job would be that it will be possible for very busy farmers to be involved in IFA without disrupting their businesses.” Ireland’s ageing farmers: “They were always too old. That’s the reality.”

would even dream of looking at it. I have a farm that I like working on. I’ve a son coming home to farm on it. That’s a hell of a challenge. It would be an awful thing to waste those years. “This is a huge challenge, and it’s a long way above where I’d have ever seen Eddie Downey doing. I was the quiet guy at the back of the class, I never said anything. But I listened, and I spent 20 years in the IFA listening. But I just like farming. Get me home to farm with Patrick Downey. That’s where I’d like to be.” EAR TO THE GROUND 71

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FORESTRY

THE ILL

Winds

Storms shook the nation last winter, rudely reminding us of the power of the elements. But their ferocity was most palpable in the toppling and uprooting of our country’s trees. Months on, as the cleanup continues, Valerie Jordan investigates the impact of the storms on the environment and the forestry industry.

he winter of 2014 was the stormiest since 1988: Storm Darwin, which hit the country in February, was one of the worst storms since Met Éireann began keeping records. Across the country homes and businesses were left without power. Buildings were relieved of their roofs, rivers escaped their banks, flooding their surrounds – and extraordinary numbers of trees were knocked down or damaged. The trees that fell victim to the winds were evidence of the ferocious power of the elements: the Department of Agriculture estimated that up to 7.5 million trees were lost, or between 5,000 and 7,000 hectares of forest. Celebrated

heritage trees weren’t spared. The most famous storm casualty was our nominee for the European Tree of the Year 2014 competition: the enormous 200-year-old grey poplar of Birr Castle, which stood 140 feet tall and 21 feet wide, came down in the wind. THE DAMAGE Tree surgeon David Law worked around the clock in the cleanup after the storms and also appeared on Ear to the Ground, when Helen Caroll joined him to help out. We caught up with David to discuss the damage a few months on. “There’s been massive damage. The loss has been huge. We’re still doing clear-up two months later,” he reports.

Could some of the losses have been prevented? “If trees are inspected and maintained regularly you’ve much less chance of a catastrophic failure happening. There were structural failures within stems down to previous damage, maybe decay and fungal damage that hadn’t been observed. However, a lot of trees that were uprooted were fine and healthy and it was just down to soft ground and the excessive wind,” says David. David thinks the damage caused by this year’s storms is a wake-up call for both foresters and private owners to care for their trees. “We need to bring on awareness about trees and get people to inspect and maintain them. It’s very easy on a day like today when the sun is shining to let things EAR TO THE GROUND 73

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FORESTRY slide, but the time for maintenance isn’t the day before the big wind,” he advises. “Saying that, I think we were very lucky in Ireland to have a storm of such ferocity and to have so few people injured or killed.” Most of the tree-fall occurred in forests where a domino effect toppled entire plantations, particularly in the south and south west of the country. It has been reported that the trees felled during the storms account for nearly half the annual timber cut. Also, since the State pulled out of afforestation and farmers have been called on to fill the gap, it’s the first time that landowners and farmers have been severely affected by storms. According to forestry consultant Donal Magner, this has important implications for foresters and farmer planters. “Up until the bad wind blows of the ‘70s and ‘80s, 90 per cent – maybe more – of forests would have been State owned. Now quite a significant portion of the wind blow is owned by farmers,” says Donal. “Those who planted in the early 1990s, their forests are maturing now. I imagine farmer plantations are faster growing than State plantations for the simple reason that they are planted on better land and would have reached a height where they would be wind-prone earlier than State forests. Plantations under 20 years have been blown down, which has rarely happened in the past.” While the storms felled the trees, the wet conditions in December and January created wet and shallow sites that contributed to the tree-fall. So while there were a number of factors at play this winter, the changing weather patterns mean there is an element of uncertainty in forestry. “We’re not sure what’s going to happen, but the thing is, as opposed to fire, it’s not a total disaster,” says Donal. “Trees that fell are shattered and split and will be reduced in price but not hugely. By and large it’s not a disaster.” Donal also thinks the reported losses have been greatly overestimated and is urging growers not to panic: “No one actually has an exact figure yet, but normal selling will be delayed. The sawmills, processing mills and contractors will go for the wind-blown material first, so there will be a lot of extra timber out there for at least six or seven months, which may reduce prices for some time. But the main message being given to growers is not to panic. If timber is blown down it won’t disintegrate; it’s still worth harvesting up to a year afterwards,” advises Donal. TAKING STOCK Donal also suggests that farmer plantations may have been thinned earlier than State forests, which could account for some of the damage: “Some would have been thinned maybe at a 20-year stage,

“We see it as a wake-up call to start diversifying and restructuring the plantations. If this weather continues we need to make adjustments, start diversifying the species and start reintroducing our native species.” earlier than state forests. Every time you open up a forest it’s more vulnerable to wind. There are factors like these that haven’t been analysed but they are significant,” he says. “I think there probably will be a change in thinning processes – going in earlier but being very careful about how they erode forests. In exposed sites they mightn’t thin at all but allow it to grow up and then clear it and start the cycle all over again. But these are the questions we need to ask,” he says. Andrew St Ledger of the Woodland League points out that most of the trees that came down during the storms are non-native species. “What’s happened is nature has found

the weekest trees and diseased trees. A lot of the beech trees that were introuduced to Ireland, as they get older, tend to get diseased and hollow out. They’re also shallow-rooted and tend to be vulnerable. We’ve lost serious amounts of beech trees. The other species that have come down would be mostly non-native: pines, leylandii, sitka spruce, Turkish oak. In Killarney National Park only a couple of native oaks came down.” In forestry conifer trees are the cash crop, with a fast turnover from planting to harvesting. In terms of what blew down, Donal believes it was almost 99 per cent conifers, such as sitka spruce and Norway spruce. “Apart from isolated big native trees there were very few native species blown in this [storm], plus they tend to be on better land and maybe low-lying, sheltered areas. For much of the last century we planted 90 to 95 per cent non-native species, mainly conifers. There has been a shift to native species in the last 10 to 15 years, mainly broadleaves like ash, oak, and alder. The amount of broadleaves has increased from 5 per cent to 38 per cent of total planting in the last few years.” GOING NATIVE The Woodland League want to encourage the reintroduction of native species. “With farmers where they’ve lost trees we hope they would look at replacing lost trees with our native trees. They are adapted to this country, and they’re important to ecology,” says Andrew. “We see it as a wake-up call to start diversifying and restructuring the plantations. If this weather continues we need to make adjustments, start diversifying the species and start reintroducing our native species.” In terms of afforestation, Ireland is way below the EU average, at 11 per cent compared to 30 per cent, and there is significant incentive to encourage farmers to plant trees. Afforestation grants are available to cover the costs of establishing forests, ranging from e2,400 per hectare to e5,500 per hectare, dependent on tree species and soil type. Forest premiums are also available to compensate for the loss in earning potential from the afforestation, again dependent on tree species, soil type and farmer status. However, farmers often look on trees as restrictive – once they have planted trees they’re legally bound to stay with them and to replant once they are harvested. “For some farmers trees are restricting, but there are still 250,000 hectares of land in Ireland that’s not suitable for agriculture that should be planted,” advises Donal. Food for thought for the future, perhaps. But as the clean-up continues well into the summer, for many farmers the legacy of the winter is proving hard to shake off.

74 EAR TO THE GROUND

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FARMING ONLINE

Funny THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO

So when are you planning main cut? Who has paddocks taken out?

The Forum There’s no shortage of information and advice for farmers online, but one of the busiest and most established resources is forum site Boards.ie. Ear To The Ground hears from Farming and Forestry moderator Rovi about what makes the forum tick – and his constant surprise at the variety of different words that fellow farmers have for the same things.

stablished in 1998, Boards.ie is a busy – and sometimes bewildering – series of discussion forums covering everything from conspiracy theories to kitesurfing. Whether crunching the ins and outs of national politics or engaging in a bitter slagging match over last night’s telly, there’s always something to talk about. Farming is well-represented too. Boards.ie’s Farming and Forestry forum is a vibrant place, one of the site’s most popular forums, with three sub-forums of its own. At the time of writing, questions such as “when are you cutting silage?”, the Glanbia fixed price scheme and the benefits of robotic milking are topical. All this and much more is moderated by farmer and long-standing Boards user ‘Rovi’, who shares his experiences with Ear To The Ground. How did you become involved with the Farming and Forestry forum? I keep an eye on the Boards.ie Forum Requests forum, and I noticed a proposal

for a farming forum and contributed to the thread supporting the proposal. I happened to be online when the new forum went live and managed to post the very first thread there! I contributed pretty regularly to various threads and when a vacancy occurred in the moderator team, the site administrators asked if I’d be willing to take on the job. I had moderated other forums on Boards.ie previously, so had some experience in that area. What is your own background in farming? I’ve been a full-time farmer for 35 years (dairy, sucklers, beef, tillage, forestry). How is the forum used by its members? It’s used for a huge variety of purposes. Many people come on looking for very specific information on a single topic; we currently have a thread detailing the setup and operation of a particular fertilizer spreader, for example. Others

Hope to cut approx May 20. Reseed field from last spring. Mg 30 seed. Good crop of grass in it

probably wont be spreading fert for 1st cut till early next week, made 36 bales already, could of spread fert on that but wanted to start with fresh butt, also got delayed due to reseeding fields that failed after dd last fall

Local man has 150acres pit silage in, soon cut bales ourselves, grass is bouncing

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FARMING ONLINE

Will be cutting from the beginning of next week of the weather suits. First cut will be coming in in two lots about 2 weeks apart. grazed clean .. chain harrowed the dung etc and went with 2 bags of 18 6 12 to the acre.. 3rd week in june?!

Would it not be fit to cut before then? You worried about the N in the grass?

Hustle and bustle: Boards.ie in numbers

Farming & Forestry is one of Boards.ie’s Top 10 busiest forums, with on average around 10,000 posts per month. This does not include the busy sub-forums: Forestry, Smallholding and the most recent addition, Sheep. The forum was viewed 580,000 times in March 2014 (mobile and web numbers combined). With the launch of their new Android, shortly to be followed by an iOS app, the Boards staff only expect that number to increase. Boards.ie as a whole receives: ● 2.4 million unique visitors per month ● 17,000 posts a day (half a million per month) ● Has over 600,000 registered users.

Right or wrong there’s talk of a heat wave next week!

post up an idea or notion they’re thinking of for their own farm, looking for others’ experiences of doing that same thing, or for constructive criticism and feedback on possible alternatives. We’ve had people posting in the middle of the night from their mobile phones, as they watch a ewe lambing or wait for the vet to come to do a caesarean on a cow. Lots of people just come on for a bit of a chat, and that’s fine too, provided they keep it vaguely farming related. The Farming & Forestry forum is just one small corner of the Boards.ie site and there are a huge variety of forums dedicated to all sorts of subjects available there, so we sometimes direct people to other forums where they’re likely to get more expert responses to their posts. Do you think it plays a valuable role? It’s up to the members of the forum to decide that; after all, it’s they who determine if it’s worth participating. Judging by the volume of traffic though, lots of people appear to consider it to be of value to them.

Has the forum changed much over the years? The forum started off discussing anything and everything to do with farming, but after a while some subjects were being swamped by the fast-moving nature of the place and these have been hived off to sub-forums of their own. This has given them room to breathe and take on a life of their own. F&F is one of the busier forums on Boards.ie, so we may have to subdivide it again in the future, but it appears to be working okay for the moment. What are the most popular themes/ topics that crop up on the forum? The weather is a perpetual favourite, with mart and factory prices cropping up regularly too. A lot of topics reoccur seasonally: silage making, grass measuring, winter feeding, dosing strategies, etc. Farm politics and farming issues in the news come up regularly, and there are a constant stream of threads on a huge variety of general farming topics. How do you think Irish farming is doing at the moment? I don’t claim to have any particular insight by virtue of my position as moderator, but the mood of the forum appears to be quite upbeat at the moment, which could be an indicator of some sort I suppose. Of course, it could also just be the recent decent weather! What kind of difficulties do you encounter in moderating? By and large, the regular forum contributors are pretty level-headed and sensible. Occasionally, there’ll be strong disagreement on something and we might have to step in to remind people to argue their position on its own merits and not get personal about it, but that’s not something that happens very often. What’s more frequent is that something may be misunderstood or taken out of context, leading to discord in the community. In everyday conversation, the Irish have a grand tradition of good natured ribbing and teasing. In the more sterile written form of an online forum, none of the visual cues or verbal nuances of face-to-face discourse are available, so a comment that was written in good faith may be interpreted in an entirely different way. We sometimes have to remind people of this too! Any funny stories to report? We have had some very entertaining threads on the peculiarities of local or regional terms for common items. Who knew there were so many different names for the simple pitchfork? And the sheer variety of descriptive words for the anatomy of a cow is staggering. See farming.boards.ie EAR TO THE GROUND 77

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History

Voices from

Past the

Jonathan Bell’s colleague Mervyn Watson interviewing Joe Kane of Drumkeeran, Co Fermanagh in 1984.

Historian Jonathan Bell talks to Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly about labourers, rural conflict – and how studying history inspires sympathy for those who have worked the land.

rish history is filled with land disputes: the plantations, the Land Wars, the fallout of independence. But it’s not often that the voice of the ‘ordinary’ farmer or labourer on the ground is heard. Recovering that is part of farming historian Jonathan Bell’s job. Along with his colleague Mervyn Watson, Bell is a prolific writer and a former curator of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum outside Belfast. Anthropologists by training, their careers have been spent recording the lives and experiences of those who worked the land. For Bell, labourers are an under-represented faction. “One of the most radical things about farm labourers was their disappearance,” he says. “After the Famine there was a huge drop in the number of labourers and they became a very minor part of the labour force and the rural work force. That was because of the brutality and starvation of

the Famine, and ongoing mass emigration, but also a drift to the cities which was ongoing all over Europe, because urban work just paid more. “Even well into the 20th century, farm workers were still being paid much less than urban workers, so there was a huge drift from the land. It was in the farmers’ interests to let it happen, because of mechanisation but also the swing from crop production to livestock production. That required different kinds of labour, and smaller numbers.” Conflict on the land Before reaching that point, though, there had been attempts to organise farm labourers for better pay and conditions. Spread across the countryside, and often moving in seasonal patterns, labourers were hard to organise. There are big differences between rural workers and their urban counterparts – Bell mentions that

rural work, in the countryside rather than the factory, is naturally more satisfying and less alienating. “It wasn’t a failure because some of the conditions were better than they would have been if there’d been no organisation. But in terms of the actual strike attempts and attempts to organise union branches in the countryside in the early 20th century, they certainly didn’t work,” he says. There were also government attempts to improve conditions, as states moved towards modern centralised bureaucracies. Sometimes the points of entry are the moments when things spill over into conflict. In the early 19th century, especially in tillage counties like Kilkenny, labourers would smash machines and scythes because they saw them as replacing their jobs. Millenarian cults sprung up like Captain Rock in the 1820s, where people in the south-west declared allegiance to a figure who may have been an actual person EAR TO THE GROUND 79

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History

Michael McKeown of Smears Hill, Co Longford, demonstrates ridge making with a one-sided loy accompanied by a neighbour.

An attack on a process server during the land agitation

Jonathan Bell on History

Even though Ireland is a hugely agricultural island with a long agricultural history, it’s perhaps surprising how little formal history has been attempted. Bell agrees. “One of the things is that a lot of modern history is about quantification and statistics, and the data just isn’t there for that rural life. The approaches of folklorists, oral historians and social anthropologists are the only ones available. “Part of our job is to go around recording people’s memories of the old days. We’ve got good quality anecdotal stuff from the late 19th century onwards, but if you try to push further back than that, the statistics are so that you can’t really be very authoritative about it.”

or a mythical one. “It was a mixture of religious, political and labour movements. I think there was always that kind of mixture,” says Bell. Then there was the Lough Mask struggle in 1880, which gave the word ‘boycott’ to the English language, as labourers protested the heavy-handed land agent Captain Charles Boycott. The Land Wars of the 1880s, which saw the emergence of Parnell and Davitt, far exceeded these. “It’s easy to take sides in the Land Wars because obviously the landlords were a redundant class and needed to be done away with,” says Bell, “but one of the quirks of the Land Wars is that there were a lot of tensions between farmers and labourers. The Land Wars were by farmers for farmers, and in some cases they were quite intent on keeping the labourers in their place. Parnell got involved in trying to take the side of the labourers, because it was really the landed farmers who were fighting for themselves.” Recording the past These are the kinds of things that can be hard to connect with in the present day, but historians do their best. For 30 years, Bell worked alongside his authorial

colleague Mervyn Watson in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, both curators of agriculture before Bell became the head curator of the museum. “We started off with a big tangle of machinery in the stores that we Belfast boys had to sort out. That took years. Then we started to wonder about the people who used them. We both studied anthropology, so we grew interested in family life and work between neighbours and got into more formal working conditions.” Their latest book is just being finished: Irish Farming Life is about farming people, families, communities and labour all over the country. “It very much gives you a sympathy for those who worked the land under harsher conditions”, he says of his work. He and Watson are both from an urban background, and just listening to what people put up with and what they achieved can touch them. “We’ve so much admiration. For the average poverty-stricken Irish farmer and his family just looking at his patch of hillside just before the Famine, with nothing between them and starvation but seed potatoes, his own labour and his own ingenuity... they were amazing people. It’s very easy to have a lot of sympathy for them. “There was also a very expressive culture about the stories and the music which, better than anything else, brings the people back to us and how they felt about things. That was another wonderful thing to look at.” Although the standard of living has improved immeasurably, Bell feels that those people’s efforts are sadly forgotten now. During his PhD fieldwork in north Donegal in the 1970s and 1980s, continuity with the past was tangible. “You could see the old buildings and stone wall fields, and there were a lot of old people around with stories and music. When you go up around the same area now, the stone walls are still there but it’s mostly holiday homes. When you think of the people and what they achieved, it seems quite shocking in a way that it’s been obliterated by the modern world and modern affluence.” Once Irish Farming Life is published later this year, Bell has a few plans up his sleeve. He still does work for for museums and heritage organisations. Co Tyrone and the Sperrin Mountains are a potential anthropological goldmine: full of people whose experiences have never been recorded. In a world overwhelmed with information, it’s surprising what can fall through the cracks to be devalued or lost forever.

80 EAR TO THE GROUND

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CO-OPS

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Nation?

The co-operative model is an old one, and co-ops are a familiar part of our farming landscape. Even so, the economic failures of recent years – and the successes of the dairy co-ops – have made for renewed focus on an alternative way of doing business. Ian Maleney reports.

he history of the co-operative organisation in Ireland stretches back roughly 130 years. What began in the mind of Horace Plunkett as a strategy for the collective organisation of farmers has since developed and seeped into almost every aspect of Irish industry. Traditionally it’s been within the dairy industry that the co-operative model has had the most success here and so it remains today, with many of the largest businesses in the Irish dairy sector retaining co-operatives at the heart of what can be much more complex organisational structures. Today’s co-operatives are often large organisations with interests across various industries and across multiple continents. Others remain small, servicing the particular needs of a local community. Monitoring and managing this ever-shifting field has been the task of the Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society. Seamus O’Donoghue is chairman of ICOS and he believes that now is a very positive time for coops across the country.

“I would see this as a very exciting period, not just for farmers in terms of growth and expansion, but for the co-operative model,” he says. “Now, it’s quite a changed model maybe from what Plunkett traditionally envisaged in terms of its scale and its sophistication, but it’s as fundamental as saying: if it’s done properly, this is a business model in which the user member owns, finances, controls and ultimately benefits from the business model.” The potential for the co-operative model, and the shape it can take, have indeed changed quite a bit since the late 19th century. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the dairy industry. Since the late ‘80s, many dairy co-operatives have gone down a hybrid route, blending the co-operative structure with a more conventional, investor-led, private company system. While the benefits of the hybrid approach are there for all to see in the growth and expansion of some of these companies, there can be a friction between the aims of both sides. “We have a landscape today where we have two highly successful hybrid co-operative structures, Kerry and Glanbia,” says O’Donoghue. “While, in

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Co-ops

“I would see this as a very exciting period, not just for farmers in terms of growth and expansion, but for the co-operative model.”

commercial terms, there’s no doubt those two businesses have been magnificent successes, for the farmer directors of the co-operatives and the PLCs, the constant challenge is trying to balance the demands of investors with the demands of the user members of the co-operative. “To date, it has to be said that the hybrids have reasonably successfully juggled those competing demands.” Goodbye To The Quota In terms of sheer size, the Kerry Group and Glanbia may overshadow some of their smaller competitors, but that’s not to say the more traditional dairy cooperatives are being left behind: in recent months, both Dairygold and Aurivo (the former Connacht Gold) have announced record profits. There is, it seems, plenty of room at the top. The question of whether there is even more to be gained from greater rationalisation within the sector is one that O’Donoghue feels is worth raising. “With quotas being abandoned in 2015, the question arises as to whether, with the existing 12 processing co-operatives, we need that many co-operatives,” he says.

“Certainly the ICOS view is that there is room for rationalisation and consolidation among those existing co-operatives. That would be the more co-operative route and I suppose, arguably, the preferred route, in maintaining farmer control of the business.” The removal of EU milk quotas next year is an important moment for all involved in the dairy sector. While the general consensus view is that there will be huge opportunities there for Irish companies to exploit, Professor Michael Ward, director of the Centre for Co-operative Studies in University College Cork, believes the smaller dairy co-ops, particularly those without processing capabilities, might have a significant challenge ahead of them. “[The smaller co-operatives’] niche there was that they had a captive volume of milk and they could play off the bigger players,” says Ward. “When you don’t have restrictions at that level, the only way you could play them off is if the bigger players don’t have the capacity to process. So if you’re a smaller player and you don’t do any processing or marketing yourself, you’re probably more vulnerable in the long run.”

An Alternative Model Having researched and monitored cooperatives in Ireland for several decades now, Ward is well placed to judge the health of the sector. While there are always concerns for the future, Ward senses there has been an increasing interest in the co-operative model in recent years. “The relevance of the co-op thing is very much there, and very much alive,” he says. “There’s a sense where you really have to look after yourself. You really can’t afford to take a step back and let somebody else control your business.” This need for self-determination is evident not just in agriculture, but across Irish industry more generally. While Irish co-operatives have been mostly farmbased, a diverse set of organisations in the UK and across the rest of Europe is providing examples that we can learn from. “The diversity is different depending on where you are in Europe,” says Ward. “If you go to somewhere like Sweden, you probably live in a co-operative house, certainly if you study in a university. The housing would be bigger and stronger there. The consumer thing would be stronger in some of those countries. Say somewhere

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Co-ops

what they shouldn’t be eating. We’re destination retail, that’s for sure. People seek us out. That said, a quarter of our membership is in Dublin 8, so that’s where our roots are.” Rides believes that a shift in the public consciousness after the economic crash of 2008 has resulted in a greater awareness of, and interest in, the co-operative model. This in turn has given confidence to the co-operatives. “Since 2008, co-operatives are much more confident in saying ‘we are an alternative, we are a co-operative organisation’,” he says. “I think it’s more trendy, more fashionable now. We can pick up on that and say ‘this is an alternative’.”

like Italy, even a little café could be run as a co-operative. “Britain wouldn’t have that many credit unions but they’d have a very strong consumer co-op tradition. Germany seems to be quite strong now with these energy coops, and Belgium. The co-op reflects the needs of the community.” While consumer co-ops have been long established in the UK, at one point controlling over a third of the grocery trade, few have ever taken root in Ireland. That is beginning to change. The Dublin Food Co-Op was established by a group of antinuclear protesters in 1983 as a means of collectively buying whole foods in bulk and passing discounts onto their members and customers. Now established in Newmarket Square in Dublin 8, they’re one of the few thriving co-operatives in the capital. “In a small town or a group of villages, you’d probably get a lot broader base and a lot more local affinity,” says Norman Rides, manager of Dublin Food Co-Op. “In a city the size of Dublin, we’re not a major player really. We’re quite a niche market and, dealing with whole foods, we tend to attract people with quite strong views on what they should be eating and

Grounds for Optimism? The need for more awareness, socially and politically, of what the co-operative model is capable of is something that the ICOS is keen to address. However, Seamus O’Donoghue describes the political support for co-ops as “modest”. “A lot of that isn’t malign,” he says of political apathy towards the co-ops. “It’s more to do with their ‘ignorance’ of the co-operative model and what its application might be. So that always represents a challenge for us, to try and get the key actors in society – the politicians, the accountants, the bankers, the solicitors – to be familiar with the co-operative model as quite a valid alternative and even a better alternative in certain circumstances.” Whether or not the political support is there, everyone seems to agree that there is a growing public awareness of how cooperatives can benefit local communities, in agriculture and, importantly, in other industries like green energy, forestry and housing. The shift in consciousness that Norman Rides described has been noticed across the board. As a result, O’Donoghue is looking forward to the coming years with no little optimism. “At different times and different decades, you can have an awakening of interest or awareness and I believe that we’re entering one of those decades now in terms of the co-operative model,” he says. “The problem that Plunkett identified of the individual farmer being essentially powerless in the face of either a middleman or a powerful wholesaler or a powerful retailer is as true today as it was then, over 120 years ago. For farmers to rely on a third party to somehow be benevolent or look after their interest is a fallacy.”

Case Study:

Leitrim Organic Farmers’ Co-Operative

It’s not just at the retail end of the food chain that alternatives are desired. There has been a growing interest in organic foods in Ireland over the past couple of decades, a trend that has been echoed all across Europe. John Brennan is chairman of Leitrim Organic Farmers’ Co-Operative and since 1998 his organisation has been very active in the county. They work with smaller farmers, marts and local authorities to develop alternative routes to market for organic produce and campaign on environmental and policy issues they believe to be of importance to the locality. For Brennan, organics are just one element of what farmers in the area can be doing to develop both their own farms and the county as a whole. Strengthening the links between farmers and the wider community is a vital part of their plan. “We’re looking at what we can build on down here,” he says. “We would have put in a detailed submission into the county development plan, which would have dealt with the links between agriculture and tourism, the need to develop ecotourism, to develop off-farm income opportunities for farmers. The need, as well, to recognise the strengths of Leitrim. Really, the co-op itself feels it needs to be at the centre of that.” Brennan sees the co-op’s role in sustaining the community and resisting rural alienation is just as important as trying to maximise the profits of farmers in the area. They hope to achieve their goals through providing education, training and support services for all types of farmers in the area, organic or not. “There is a feeling that farmers in the west of Ireland and in the marginal areas are being pushed away even further,” says Brennan. “From my point of view, I mean I’m farming myself, this is very wrong. You need to make sure farmers are keeping in touch, they’re keeping up to date with the latest developments. If we can provide training for them, to help them with some part of their farming, then there has to be much more of this.”

“There is a feeling that farmers in the west of Ireland and in the marginal areas are being pushed away even further.”

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Marts

State of the

Mart

The local mart, a focal point of Irish towns throughout the decades, hangs on – but in a changing business landscape some are doing better than others, as Ian Maleney reports.

he mart is a key component of the Irish agricultural sector. In towns up and down the country, the mart is a fulcrum, not just for a farmer’s trade, but for the entire local community. As traditional touchstones of the rural economy like grocers, butchers and pubs become increasingly precarious concerns, or disappear altogether, sale days at the mart can bring a welcome wave of energy to a town. Of course, they remain important places of business too, with about €e1.2 billion worth of stock passing through them each year. This combination has been recognised in Sixmilebridge, Co Clare. The local mart was closed down by the owners, Golden Vale Marts, in December of 2009, only to be re-opened in 2011 thanks to a co-operative effort by farmers and community groups in the area. Some 600 locals contributed e500 each to purchase the mart from GVM. In return, they each got a share in the mart, and a voice in its operation. When the deal was finally secured, they immediately set about returning to business as usual – while making a substantial profit in the process. “Our profits have increased every year,” says Pat Reilly, chairman of the Sixmilebridge Mart. “We’re doing improvements every year. We wouldn’t go mad spending money every year but at the same time we’d always put e20,000 or e25,000 back into the mart to improve the structure of it. I suppose the biggest thing is we want to build up a good reserve, just in case.” With business booming, a new canteen installed and a new carpark on the way, it’s fair to say the shareholders’ collective gamble has paid off. Now the mart is seeing its customer base grow and grow. “Every Saturday you’d have two or three

new customers,” says Reilly. “The biggest thing is that it’s brought back into the community, it’s been taken off the big boys and put back into the farmers’ hands again. It’s being ran right. People are happy. Customers who are buying cattle there are happy too, they know what they’re getting and there’s no underhand in it.” The value of the mart to the local community was underscored by the fact that everyone from the GAA club to the parish priest was involved in spreading the word, encouraging farmers and even buying shares. “We had a great community behind us, a great catchment area,” says Reilly. “If we hadn’t, we were in trouble, simple as that. Since it opened, there’s been a great commitment from the shareholders to support it. They all want to keep it open. They don’t just want to open it and see it hanging on, they want to see it improve every year.” Mixed Successes While the success of Sixmilebridge Mart is great for the town and the local farmers, with people coming from as far afield as Galway to trade there, there are more sobering stories to be found in the area. Less than an hour’s drive from Sixmilebridge is Ennistymon Mart, which was recently sold by Clare Marts for a fee of around e1.5m to an unnamed customer, understood to be German retail powerhouse Aldi. The sale goes against the wishes of local farmers, despite the presence of Kilfenora Mart just six miles away. This highlights a problem that has occupied Ray Doyle, Marts Executive at the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, for some time. “When [the marts] started, roads and transport links were very poor so there tended to be one every 20 miles, less even,

10 miles apart,” he says. “Now there’s too many of them and they’re competing with one another for a reasonably stagnant pool of cattle. So the problem now is there’s probably too many and they need to be consolidated and rationalised down a bit.” One of Doyle’s main tasks at the moment is promoting ways for marts that currently compete against each other to work together for the benefit of all involved. The hope is that by pooling their resources, catchment areas and marketing efforts, marts can achieve more as a team than they ever would alone. One example in particular shows what is possible. “The first success ICOS has had is Central Auctions of Tipperary”, he says. “You have Birr, Nenagh and Roscrea, three individual mart centres that came together to form one entity but the three centres stayed open. I think we need every mart centre we have in the country but we don’t need every entity. If those three marts were left on their own, all they’d be doing is competing with each other.” The importance of strong locally controlled marts was thrown into relief at the end of last year with the collapse of Mullingar-based TLT international. The Italian-owned livestock export company entered receivership in November, with debts of over e3m owed to Irish marts alone. As tough as those losses are, Doyle believes such a shock to the system might have an galvanising effect. “It whipped three and a half million out of the mart sector,” he says. “Ultimately [the marts] need that to sharpen their minds, to say ‘hold on a second, can we do something different here?’” Same Organisation, Different Locations There’s probably no better example of

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Marts

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Marts

ICOS’s proposed inter-mart co-operative model than Cork Marts. Founded in 1956, the co-operative grew rapidly through the ‘60s, eventually owning nine mart centres. In the late ‘90s they scaled back to six centres. With 10,000 shareholders and centres in Bandon, Macroom, Corrin and Skibereen in Cork, as well as Dungarvan in Waterford and Cahir in Tipperary, they cover a lot of ground. Their ability to share resources and expertise across the province, as well as half a century of experience, means they can provide a solid and reliable service to farmers. With a turnover in excess of e100m annually, it’s a strategy that seems to be working. “In 2013 we sold about 103,000 adult

on non-sale days and weekends, it can function as an event centre or a concert venue,” says O’Sullivan. “We have a restaurant and a full bar licence, we’ve a conference room and small meeting rooms. We can convert the main arena into an auditorium with a stage and an integrated light and sound system. We’ve held concerts there for local community organisations, schools, fundraising, etc. They hire the venue for their events. They can have concerts, fashion shows, live bands, dancing, whatever they need.” Getting Onboard As successful as Cork Marts is as a business, O’Sullivan would still like to see

owned meat factories in Northern Ireland and Britain to illegally subvert the trading of cattle through marts. “The Bord Bia quality assurance scheme states an animal must be 70 days on a quality assured farm, or farms, to qualify,” says Doyle, by way of explanation. “So he’s on your farm, and you’re quality assured, for 40 days. I buy him off you in the mart, and I’m quality assured, and I hold him for 30 days. Then I go to the factory and kill him. He’s still quality assured, I should get a bonus. But the meat factories and the multiples say no, sorry, he has to be 70 days on the last farm. This is to stop the possibility of him being traded in a mart, to stop the possibility of free competition.”

Cork Marts in Numbers

103,000

adult cattle sold through Cork Marts’ sales rings last year

75,000

calves sold by Cork Marts in 2013

cattle through our sales rings, we sold 75,000 calves and we would have handled about 70,000 sheep,” says Sean O’Sullivan, Chief Executive of Cork Marts. “Last year we issued patronage bonus shares to our shareholders based on the volume of trade they would have done with us during the previous year, in 2012. That was the first for any co-op mart in the country to do. We allocated e100,000 out of our 2012 retained profits for bonus shares.” While the marts themselves are quite successful, Cork Marts’ diversification into property sales and development has been an important part of the business in recent years. Under the banners of CCM Property Network and Market Green Developments, they have interests across the property spectrum, from land leasing to commercial units to NCT centres. This knowledge of the property market was certainly useful in 2008, when Cork Marts sold their centre in Fermoy and used the money to build a brand new facility in Corrin, three miles outside the town. As well as being a state-of-the-art mart centre, the new facility can be used by the farmers and others in the community for a range of events and gatherings. “On sale days, it operates as a mart, but

70,000

sheep sold by Cork Marts last year

10,000

shareholders own Cork Marts

more involvement from the local farmers and shareholders in the running of the organisation. More engagement could only be of benefit to both the farmers and the marts. “Funnily enough, farmers can be quite passive about their local mart,” he says. “Unlike the interest that they often show in their local dairy co-op, where they maybe see themselves as having much more of a direct vested interest in it, particularly if they’re milk suppliers. With the local mart, we try and promote it as best we can, offer as good a service as we can, but at the end of the day the farmer has the option to do what he likes with his cattle, go where he likes with them. Unlike his milk supply. I suppose he feels he doesn’t have the same stake, or vested interest, in his local mart. Which is a pity because I think experience has shown that marts are a very secure place and system for selling farmers’ cattle.” Looking to the future, both O’Sullivan and Doyle can see a few potential bumps in the road for the country’s marts. ICOS have been very active at the EU Directorate General for Competition in Brussels during recent months as they try to address what they see as an attempt by Irish-

e100m+

turned over by Cork Marts per annum

Cork Marts operates six sales centres in Munster

While Europe contemplates ICOS’s case, O’Sullivan is worried about another EU issue: the removal of milk quotas due in 2015. A projected increase in the dairy herd is, as Doyle says, “possibly not a good thing for the mart”. Though Cork Marts’ involvement in the live export business means they can adapt their practices to some extent, O’Sullivan knows that a boost in calf numbers won’t fully offset losses in other areas. “We would have more of a concern for the contraction that is happening in the suckler herd and that that is going to reduce our base of beef cattle in the country that is going to be available for sale, for processing and for export,” he says. “That’s a concern I have for the immediate and medium term future.” The success of Sixmilebridge Mart and Cork Marts is evidence of the continued viability of the mart sector in Ireland. The importance of the mart as a force for social cohesion and economic stimulation in rural communities has rarely been more acute. That said, there is a also a real need for smart, long-term planning and greater inter-mart co-operation if these vital social and business centres are to survive the challenges facing them.

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INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE

Innovation C AT TLE

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?

No, it’s a farmer’s spotter drone! Conor Forrest takes a look at innovation in agricultural life taking place in Ireland and further afield, and finds out what the future holds for cattle farmers open to high-tech new ideas.

AGRICULTURAL UAVS

he fast pace of innovation inn the agricultural sector can be seen clearly in the growing use of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, often known as drones, particularly when used by the military) in the industry. As a result of the increasing financial and environmental costs associated with intensive agriculture there has been a global rise in the use of UAVs in precision agriculture. Fixed-wing UAVs are seen as more suited to the agricultural arena rather than their multi-rotor counterparts, with the ability to cover up to 100ha in a single flight. According to Dr Jerome O’Connell, School of Biology, University of Leeds, “a combination of airborne multispectral images from a UAV with ground-based physical measurements could produce maps on weed types, disease pressures, plant stress, crop damage, fertilizer requirements, biomass accumulation and yield potential with centimetre accuracy. The ability of the UAV to collect data in a short space of time with little pre-flight delays means that they are ideally suited to the Irish climate and agricultural landscape.”

Currently, UAV use in Ireland is wellestablished across a wide variety of sectors from agriculture to engineering, with companies capable of producing aerial photographs and accurate 3D maps across any type of terrain. According to Dr O’Connell, “maps derived from UAVs could be inputted into tractor-based GPS systems for variable applications of fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, reducing overall waste by more than 50 per cent. The ability to spot spray a crop before disease affects yield is just one of the many financial merits of such a system. Large-scale crop and grass rotation systems could be planned based on clearly defined metrics of plant health and vigour. Cross-compliance with agrienvironmental schemes could also be easily measured and monitored using UAV data. Continued advances in software and hardware will lead to increased take up of such technologies across all scales of farming.” Companies such as ASM Ireland in Co Kerry are using their UAVs to gain a high resolution birds’-eye view of entire farms, allowing accurate measurements of individual fields for the purpose of land eligibility issues, increasing spraying and fertilising efficiency, identifying problem areas through the high quality aerial photos, and measuring and monitoring forestry – a sector which has surged in

the wake of the most recent storm damage. Aidan O’Connor of ASM Ireland doesn’t foresee a large uptake of UAV operations on the part of private farmers themselves, due to a combination of stringent licensing and prohibitive cost factors, such as specialist training courses, third party liability insurance and the price of a good UAV itself. A recent change in law by the Irish Aviation Authority now requires all operators of UAVs in Irish airspace – regardless of use – to hold a special permit. According to O’Connor: “As a result of the continued introduction of new sensors in this sector, we are currently undertaking research with crop consultants and agronomists in a bid to introduce the benefit of the best multispectral sensors to Irish farmers”.

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Innovation in Agriculture

Sexed semen One of the most sought-after reproductive technologies is the ability to select the sex of calves – in agriculture, female dairy offspring are far more desirable than their male counterparts, while in beef farming the opposite is true, considering male offspring fetch a higher price than female. Used primarily in dairy cattle breeding, sexed semen technology is commercially available in many countries around the world. Research and trials have indicated that it can allow for faster and more profitable pasture-based dairy herd expansion, through increasing the number of dairy heifer replacements. The main benefit of the biotechnology will be seen in the Irish dairy industry if its use becomes more widespread. Roughly 90 per cent of

Securing your soil French company SOBAC introduced an interesting concept to Ireland in 2012 during the Tullamore Show, and recently completed its first trial in the country. The basic concept behind SOBAC is the creation of humus (a soil science term referring to a point of stability where organic matter will not break down any further) in soil. The end results are increased levels of microorganisms in the ground, with organic matter retained in the humus thanks to its storage-like properties, leading to improved soil structure and fertility. “Bacteriosol is a pellet that you spread directly on the ground; Bacteriolit is a powder that you add to farm yard manure or slurry,” explains SOBAC’s Claire Marlet. “The two of them have the same components: micro-organisms. By spreading this on the ground, we increase the level of micro-organisms in the soil in order to speed up the natural process of the ground and to quickly transform the or-

ganic matter into humus. Humus is negatively charged and can retain all positive ions; it acts as storage in the soil, to retain the elements and make them available whenever the plant needs it. It is basically like a fridge.”

successful pregnancies using sexed semen resulted in a heifer calf, which could be an important factor in relation to milk output once the quota regime is removed. Teagasc has also noted several additional benefits to herd expansion: reduced calving difficulty as well as improved biosecurity, as farmers can increase their herd size while still maintaining a closed herd. There are several issues, however.

Graze Mate

Graze Mate is the maker of an innovative labour/time saving device known as Drover, aimed towards dairy herd grazing management on farms – a lightweight user-friendly electronic paddock gate system. Freeing up time spent on opening and closing paddock gates, Drover can be controlled by a mobile phone by simply texting the Drover device to automatically open and close the electrified barrier entrance. Drover can also be pre-programmed to open and close at predetermined times, to synchronise with milking times. The device is highly portable due to its light-weight construction (and can be securely attached to any typical fence post, electric or otherwise): where your herd goes, the Drover device can go too. Its portability lends itself for use where a paddock grazing system is being employed and the barrier’s location is being changed frequently.

Fertility rates are lower, while costs could prove prohibitive, as sexed semen is more expensive than its

Comfort Slat Mats

conventional counterpart, between €12 and €20 per straw. Though fertility continues to be one of the main issues with this technology, researchers from Teagasc

The result of extensive research and development in Ireland, Holland and the USA across a five-year period, Comfort Slat Mat – a rubber cow mat – addresses the major issue of achieving reductions in ammonia emissions from slatted floors. Improving animal cleanliness, health and welfare through the mat’s unique curved shape, it can

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to improve fertility and, depending

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could have a valuable role to play

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in seasonal, pasture-based dairy

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Annual Steam Threshing & Working Show

Moynalty, Kells, Co Meath 12 - 7.30 PM Sunday 10th August 2014

A great family day out! ATTRACTIONS INCLUDE:

Nathan Carter Performing Live on August 10th 2014

Museum • Tea Rooms • Traditional Irish Music • Displays Of All Forms Of Threshing • Working Horse Display • Poitin Still Traditional Hay Making • Vintage and Classic cars - pre 1985 Farmyard Animals & Pets • Stationary Engines Mud Turf Making Dancing Deck • Water Wheel • Fun Fair & Side Shows

Coaches Catered For • Free Car Parking Admission €10 at gate or tickets available by calling 087 239 3342 FREE for children under 12 Peter Gaynor (chairman) PH: 087 239 3342 Email: petergaynor63@gmail.com Betty Smith (sec) PH: 087 1635 426 OR 087 794 0372 Office PH: 046 924 4810 Email: steamthreshing@eircom.net

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We are a family run fruit farm growing a large variety of soft fruit which is available fresh to our customers from June to October. Our Farm Shop is situated alongside our fruit crops giving visitors an opportunity to view the different stages of plant growth during the year. In our farm kitchen we make 21 jams using our own fruit, along with 12 chutneys, 6 marmalades and a selection of seasonal jellies which are all made in small batches from traditional recipes. This ensures that our great fruit ﬂavours are tasted in every pot. We also stock a large range of artisan food & and gift products in our farm shop. Customers who visit our farm can see our fruit growing and leave with an authentic irish artisan product.

Malone Fruit Farm & Farm Shop, Closh, Ballon, Co Carlow Contact 059 915 9477 or 086 847 2765 Email: malonefruitfarm@eircom.net Also follow Malone Fruit Farm and Farm Shop on Facebook 231647_2L_MALONE FRUIT_SN_ETTG.indd 1

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Innovation in Agriculture

Craft butchers While the craft butcher isn’t exactly a new addition to life across Irish towns and villages, the profession as a whole continues to provide a valuable service. Craft butchers provide for healthy and economical eating while teaching consumers a few new skills along the way, advising on the best meat for consumer budgets as well as a few storage and cooking tips. These educational services wouldn’t be possible were it not for the help of the not-for-profit accrediting body for the trainers of craft butchers, the Association of Craft Butchers of Ireland (ACBI). The ACBI assists and promotes Irish craft butchers through the provision of training, business mentoring, promotional materials, marketing campaigns, seminars and demonstrations, to name but a few. The ACBI has also employed a chef – Chef Adrian, who worked under Neven Maguire – to travel around the country providing product development within butcher shops. He also visits schools to inform children about healthy eating, and

going back to the farm and to nature. The ACBI also runs upskilling courses for butchers and aims to establish a European centre of excellence in the future. Meat provenance became more of an important issue following the horsemeat scandal from last year, and, as John Hickey, CEO of the ACBI notes, the traceability which craft butchers can provide is one of the reasons consumers have been drawn to them. Local butchers can tell you where they sourced

their meat, from which local abattoir and the farm on which it was raised. “The traceability is tangible. Having the traceability gives surety on the product,” Hickey explains. “Certification is the key here. We supply the butchers with the training and help to set up the quality systems in the shops. We can stand over every certified member in terms of traceability, quality, standards and practices in the butchers’ shops.”

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IFPO.ie

ifpo@eircom.net

The Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) was founded in 1975 as an EU recognised Fish Producers’ Organisation and a leading Irish fishing industry representative organisation, owned by its member-fishermen/women. The organisation represents its members and contributes actively in a variety of transnational and EU bodies. Within Ireland, the IFPO participates in a full range of fishing industry consultative and management advisory bodies. The organisation undertakes a variety of national and EU related functions related to the Common Fisheries Policy and the Common Market Organisations. The IFPO is currently headed up by Francis O’ Donnell who has a strong

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background in fisheries management, environmental management and stakeholder engagement. The organisation is committed to improving the marketing of its member’s products while ensuring its membership fish using sustainable practices in line with the new Common Fisheries Policy. The IFPO recognises the need to protect and develop small scale fisheries in Ireland with a view to building capacity in coastal peripheral areas. The new Common Fisheries Policy is stakeholder focused realising that previous autocratic models of European fisheries management has failed to protect stocks and build economic sustainability in coastal communities across Europe. One of the cornerstones of the new Common Fisheries Policy is the requirement to land all catches. The IFPO sees this as a positive development as previous Common Fisheries Policies forced fishermen

to discard catches of perfect ably marketable fish due to quota restriction and unworkable legislation. Small scale fisheries and Island communities are given special recognition in the text of the new policy. Ireland will need to focus more on its inshore sector which comprises of 1800 vessels under 12 meters in length. Lobster, crab and shrimp pot fishing are important seasonal inshore fisheries for coastal communities in Ireland. However, they have been badly managed to date. The new Common Fisheries Policy offers structural funding to change this. Data collection and scientific assessment are the bedrock of decision making and thus future fishing opportunities. The IFPO will continue to work nationally and Internationally for its members and coastal communities in general across Ireland for the foreseeable future.

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fish farming

Hard at work on an oyster farm in Donegal Bay, turning bags at low tide to ensure a quality shell shape and a clear flow of water over the growing bivalves.

Cod do

Batter!

Ireland’s aquaculture industry is a significant contributor to the economy and is tipped for even greater things in future. But, as Dean Van Nguyen discovered, the sector has faced significant challenges.

vident in mythology that dates as far back as Fionn mac Cumhaill unwittingly tasting the Salmon of Knowledge, Ireland’s rich history in aquaculture has long helped define us as an island nation. Indeed, our land’s first settlers were seafarers who partly relied on their skills as fisherman to survive. That tradition continues to this day as the aquaculture sector offers a significant contribution to our economy. According to a report published by Bord Bia, exports of Irish seafood in 2011 amounted to €415 million, generating an estimated 11,600 jobs. However, the industry has been recently marred by controversies and setbacks that have stifled its potential for further growth, many of which centre around aggravation with the Government for what’s

being perceived as industry mismanagement. Much of these feelings focus on the concern surrounding aquaculture licences. Such is the backlog of applications currently pending, Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney was compelled to acknowledge the issue earlier this year. “People who seek aquaculture licences or licence extensions in some bays are waiting for their bay to be assessed, and that is very frustrating for them,” said Coveney speaking to an Oireachtas committee. “We are prioritising the bays that have the most applications or potential applications to try and get as many of them dealt with as possible.” Licensing troubles The Irish Farmers’ Association has been outspoken with its criticism of the current mechanisms in obtaining the appropriate

licence. According to aquaculture executive Richie Flynn, it’s a real sticking point as the organisation believes everything else is in place for the development of a very successful enterprise. “The industry is unique to Ireland because we have a fantastic opportunity here, both from the point of view of our natural environment being on the edge of Europe and being on the edge of the Atlantic with a readymade market on our doorstep, a reputation for top quality food and facing a situation where 60 percent plus of all seafood in Europe is imported from outside of the community,” says Flynn, who describes aquaculture as one of the most sophisticated parts of Ireland’s food industry in the country. “We’re able to get live fish to the Far East as easily as we’re able to get cutlets of steak into your local fishmonger.” EAR TO THE GROUND 99

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fishing

Hard at work on an oyster farm in Donegal Bay, turning bags at low tide to ensure a quality shell shape and a clear flow of water over the growing bivalves.

Cod do

Batter!

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fish farming

However, Flynn believes the industry is severally hamstrung and that what Ireland’s aqua farmers boast in enthusiasm, skills and experience, they lack in commitment from the State. “The barrier to our development appears to be that the Irish Government in particular does not know how to respond to this industry. They still see it as a novel industry, and they don’t know how to respond to the industry’s need to actual sites.” Aquaculture licensing in every member state of the European Union is a matter for national government as it deals with granting operators permission to work in public waters. In Ireland the 1997 Fisheries Amendment Act is the relevant legislation and, on paper, licensing should follow a path similar to the system that’s in place for planning permission relating to terrestrial activities, whereby candidates put their application together, necessary environmental reports are carried out, a decision making process occurs, and so on. But there are extra complications for aqua farmers who require additional paperwork that relates to the conservation of species that require protection – something that is done by a member state. In Ireland’s case it’s the responsibility of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. “The problem was that the Irish Government knew they had to do this just like every other government in Europe, but unlike every other government in Europe, they ignored it and left us with a big mess where we were wide open as a country, as taxpayers, to be sued by the European court. This wasn’t the fault of the aquaculture industry by any means,

we were caught up in [it], so were every other licensee, but because our industry is so dependent on licences I suppose we’ve been put in the front line.” Further controversies have arisen over the past 18 months relating to a proposed 500-hectare organic salmon farm in Galway Bay. A demand for organic Irish salmon has led Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the state agency responsible for developing the Irish seafood industry, to examine the potential of offshore salmon farming. But the proposal has been met with opposition. Upon the announcement in November 2012, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), a fellow state agency charged with the conservation and of Ireland’s inland fisheries, raised concerns on how the potential operation could pose risks to wild salmon and sea trout stocks, citing scientific reports on existing fish farms that produce salmon and sea trout off the west coast of Ireland. The controversy over sea lice, encompassing academics, state agencies, politicians, lobby groups and commentators, rumbles on.

Quality assured The Irish aquaculture trade has been forced to roll with the punches somewhat and the lingering frustration that the industry could be run more efficiency will rumble on. But what’s undeniable is that there will always be a demand for Irish fish, as Flynn points out. “People are screaming out for Irish farmed products naturally because it is the best, and the ones who are doing most of the screaming at the moment are our own artisanal smokeries for salmon. They’ve had to put up with a number of months now where they couldn’t get any Irish salmon whatsoever. I mean how crazy is that where we have to turn away customers because we simply don’t have the means of production by way of licences?”

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF: IFA Aquaculture/Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Richie Flynn, Executive, IFA Aquaculture, James Kelly and Martin Coll on site at Martin’s mussel farm in Mulroy Bay, Donegal.

Times, up to 230,000 farmed salmon were lost off the west Cork coast in one of the nine Atlantic storms that struck our shores. While Richie Flynn points out that Ireland’s aqua farmers have learned to adapt to our challenging environment to grow salmon (“if your equipment survives in Ireland being tested by an Irish farmer, it will survive anywhere,” he affirms), these especially harsh conditions proved startling. “Nothing, and I really mean it, nothing prepared anybody in the country, from meteorologists down to the farmers on the land to local authorities, nobody could be prepared for what happened from December to January just past. Nine storms in succession, some hurricane force strength, hit the coast one after another and I suppose in reality looking back on the damage that was done – and if you travel the coast you can still see it there and will see it for a long time to come – roads were taken away, buildings, large chunks of the coastline washed away, houses wrecked, trees uprooted; immense damage. All the farms except one survived that, and that’s the context you’ve got to see this in. Every single farmer except one survived that battering, and that’s quite an achievement.”

Natural disasters While the thorny issues of licensing and offshore farming can be addressed, little could be done about the devastation that struck last winter by stormy weather. According to the Marine Institute and engineers from the Department of Agriculture, and as reported by The Irish IFA launches the Removing Barriers report on Irish aquaculture, March 2014. Left to right: Richie Flynn, Executive, IFA Aquaculture; Jan Feenstra, ISGA; Jerry Gallagher, ISA; Eddie Downey, IFA President.

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Sustainability

Energy The Loc al Alternative

Energy policy, climate change and sustainability are hot topics, with wind farms, pylons and turfcutting causing plenty of local ill-feeling and negative headlines in recent years. But on the ground, progressive solutions like community energy projects and energy-efficient housing give grounds for optimism, as Ian Maleney discovers.

he question of energy has become a central concern for Ireland’s people, and its politicians. There is a clear and acknowledged need for the country to move away from traditional fossil fuels and towards a more sustainable future built on renewable energy sources. This transition has been fraught with debate and, at times, outright conflict. The EU has set targets for the production of energy from renewable sources that Ireland has to meet before 2020. How exactly we are to go about meeting those targets, and building on them after that deadline has passed, have been sources of animated discussion across the country for years now. The most talked-about projects in the area of green energy have been, for the most part, large-scale interventions: huge wind farms or expensive, complex hydro-electrical plants. While some projects of this nature have reached fruition relatively painlessly, many have stalled in drawn-out planning processes, are waiting years for connection to the national grid or have alienated the very communities they ought to be helping. There are many reasons for this, from simple lack of available information to a half-hearted engagement with the concerns and desires of local people. There is, however, an alternative to these grand scale-projects and stories of angry locals. Lúgh Ó Braonáin is the Director of Irish Energy Co-Ops, an organisation that aims to promote the benefits of sustainability within the renewable energy sector through the formation of communitybased co-operatives that are responsible for their own green energy futures. Their

message is reaching an increasing amount of ears. “We really feel now as if things are beginning to move,” says Ó Braonáin. “It’s as if there’s been a pressure point building up and a number of things happened in the industry that have allowed the crack to develop, and now there is a real desire on the part of a lot of community organisations for the establishment of energy co-ops. We’ve built up a lot of experience and expertise in the area and that allows us to take a leading role in that.” Irish Energy Co-Ops are pushing the cooperative model of organisation as a means for communities to take control of their own energy, working on a small scale to produce tangible, sustainable results. From farmers to hoteliers, anyone can get involved. The knowledge, resources and concerns of the local community don’t just become part of the plans, they define them. “The great thing about the co-op is it’s an open door,” says Ó Braonáin. “Because it’s open, the co-op has to go out into the community and talk to people, engage with them, bring them along with the plan, ask them to contribute to the plans. As a result, you end up with a much more diverse set of ideas and proposals, but because it’s diverse, it’s much more appealing.” This approach entails a certain amount of education, bringing people up to speed on the details of energy conservation and generation, while also taking advantage of any skills they may bring to the table. “Education isn’t a case of going out there and telling everybody how it works,” says Ó Braonáin. “Our education is a question of involving people in making their decisions, what they can do. That’s a much more active, engaging education.

It’s an engagement through process, rather than just construction. So the people own the aspirations of the co-op, they see them occurring in realistic, smaller steps. They know you’re moving in the right direction.” Island testbed Perhaps the best example of this model currently in action is to be found on the Aran Islands. The three islands off the coast of Galway are serving as something of a testing ground for these ideas, with the community coming together to implement a strategy that will hopefully see them reverse the flow of energy coming from the mainland. Ó Braonáin puts a €1.5 million pricetag on the imported energy the islanders use each year, money which is sucked out of the island economy for good. Retaining even a fraction of that would be a significant stimulant for the community there. Dara Ó Maoildhia is chairman of the Aran Islands Energy Co-Operative and he hopes that their 10-year plan will invigorate all three of the islands, making them energy efficient and carbon neutral in the process. “Our work at the moment is retrofitting houses,” he says. “We begin by making every building more energy efficient so it needs less, and then we start trying to generate. Eventually we hope to be able to buy and sell our own energy to each other. We produce it ourselves and retail it back to ourselves.” A little over two years into their plan, a fifth of the houses on the islands have been upgraded to at least a C standard on the Building Energy Rating scale. As Ó Maoildhia says, it’s not A or B, but they’re

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Sustainability

getting there. Everyone knows the necessary changes won’t happen overnight. “We’re trying to attract every resident of the three islands to become a member of our co-op,” he says. “We haven’t achieved that yet, but we’ve achieved about 50 members. We’ll keep building on that. We’ve a lot of support from the locals for retrofitting and those are all people who are likely to become members of the co-op if we ask them. We haven’t done a proper campaign yet to ask people to join. The 50 that we have are people who have seen what we’re doing and want to be a part of it.” Wind is currently the islanders’ best bet for renewable energy, and there are plans to install a turbine on one of the islands. They also hope that once the technology arrives to harness the power of the ocean for energy, they will be well placed to take advantage of it.

with German origins which has been very popular in Ireland. Put simply, the aim is to create a house where the walls, doors and windows would be so airtight that you wouldn’t need a heating system at all, while the heat that would traditionally escape through the walls would be captured through a heat-recovery ventilation system.

energy is just one element to be considered when thinking about sustainable living. “Passive housing is really just a low energy scheme so it’s quite specific in that way,” she says. “Some organisations, like the Irish Green Building Council, would say you shouldn’t just think about energy, you need to think about transport, water and materials. There are actually a lot of other factors.” Community solutions This is where the co-operative, community-centred approach excels. It’s only by collectively organising around these various factors that truly long-term, widespread sustainability will be possible. Strategies need to be put in place on a local level, taking advantage of particular and sometimes unique combinations of resources,

“If passive has been designed in from the outset, from the very beginning of the design process, then it doesn’t have to be any more expensive than any other build.” “We’re just waiting on the technology to become developed enough to be able to use it,” says Ó Maoildhia. “There isn’t any technology available at the moment but they’re working on it. Give it another five or six years and maybe there’ll be something.” A key part of their long-term plan is to attract industries that will make use of their green energy. For a region almost entirely reliant on part-time and seasonal work, any increase in steady, full-time employment will be something to cheer about. “It’s hugely important because we’re a small community, there’s a lot of unemployment here, a lot of emigration,” says Ó Maoildhia. “The only things that give people employment here is a small amount of fishing and tourism. This will broaden it out. If we can create an industry based on clean energy, that can drive a lot more employment. It will ensure the survival of the communities.” The passive house The islanders have been taking advantage of grants available for retrofitting homes and installing solar panels. Such work is vital for energy conservation in the immediate future and better insulation and better windows can make a serious dent in any household’s energy bills. In many ways, what is known as the “passive house” is the pinnacle of this approach to energy conservation. The passive house is a design system

The Passive House Association of Ireland works to promote the construction of passive housing in Ireland, while providing something of a meeting point for like-minded engineers, architects, designers and homeowners. Much of Ireland’s rural housing stock is made up of isolated, one-off homes and the passive house ideal is an effective way to make such building more environmentally sustainable. “Unfortunately, Ireland has a tradition of these one-off houses in the countryside,” says Alice Ryan, administrator of the PHAI. “This is generally where you’d get a passive house because you have owneroccupiers, the person who is responsible for the design, so therefore they’re interested in the standard. It’s more likely to be a one-off house, but that’s less sustainable in the long run.” For those thinking of building an energy-efficient home in the near future, Ryan says it’s much easier and more cost-effective to have the passive house in mind from the start. “If passive has been designed in from the outset, from the very beginning of the design process, then it doesn’t have to be any more expensive than any other build. The problem is when they already have planning permission, they already have plans, and they want to increase the energy performance, that’s when it gets more expensive.” As useful as the passive house idea can be for both home-builders and the environment, Ryan is keen to point out that

rather than shoehorning every community into an ill-fitting national template. The latter approach has characterised a significant amount of the planning at State level, so far at least. Large, expensive wind-farms have been slow to get off the ground, often having to wait a decade or more for connection to the national grid. Developments on this scale have often discouraged ordinary people from getting involved, seeming too complex, too sprawling for sustained community engagement. Ó Braonáin hopes that certain technologies currently in development, like the Smart Microgrid (like the national grid but on a very local scale), will enable communities to work together and become sustainable energy users and producers, reliant more on each other than large energy companies. Such technology could allow small towns to create, use and sell their own electricity. “It’s going to be brilliant, it’s going to be real power that will be put in the hands of local communities,” he says. “It’s not about a humdinger of a large project that you all collectively own that is going to employ people in the local cafés making sandwiches for builders for about a year and half. Then they’re gone and there’s a guy from Enercon employed to service your turbines. That’s not sustainable employment. “A well organised community that is involved in its own generation and consumption of power, that’ll go on forever.”

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Advertising Feature

Farm Insurance: A Real Alternative With

Zurich

In the space of just two years Zurich Insurance has firmly established itself in the agri market, offering a complete and competitive solution for Irish farmers – and its hands on approach is resonating with new customers and the wider industry.

n recent times, Irish farmers have needed few reminders of the critical importance of insurance. The increasing prevalence of floods and extreme weather have taken their toll and focused the mind: is it worth the risk of going uninsured? Unfortunately, countless farmers have found an answer to that question the hard way – either through direct personal experience or indirectly through the experience of their peers. Quickly establishing itself as one of the leading players in the Irish farm insurance market, Zurich is offering solutions in property, livestock, business interruption, liability, agricultural vehicles, personal accident and farm home insurance. The global insurer, with a long history locally, launched a new farm insurance product in 2012, providing a real alternative to the Irish agriculture sector. Just as insurance is important to the farming sector, farming is important to the insurance industry too. Agriculture in Ireland accounts for around 150,000 jobs on 130,000 farms and delivers €24 billion to the economy every year. At present the sector represents about 10 per cent of the insurance industry’s work: a quarter of a billion euro or so. Zurich entered the Irish farm insurance market after 18 months of research and engagement with the sector, as the team developed their farm insurance offering to ensure that it met the needs of today’s

farmer – now and for many years to come. Led by Michael Doyle, Head of Agri Business, who himself is from a strong farming background, the company’s stated aim is to establish itself in the top two farm insurance providers in Ireland by the end of 2015 and it has made great strides in achieving this objective. Doyle explains: “Our long-term ambition is to provide a market-leading solution to farmers right across the country for many years to come, and to do this through our value proposition which is to protect our customers when it matters most by providing fair, professional, courteous and efficient service when farmers need it most.” Local and international strength Zurich did not begin from a standing start, however: the company has had a long-lasting and strong connection with farming in Ireland, having first established a presence here in the 1950s and served farmers’ needs through investment and life products over the last six decades. Things have come a long way since then. Zurich now employs around 1,000 people in Ireland across its General Insurance and Zurich Life Assurance businesses. The General Insurance European headquarters is also located in Dublin. The insurer’s customer service centre in Drinagh, Co Wexford, set up over six years ago, is a centre of excellence employing Ear to the Ground 107

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Advertising Feature

Michael Doyle, Head of Agri Business for Zurich Insurance.

over 160 people and is one of the county’s largest employers. Reaffirming its commitment to the country, Zurich is also proud that all of its customer claims are handled locally here in Ireland. All of these local achievements are strengthened by a phenomenal global reach and financial security. With customers in over 170 countries, the insurer is one of the strongest and most recognisable brands in insurance today. Founded and headquartered in

Switzerland, that international firepower is a key advantage for Irish farmers on the ground. Hands-on commitment Demonstrating their long-term commitment to the farming sector, Zurich has teamed up with a number of key partners. Chief among these is the Zurich Farming Independent Farmer of the Year Awards. Launched at the beginning of February, nominations flowed in from across the

country, making the task of picking winners from 10 categories a difficult one. From Contractor of the Year to Rising Star 2014, the best and the brightest of Ireland’s farmers were represented – with Ear To The Ground’s own Darragh McCullough on the judging panel, along with Michael Doyle. Kevin Nolan of Bennekerry, Co Carlow came away with the overall Farmer of the Year prize at the black tie event held at the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. A huge

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Advertising Feature

Mairead McGuinness, MEP for the Midlands Northwest constituency pictured with Norris Beattie, Chairman of the North Eastern Holstein Friesian Breeders’ Club, NEHFBC President Robert Moore, and Zurich’s Head of Agri Business Michael Doyle at the launch of the 2014 NEHFBC Herds Competition. Sponsored by Zurich Insurance, the competition is open to members in counties Meath, Louth, Westmeath and Dublin and held to promote and reward breeders for their animals within pedigree herds.

success, it underlined all that is good about the Irish agriculture sector and represented long overdue recognition for the high achievers in the industry and their accomplishments. Zurich is also involved with the North Eastern Holstein Friesian Breeders’ Club, as the lead sponsor of the club’s herds competition. Open to members in counties Meath, Louth, Westmeath and Dublin, the competition is held to promote, showcase and reward breeders for their animals within pedigree herds. The NEHFC was established in 1976, and the herds competition is one of the longest established in Ireland. The price and claims promise Zurich is also a broker-centric company, working with more than 400 local insurance brokers and their clients right around the country. Doyle and his team work hand-in-glove with local brokers to tailor the Zurich offering to meet the needs of Irish farms and offer an enhanced local service – and since launching in 2012, brokers and customers have been impressed by the focus Zurich has brought to the market. Price remains key of course – any farmer needs to keep his or her costs down in order to make ends meet. That’s where the Zurich price and claims promise comes in. With Zurich’s entry to the market, competition has never been stronger. The insurer recognises the tough environment that many farms operate in and works hard to keep disruption to a minimum when they are called in. Zurich has helped many businesses who have found themselves in

crisis situations, be it through flooding, fire or other unforeseen circumstances. Doyle says: “Over the past few years, farmers have had to constantly evolve and adapt in order to protect their livelihoods and ensure future growth, while at the same time enduring some of the most challenging weather conditions we have had in decades. We are acutely aware of this at Zurich, and on a personal level, I have seen my own family experience these challenges on their farm in Wicklow. It is with this knowledge that we have committed to providing the best farm solution possible for our customers which is both competitively priced and centred around our award-winning service excellence. “The Zurich Claims Promise is upheld by our dedicated team based locally in Wexford, allowing for effective decision making around repairs, replacements and cash settlements. We often have a claims manager from Zurich on the ground within days of the loss and pride ourselves on providing practical and invaluable support for our customers, all in an effort to ensure that their business is back up and running as soon as possible.” The company also works closely with customers to ensure they have the correct risk mitigation protocols and procedures in place to limit the damage to their business if disaster does strike. All of this means that Zurich’s entry has been very good for Irish farmers: the company is now a real alternative in the Irish farm insurance market – and its growth is matching its ambitions. Zurich Insurance plc is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Darragh McCullough addresses the audience at the 2014 Zurich Farming Independent Farmer of the Year Awards.

John O’Connor, CFO and Interim CEO of Zurich; Grand Prix Farmer of the Year Kevin Nolan and Michael Doyle, Head of Agri Business for Zurich Insurance. Ear to the Ground 109

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Advertising Feature

Taoiseach

opens energy facility at

Aurivo

Aurivo, the globally focused agri-business based in the west of Ireland, has opened a new €5.25 million state-of-the-art biomass facility at its dairy ingredients plant in Ballaghadereen, Co Roscommon.

t hand to formally open Aurivo’s new Roscommon energy facility, which will reduce Aurivo’s dairy ingredients’ heavy fuel oil consumption by over 70 per cent and its carbon emissions by 50 per cent, was Taoiseach Enda Kenny. “Getting Ireland back to work is the top priority of the Government and to do this we have to make recovery local,” said Kenny. “I’m delighted to open Aurivo’s state-of-the-art biomass facility at its dairy ingredients plant in Ballaghaderreen. Fuelled by Irish biomass, projects such as this will lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels. Our agri-food industry needs to stay innovative if we are to keep Irish exports strong. Aurivo, which employs over 700 people in the west of Ireland, is an example of an innovative Irish company that is well positioned to capitalise on the massive growth and export opportunities in the post-milk quota era. Initiatives such as this to support Aurivo’s growing dairy ingredients business will ensure the supply of quality employment.” According to Aaron Forde, Chief Executive of Aurivo, “this is a prime example of innovation at work at Aurivo to support the businesses’ ambitious growth and export plans in the post-milk quota era. From this dairy ingredients site, Aurivo processes over 250m litres of milk annually, 92 per cent of which is exported to 46 countries. One such country is Nigeria, where we currently supply 30 per cent of its enriched milk powder requirements, with volumes

growing at 29 per cent year-on-year. Our business model and strategic plan for our dairy business – Aurivo Focus 2020 – positions us for significant growth. Our milk suppliers, based across 12 counties, forecast increasing supply by over 20 per cent after the ending of milk quotas. With the heavy burden of energy costs impacting business performance across Ireland, the facility opening today greatly helps Aurivo on its path to sustained international growth.” Aurivo is the first large-scale milk processor to invest in biomass to provide a long-term energy solution. At an investment of €5.25m, the facility will recoup the equivalent of its setup costs through energy savings within five years. Operational from this month, ultimately the facility will be developed into a major combined heat and power (CHP) plant, and by 2016 Aurivo plans to sell energy onwards into the national electricity grid. The plant will use 30,000 tonnes of woodchip each year, sourced from Aurivo’s subsidiary company ECC Teoranta in Corr na Mona, Co Galway. Aurivo is one of Ireland’s leading multipurpose co-operatives in Ireland, with businesses in consumer foods, dairy ingredients, retail stores, animal feeds and livestock trading. The dairy ingredients business is a globally focused agri-business exporting to 46 countries in markets as diverse as Afghanistan, Africa, Asia, Central America, Costa Rica, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. In 2013, the co-op reported record sales of €454m and an operating profit of €5.25m.

Milk Quality Awards Eight milk suppliers from across seven counties were recently honoured at Aurivo’s Milk Quality Awards for their dedication and commitment to producing the highest quality milk throughout 2013. The annual Aurivo Milk Quality Awards aim to highlight and reward dairy farming excellence in the region. “Each of the category winners are excellent ambassadors for Aurivo and the dairy farming sector, by achieving and maintaining the highest quality standards,” said Aurivo Chairman Padraig Gibbons. According to Aurivo CEO Aaron Forde, “the global customer base we have built expect perfection in every litre of milk and every kilogramme of product. We can only do that with the hard work and support of our dedicated suppliers.” RTÉ CountryWide presenter Damien O’Reilly was on hand to present the eight category winners with their prizes and announce the overall Aurivo Milk Supplier of the Year as Cathal Lowry from Loughrea, Co Galway.

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KnightFrank.ie KnightFrank.ie KnightFrank.ie

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Joseph Naughton Auctioneer

Ireland’s Leading Supplier of Pressure Creosoted Timber.

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Pressure Creosoted Timber is the best - we can prove it! PRESSURE CREOSOTED TIMBER CAN LAST A LIFETIME Creosote impregnation under pressure has been used by Eircom for telegraph poles for over eighty years. It has also been used by the ESB and Northern Ireland Electricity for their poles and Irish Rail for Railway Sleepers. It is also used extensively in Stud Farms for Post and Rail Fencing all over Ireland. We supply both Round and Square Posts. We also supply Gates and Gateposts.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

PROVIDING

Solid Professional Advice SINCE 1936

With 75 years of advice to farmers under their belt, law firm Clarke Jeffers helps its clients to navigate laws, rules and regulations – and recently won the ‘Leinster Provincial Law Firm Of The Year Under Five Solicitors’ award at the Irish Law Awards.

larke Jeffers have been advising the agricultural community for over 75 years. In that time we have come to understand that farming is, amongst other attributes, a business. As with all businesses the key to successful farming is a culmination of knowledge, hard work and successful adaption to the many changes and regulations imposed on the agricultural sector. Many of these changes include strict regulations which impact on the development of the farm as a business and indeed the passing of the farm from one generation to the next. Clarke Jeffers provide specialist advice which involves business law and private law.

ensure our clients can focus on their business while being assured that all of their legal issues are covered.

When making any commercial decisions with your farm it is important to consider the implications these may have on your business as a whole to include tax implications, compliance with EU schemes and regulations and the Department of Agriculture.

Further, we are committed to ongoing training to ensure that our solicitors are fully up to date on all aspects of agricultural law. This commitment ensures that we can provide an advantage to our clients when called upon to do so.

Clarke Jeffers represent a wide variety of agricultural businesses from small farming enterprises to large horticultural concerns and buying groups. We provide advice and specialist knowledge which

SPECIALIST AREAS INCLUDE: • Farm transfers and succession planning • Agricultural leases • Conacre agreements • Farm partnerships and related

Make your will with us and we will donate the entire fee to the Walk in my Shoes Campaign.

and sentimental value also. Apart from peace of mind, the benefit in making a will is that you control the transfer of your land after your death. If you don’t make a will then the law will choose for you.

At Clarke Jeffers we understand the value of land, not just in monetary terms but in pride

While you can choose the person to inherit based on suitability, the law will be blind and base the transfer on simple bloodlines. All too often this can lead to family arguments or worse still, divisions or sale of farms. The simplest way to protect the future is to make a will. Clarke Jeffers are delighted to announce that we have this year nominated the St Patrick’s

agreements • Milk production partnerships • Rights of way • Adverse possession (squatters’ rights) • Farm finance and mortgages • Personal guarantees • Sales and purchases • Boundary rectifications/disputes • Disputes • Family settlements • Forestry • Agricultural buying groups • Machinery agreements • Dealing with Bord Gáis/ESB/NRA • Supermarket and restaurant distribution agreements

Health Institute and more specifically the Walk in my Shoes Campaign as our chosen charity to support. This year William Clarke and Victor Clarke of Clarke Jeffers made it to the North Pole and completed the North Pole Marathon in aid of raising awareness for mental health and the Walk in my Shoes Campaign. We are continuing the support for our chosen charity and will for a limited time donate all fees charged for wills to the Walk in my Shoes Campaign. Tel: 059 913 1656 Email: info@clarkejeffers.com Check out our new website at www.carlowsolicitors.com

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KEVIN’S CLASSIC BBQ BEEF BURGER Ingredients 1lb 8oz/ 675g SuperValu Lean Minced Beef 1 medium SuperValu Onion, finely diced 1 clove SuperValu Garlic, finely chopped 1¾oz/ 50g SuperValu Bread Crumbs 1¾oz/ 50g SuperValu Parmesan Cheese, grated 1 dsp Chopped Cherry Tomato Chutney 1 Large SuperValu Egg 1 dsp SuperValu Parsley, freshly chopped 6 SuperValu Rashers, cooked SuperValu Salt & Pepper Lightly toasted SuperValu Burger Buns Method · Preheat the barbeque. · Put the minced beef into a large mixing bowl. · Add in the finely diced onion and garlic. · Mix in bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley together with the tomato chutney. · Season the mixture with a little salt and pepper. · Add in egg and combine the mixture together with your hands using the egg as a binding agent. · Divide the mixture into 4-6 pieces and shape them into your desired shapes about ½ inch thick. · Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. · Brush the burgers with a little oil to prevent them from sticking and barbeque on either side for 4-5 minutes. · Cut one in the centre to make sure that they are cooked through. · To assemble your burger, spread some chutney on the bottom layer of the toasted burger bun. · Then add the bacon, place the burger on top and add your favourite dressing like mayonnaise, caramelised onions, sliced tomatoes or sliced gherkins. · Serve with freshly cooked chunky chips or on its own.

VEGETABLE KEBABS Ingredients 2 small SuperValu Courgettes, cut into chunks 2 mixed SuperValu Peppers, cut into chunks 1 SuperValu Red Onion, cut into chunks 8 SuperValu Mushrooms, halved 16 SuperValu Cherry Tomatoes 7oz/ 200g SuperValu Baby Potatoes 2 tbsp Olive Oil for tossing 1 tbsp Oregano SuperValu Salt & Pepper, to season

ice

Method · Preheat the barbeque. · Cook the baby potatoes in a pan with some water until just tender, this will take 8-10 minutes. · Then strain and set aside. · When the potatoes have cooled slightly, cut each in half. · Season with salt and pepper. · Place the sliced vegetables into a bowl and toss with some olive oil and the oregano. · Thread on to eight skewers, then cook for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally, until lightly charred and tender.

Sup mea Irish herb But to c Sup sho of re you

Top glas reac of y mar

ed up

PINK FIZZ This is a lovely non alcoholic option to have at a summer barbeque. If you wish you can use Champagne or Prosecco for an alcoholic alternative. Ingredients 8oz/ 225g SuperValu Strawberries 1¾oz/ 50g SuperValu Caster Sugar Half SuperValu Lemon, juiced 2 tbsp Water Garnish Halved SuperValu Strawberries Slices of SuperValu Lemon Crushed Ice Soda Water

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Method · Place the strawberries, caster sugar, lemon juice and water into a medium sized saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. · Reduce the heat, simmer for 3-4 minutes and then pass through a sieve squeezing well to extract as much purée as possible. · When you have gathered all of the strawberry purée, transfer it to the fridge and allow to chill.

All g to b Sau a hi the the the thin rib-e outd

Assembly · Put some crushed ice into a jug with the sliced strawberries and lemon. · Pour on the chilled strawberry purée and top up with soda water. · Serve immediately. Enjoy alcohol responsibly

06/06/2014 14:52:58

ENJOY A TASTE OF SUMMER WITH Come rain or shine this summer, SuperValu has you covered when it comes to the best seasonal food and wine. Celebrity chef Kevin Dundon has worked closely with SuperValu’s expert butchers and fishmongers. Together with wine buyer Kevin O’Callaghan they have created a range of summer entertaining ideas, using the freshest ingredients and 100% Irish meat sourced from quality local suppliers. With more expert butchers, fishmongers and bakers in-store than any other retailer SuperValu is leading the way when it comes to providing advice and real inspiration to help shoppers get the best taste of summer.

MEAT MATTERS

FISH FAVOURITES

TASTE OF SUMMER WINE

SuperValu has a huge range of quality BBQ ready meats on offer, from 100% born, bred and reared Irish beef quarter pounders to basted garlic & herb pork chops, as well as the ‘Prepared by our Butcher’ range which includes a selection of ready to cook meat dishes freshly prepared in store. SuperValu’s expert butchers are delighted to help shoppers choose the right cuts and have a range of recommendations for getting the most out of your meat this summer.

Fish is now a growing favourite at Irish BBQ’s, as the country has begun to embrace how easy cooking fish on the BBQ can be. Tuna and salmon fillets are a tasty and healthy alternative to the traditional BBQ menu as meaty fish works best for this type of cooking. SuperValu’s expert fishmongers recommend cooking fish on a very hot BBQ, two minutes each side. If you’re still perfecting your technique and overcook your fish, don’t despair, they will still taste delicious if used in a salad.

SuperValu stocks a large range of wines meaning you’ll always find something to complement your BBQ choices. SuperValu’s wine expert Kevin O’Callaghan believes that wine should be looked at, as an added ingredient to any dish. A good wine choice should complement and not overwhelm the flavours of your food. If looking for general wines to cover the broad spectrum of BBQ foods Kevin recommends a medium bodied red like the Ricossa Barbera D’Asti, or a full bodied white like the Piccini Bianco Toscana. He advises customers to not be daunted by the selection, as SuperValu have in-store wine experts on hand to help you choose the right wine for your summer occasion.

Top tips for marinating your meats include using glass or ceramic dishes rather than metal as it can react with some ingredients and spoil the flavour of your dish; and take your time, the longer you marinate, the more intense the flavour will be. All guests love sausages and SuperValu is proud to be home to the much loved Superquinn Sausage. When cooking sausages always start on a high heat, then move to a higher level shelf on the BBQ to ensure they’re cooked through. Resist the urge to push down on them as this will push the juices out and dry out the meat. If steak is your thing, SuperValu’s butchers recommend trying rib-eye, which is fast becoming the favourite for outdoor cooking, offering a wonderful flavour.

SuperValu has a variety of options for fish lovers this summer. Their ‘Prepared by our Fishmonger’ range, freshly prepared in store, includes hake marinated in lemon chilli & ginger oil, and hot & spicy prawn skewers. Another real favorite is the ‘Fish Made Easy’ option which allows customers to choose their fish and marinade and have it sealed in an oven-ready bag. For the summer season all you need do is shake the bag to coat the fish in the marinade, tear open the bag and pop the fish on the BBQ for a quick, easy and delicious dish.

With summer upon us and shoppers around the country gearing up for BBQ season, it’s time to start looking for inspiration and ideas, and while SuperValu can’t guarantee the weather for your summer BBQ, their experts can guarantee you’ll get the best taste of summer. So head in-store now and find out how they can help you host the perfect BBQ, whatever the weather.

See supervalu.ie for more recipes, hints and tips

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FOOD &

Lifestyle LIVING THE LIFE

hen it comes down to it, farming is about the food we put on our plates. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also about the way we live: our relationship with the land and the environment, with animals, with our health and with what we do in our spare time, when we have it. But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty to do. A bite to eat is a good start.

Birdwatching Airfield Farm Farm Stays Irish Farmerette Farming Musicians

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From the Archives Food Restaurant Calories Fashion Motoring

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30/06/2014 09:24:14

BIRDWATCHING

A BOOK FOR the

Birds Valerie Jordan spoke to professional birdwatcher Eric Dempsey one sunny spring afternoon about his new guidebook Finding Birds in Ireland, and the rewarding pastime of keeping an an eye to the sky.

ric Dempsey is a professional birdwatcher, which he says is is a crazy way to make a living. Still, he manages to keep busy. A member of the Mooney show on RTÉ Radio 1, a listed heritage specialist, a bird-guide, speaker, writer and photographer, he has just co-authored the second edition of Finding Birds in Ireland. The first edition was released in 2007 but, Eric says, the landscape of birdwatching in Ireland has changed considerably: “Firstly, access has changed. Even basic directions to many of the routes in the first edition have changed,” says Eric. “Also new sites have been discovered for being very good for birdwatching: a lot of sites we featured in the first edition had a small section, for example Inishbofin and Inishmore: they’ve been studied since and a lot has been discovered about them. “And many new birds have been recorded at various sites. Some species have expanded and improved and others have

contracted. We’ve tried to reflect those changes in bird populations in the new book.” Many of us will be familiar with the plight of the corncrake, victim of intensive farming practices. Eric tells me that corncrake populations have contracted considerably. “At one stage corncrakes were found in considerable numbers in places like the Shannon Callows, Co Offaly, but that is no longer a good location for corncrakes. Now they’re situated in places like Tory Island and Inishbofin in Galway and some of the more remote islands of the north-west and west.” But it’s not all bad news for bird populations and birdwatchers. Several species have spread and others have been successfully reintroduced. “The grey spotted woodpecker is a good example; it wasn’t really a breeding species when we wrote the first edition. Now they’re considered a breeding species,” advises Eric. “We’ve had the reintroduction of the white tailed eagle, the golden eagle and

red kites. Little egrets have also spread considerably.” Dempsey is keen to point out the value of birds and birdwatching from both an environmental and economic angle. Eco-tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the industry. “It’s estimated there are 40 million Americans birdwatching. We have so much to offer but we’re not attacking that sector of tourism. “The reintroduction of birds, not only do they enhance the aesthetics of nature, but they have an incredible economic value in the form of tourism. We need to start talking about the economic value of conservation so people will listen.” So who is this book for, the local population or birdwatching tourists? “If you’re living in Leitrim or Dublin and you want to see birds the book will tell you where to go, how to get there, when to go, the best time of year to go and what birds you might expect to see at each time of the year,” says Eric. “And it’s an important book for the tourist market.”

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BIRDWATCHING

“It’s estimated there are 40 million Americans birdwatching. We have so much to offer but we’re not attacking that sector of tourism.”

Birdwatching is still in its infancy in Ireland and the experience of birdwatching here can be one of solitude and seclusion. Eric also points out it’s an inexpensive and accessible hobby: “You can buy a reasonable pair of binoculars and that’s it, you’ll have them for the rest of your life. And you don’t have to be out all the time. Put up nut feeders and the birds

come to you. “I’m sitting here in Greystones having a chat with you and there are swallows flying overhead,” Eric concludes. “They’ve just arrived from South Africa, they’ve travelled the whole planet, crossed the Sahara Desert and here they are flying around our local towns. They’re there if people just stop for a minute and look up.”

Finding Birds in Ireland is published by Gill & Macmillan. e19.99, available from all good book shops. See Birdsireland.com

Michael O’Clery:

painting our feathered friends

While Eric Dempsey takes the lead on the mass of information contained in Finding Birds in Ireland, well-known Kerry-based artist Michael O’Clery is responsible for the hundreds of illustrations that bring the gude to life. To the right is a great northern diver doing what it does best, while to the far right is a snowy owl in its natural habitat.

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Urban Farming

Airfield READY FOR TAKE-OFF Ruraidh Conlon O’Reilly visits Airfield in south Dublin – where cows are milked, crops are sown and hens are raised in an unlikely setting.

t’s a glorious morning for a stroll around the farm, with the sun warming one’s back, no sign of rain... and the largest shopping centre in Ireland five minutes’ walk away, should we suddenly need designer clothes or consumer electronics while feeding the goats. This, of course, is no ordinary farm. Airfield, in Dundrum, south Dublin, has long been a beloved local institution. Now re-opened after two years of redevelopment, the new Airfield is set to become a national one. That’s the aim, according to Gráinne Millar, director of innovation and development, who guides Ear To The Ground around the historic house, gardens, farmyard and motor garage of the Airfield estate. “The whole idea was to put things on a sustainable basis. The board wanted something radical for that to happen,” she explains. That meant new facilities: an entrance pavilion, café, shop, carpark, and many of the things that would be expected of a national tourist attraction. Perhaps more significantly, the gardens and farm have been revamped, and the original house has been done up as an exhibition. Two years and e11 million on, the plan is coming to fruition. Ramping up since last year, the official opening was this April. Although everyone involved was conscious of not losing the special

charm that the estate always had, and its meaning for long-standing visitors, reaction since then has been positive. The Airfield story begins in 1894, when the well-to-do Overend family bought Airfield House as a summer home, before moving full-time from Ely Place, just off College Green, to what was then the middle of the countryside in Dundrum. It’s hard to imagine “when all this was fields” – where’s a local oul’fellah when you need one? – when you’re smack-bang in the middle of a post Celtic Tiger suburb. But back then, solicitor Trevor Overend and his family built up a farm on eight acres of land, and expanded further in the 1920s. Their story is told in the restored Airfield House, where interactive displays share space with reproduced newspapers, period costumes, luggage, skis, breeding and horticulture trophies and many other reminders of what were very full lives. Red dots on a globe in the house show how well-travelled they were. Travel is also a theme in the garage, with its extraordinary 1927 Rolls Royce, Austin and Peugeot. A classic wealthy Anglo-Irish family, the Overends were social progressives involved in all manner of projects. At a time of dire living conditions in Dublin, Trevor’s wife Lily Overend

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Urban farming

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Urban Farming

Letitia and Naomi Overend.

supported the Women’s National Health Association, which promoted the use of pasteurised milk to battle tuberculosis; some of that milk was produced at Airfield. The Overend daughters – Letitia and Naomi – were no less active, putting the gardens to use against food poverty and working with St John’s Ambulance. What we now know as the LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, but was then the Children’s Sunshine Home, was set up by them. With a love of gardens and farming, it was they who set up the Airfield charitable trust in 1974. Millar explains that much of the impetus behind recent years’ developments was to honour their motives: it was funded entirely by the trust, partly because a rare piece of recessionary good fortune meant that land sold for €19m in 2006 could be bought back for less than 50 per cent four years later. MILKING TIME Down at the new farmyard, a happy kind of chaos prevails: it’s milking time at the parlour, and kids are going bananas. Airfield was once famous for its Jersey cattle. Some of the Overends’ herd were named after Gilbert and Sullivan opera characters and won prizes at the Royal Dublin Society back in the day. Their milk was sold to the community and a local dairy. The same genetic line is present in the herd being milked this morning. With a high cream content, Jersey milk is ideal for ice cream – an idea that will be explored in the future. For many city children, this is the very first time they’ve been on a farmyard: hence the high level of enthusiasm. Two Jersey calves have the energy to rise to the

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring so many young people into contact with farming, with food, with where it comes from.” occasion, though a very large Tamworth/ Gloucester old spot pig doesn’t want to know. Scenes like this seem to explain one of the most significant investments of the revamp: a series of new educational buildings including a multi-purpose venue. “I think that’s what makes Airfield really unique: right in the heart of urban Dublin we have this 38-acre urban working farm and gardens. It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring so many young people into contact with farming, with food, with where it comes from, to understand a bit about the value of food and to learn more about animals and the production of food. “For the thousands of people who come here, one of the highlights as you’ve seen is the milking. By the simple process of watching a cow being milked they now know where their milk comes from. It’s not the milk carton!” There’s a fine balance between entertaining children and educating them, but from pre-school up to transition year the Airfield staff strike that balance well.

The Heartbeat of Airfield According to Millar, the gardens are where the “heartbeat” of the estate lies. There’s a clear sense of mission here in wanting to ensure that visitors make the connection between land and food. Thus, the longterm idea is to produce all the food for the new café on-site. In the walled gardens, there is an element of wait-and-see as the Airfield staff wonder how it will look in its first bloom as wise 100 year-old apple trees look on. Meanwhile, in the new food gardens vines, apples, grain, barley, oats and corn are all growing away and two Airfield gardeners rush by to host a ‘seed bombing’ session with some children. Hens in their henruns cluck away next to the bee gardens. “Previously, Airfield wouldn’t necessarily have been linked in to the wider farming/ agricultural scene, so to speak. But that would be part of our intentions now,” explains Millar, and the trust works with like-minded organisations to raise awareness of agriculture and the importance of food in our lives. It’s something she says people are increasingly concerned about, and it happens to be the Year of Family Farming. It’s a new team at Airfield, and they’re setting out on a journey: one or two had worked there before it closed, but the crew is now 50-strong. There now comes a time for consolidation, as it will take years for some of the crops to reach their full yield, and for the 2,000 native Irish trees recently planted to mature and obstruct the apartment blocks just beyond. Before too long, the new additions will look like they’ve always been there. From the wildness of the new pond, with its wooden bridge, lillies and rushes, the bell of the Luas is a reminder that we’re still inside the Pale. This part of Dundrum has swapped its Manolos for wellington boots.

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17/06/2014 14:25:12

farm stays

Holiday on the

Farm

Entranced by the Irish landscape, fresh air and good food, farm stays have become fashionable among tourists at home and abroad – and some Irish farmers have taken notice. Paula Kerrigan reports on an emerging trend, and how working farms can diversify their business. Agri-tourism and farm stay holidays have long been a popular choice throughout Europe and the trend has been growing in Ireland over the last two decades. Farm stays provide just the right balance between relaxation and excitement, without ransacking the savings account. Families keen

to avoid the logistics of flying, eco-tourists cutting down on their carbon footprint and urbanites craving a return to “a simpler way of life” are all opting to spend their precious down-time on farms. Typically, a farm stay involves self-catering or B&B-style accommodation on a working

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farm stays farm. Farm life usually centres around fresh air and good food, and it is these aspects that attract visitors. Guests can also get involved with some of the farmwork, such as feeding the livestock, helping to bale hay, or even horseback riding. Many farm stays also take advantage of their scenic settings to offer nature walks or trips to local heritage sites. If you’re imagining some dilapidated barn with a dripping roof and no shower, think again – that just won’t cut it in the current Irish farm stay market. Many farms advertise themselves as ‘luxury’ or ‘boutique’ and pride themselves in catering to your every need. Killiane Castle Country House and Farm in Drinagh, Co Wexford offers ‘luxury four-star accommodation’ in a 17th century house. The name of the game is quality, and Killane makes an effort to furnish rooms with all mod cons like TVs and kettles so that guests get all the advantages of staying in a 17th century castle without any of the inconveniences. Farm stay tourism also connects naturally to food-tourism, which is also growing in popularity at home and abroad. Many farms capitalise on this connection by advertising that their food is locally sourced or even “fresh from the farm”. Guests are also encouraged to try regional specialities. All these elements benefit the community around the farm as much as they do the customer, ploughing profits from the farm stay back into local businesses. Most farm stays report that 75 per cent or more of their bookings come from domestic tourists, and much of that is made up by return visitors. It seems that once you try a farm stay, you’re hooked. This type of vacation is particularly appealing to families with children, where dogs and fishing poles are reliable babysitters. Activities range from traditional baking lessons to pigeon shooting, golf, nature walks, and even croquet. Many farms have also diversified, converting barns into function rooms and wedding chapels.

John and Nora Egan of Inch House, with Liath.

“This is a business that is made on reputation, so pull out all the stops for your guests.”

What’s on offer But what can a farm stay offer an international tourist? Farms are intimately linked to the history of Ireland and many farms date back several centuries; some even to before the Famine. While visiting a larger city might allow tourists a glimpse at the past in a museum, staying on a farm provides a real-life connection to Irish history. For example, Temple House in Ballymote, Co Sligo has been home to the Percevals since 1665. The guesthouse was

refurbished in 1864 and overlooks a 13th century Knights Templar lakeside castle. The other major attraction for international tourists is Ireland’s renowned hospitality. More often than not, farm stays are family-run businesses and visitors report feeling like one of the family during their stay. Smaller farm stays invite their guests to eat with the family and are only too delighted to share local legends and family tales around the table. The owners of farm stays are usually born and bred in the area so they possess an extensive knowledge of the locality. They are in a unique position to offer tourists advice on the best walking, dining and drinking spots in the area. This gives tourists the chance to get off the beaten track and gain a sense of really connecting with their environment. For example, Mary Patricia O’Sullivan at the Sea Shore Farm Guest House in Tubrid, Kenmare, Co Kerry was singled out by Georgina Campbell’s farm stay guide as being “a veritable mine of local information”. Pros and cons So what’s the catch? Well, farm stays can often be difficult to get to (even with a car). Since they tend to be hidden off

Interview:

Inch House, Farmhouse of the Year

Inch House in Thurles, Co Tipperary was built in 1720 and still functions as a modern tillage farm. Its present owners, the Egan family, moved in with their eight children in 1985 and began offering farm stays tentatively in 1989. Some 25 years later, Nora and John have turned their little venture into a burgeoning business. We spoke to Máirín, John and Nora’s secondoldest daughter, who works alongside her mother in the guesthouse that won Georgina Campell’s Farmhouse of the Year 2014. How did it all begin? Shortly after moving in the house we were visited by some Italian tourists who wanted to shoot pigeon. We told them to work away and by the end of the visit the Italians made us promise there would be room to stay when they visited the following year. We did up a few rooms and by the time they visited continued overleaf

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farm stays

are also several historic sites nearby, like the Rock of Cashel. Horses are synonymous with Tipperary and we’ve teamed up with Crossogue Stud to offer horseback riding lessons. Horseback hunting can also be arranged in season (even if they just want to shoot pigeons like our original visitors!). Of course, guests are welcome to wander the gardens and grounds and join in with feeding the livestock or baling the hay.

Approaching Inch House. The Drawing Room at Inch House.

the next summer the decision had been made to start offering farm stays. Nora, my mother, took on the responsibility of refurbishing the rooms and taking care of the guests, including cooking their meals. John, my father, continued to operate the 250-acre farm. That was 25 years ago! It’s still a family business with me working in the guesthouse and my youngest brother Joseph working in the fields with my father. The other six kids come and go and all lend a hand to some part of the endeavour when they’re home. Tell us about the accommodation. Our guesthouse consists of five bedrooms with views over the gardens, furnished in keeping with the style of the Georgian house. The rooms start from e140 per night and all include en-suite bathrooms. Most rates at this property include a full Irish breakfast (featuring the specialrecipe Inch House black pudding) and evening meal. What activities are on offer? We’re very lucky with the surrounding Tipperary scenery. Hillwalking is top of the agenda and we can advise guests on walks for all ages and fitness levels. There

Your food has quite a reputation! Quality is everything when you’re running a farm stay. The restaurant is run by head chef John Barry, who takes great care to craft our meals out of farm-grown and local produce. Local matters to Inch House, and we’ve developed a “food trail” for guests to visit local producers and restaurants and make the most out of Tipperary’s food scene. Can we have the recipe for Inch House black pudding? It stays strictly in the family! My grandmother handed it down to my mother who now produces it as Inch House black pudding. My granny still likes to be involved and if there’s an opportunity for a photo she loves to get in. I think we’re all very proud of the praise the pudding is receiving. It’s available in over 80 retailers nationwide and we’ve developed a gluten-free version too. The pudding even went to Brussels last year as part of the Tipperary Food Producers’ Network ‘Long Table Dinner’ event to promote Tipperary produce abroad. How is business at present? Business bounced back last year thanks to The Gathering and this year is set to follow suit with booking right through to September already. The summer bookings get a boost from foreign visitors, but Inch House has a healthy trade from Irish visitors all year long, many of them return visits. Any advice for new farm stay businesses? Don’t skimp: your customers will remember. This is a business that is made on reputation, so pull out all the stops for your guests and they will reward you with return visits and word of mouth. Working with local producers is good for everyone and encourages growth on all fronts. Most importantly, be patient! The farm stay business is like the farming business: what you sow you will reap.

country lanes, public transport is usually out of the question. This cuts out revenue from both non-driving city dwellers and international tourists. Even driving tourists experience difficulties with poorly signposted roads and helpful local directions that lead to a dead end. In short, it is often impossible or just too much trouble to get to these little gems. Then again, perhaps that’s part of the charm. With tourism up 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, this is the perfect time for the farm stay industry in Ireland to start making a name for itself. Farm stays are doing a good job of self-promoting, especially by attaching their names to widely-recognised products, as in the case of Inch House black pudding (see left), and awards like the Georgina Campbell Farmhouse of the Year and TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence bring much-need publicity. At present, Fáilte Ireland doesn’t provide any specific advice or funding support for farm stays, bundling them in with B&B accommodation. The industry is ripe for development and would benefit from increased government support and recognition. There’s still a way to go before Irish farm stays are established on the European map, but all the ingredients are there. Farm stays epitomise the best parts of Irish life: scenic surroundings, warm hospitality, and rustic food. With a strong emphasis on premium quality and impeccable service, this growing industry looks set to become a major player in the Irish tourist sector. Now if only we could do something about the weather...

An Inch House bedroom.

Weddings may be an opportunity for the farm stay sector.

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BLOGGING

Meet the

Farmerette

Irish

Paula Kerrigan chats to blogger Lorna Sixsmith, whose popular Irish Farmerette blog offers a unique perspective on farming life.

Lorna Sixsmith started the Irish Farmerette blog in 2011 in an attempt to capture her experiences as a woman living in Ireland’s farming community. Her blog found a wide audience, even among readers for whom “the country” is somewhere beyond the M50. It’s been growing in popularity ever since. In 2012 Lorna wrote a blog post giving frank advice for any woman considering entering into matrimony with a farmer. That single post was viewed 50,000 times and became the seed for her first book, Would You Marry A Farmer? She spoke to us about connecting the seemingly different worlds of blogging and farming. Lorna explains that she prefers to call herself a “farmerette” because, although the word “farmer” is gender non-specific, she doesn’t want to give people the impression that she is out in the field doing the heavy labour 14 hours a day all year long. “I’m sort of a fair-weather farmer,” she confesses. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get her hands dirty. With some 90 milk cows on their farm in Co Laois, Lorna finds her farm duties peak in the spring for the calving season. Once that calms down, she barely has time to switch gear before she’s thrown into preparing for the Blog Awards Ireland, which she cofounded in 2012. Bridging the gap The Irish Farmerette blog functions as a bridge between the agricultural and non-agricultural segments of society. “Farmers often don’t realise what people don’t know. Because I write with a semi-educational slant, non-farming folk enjoy reading about things that they couldn’t find out about otherwise.” As for the farming folk, they can relate to posts like ‘Wardrobe Changes for

“Because I write with a semi-educational slant, non-farming folk enjoy reading about things that they couldn’t find out about otherwise.” Female Farmers’ and ‘12 Phrases Farmers Use (And Expect You To Understand)’. Lorna’s blog posts can also give rise to lengthy Twitter discussions, sometimes not even remotely related to the original post. It’s an opportunity for farmers to share their knowledge and get involved in the conversation about Irish agriculture. The blog even garners attention from abroad, receiving comments from overseas farmers who are interested in the Irish way of farming and what goes on on farms in Ireland. These days, being a farmer includes a lot more than herding cattle and baling hay. “There are so many different roles a farmer has to do these days,” she explains, and that’s something that interests readers. The use of social media is

growing on Irish farms too. “Farmers are using mediums like Twitter to connect with like-minded people because of the solitary nature of the job during the day.” It can be good for business, as farmers in countries like the United States and the UK are harnessing Twitter, blogs and other social media to get in touch with their customers and make their brand known. Nowadays, people’s loyalties are often swayed by their awareness and interaction with a particular product, so in many ways social media is an effective and free form of advertising. The success of her blog inspired Lorna to write Would You Marry A Farmer?, which was released in December. She has already set her sights on releasing her second book next year: between writing, farm and family duties, this is one busy farmerette. Ear to the Ground 131

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Photo: Izabela Szczutkowska

Music

Patrick Cullen (The Altered Hours) Patrick Cullen, a musician and sound engineer based in Cork, grew up on a farm near Crossmolina in Mayo. An early love of music was fostered by taped copies of albums his older brother would give him. When his mother bought him a guitar when he was 11, the love affair with sound and noise was set. “Mam saw that I liked listening to music and she thought, ‘I’ll buy him a guitar; that’ll keep him occupied, keep him out of trouble’,” he says. “I think she saw, at a young age, music wasn’t the worst thing for me. I could be doing a lot worse, drinking a lot more as a young fella, getting into a lot more trouble. I think I was very lucky that she was more encouraging than most parents were.” The isolation of the farm, living with little but music for company, has had a lasting effect on his approach to music and life in general. “I don’t think I’d have had such a peaceful upbringing if I didn’t live in the countryside,” he says. “I consider myself an adventurous person, a psychedelic individual or something, and growing up on a farm kind of makes you see nature. You’re more of an observer, a continual observer. I think that kind of peace really affects you.” While the rugged countryside of north-west Mayo made for a beautiful place to grow up, “without noise restrictions” as he puts it, Cullen’s obsession with music marked him out as different in such a tight-knit community. “Because it’s a very small community, you’re immediately an outsider,” he says. “I was definitely pushed into staying at home, reading or playing music rather than playing in some GAA team or something.” It was only when he moved to Galway as a “young and impressionable 18-year old” that he began to shake off his outsider status and saw the world of music as more accessible. These days, Cullen is a well established part of the music scene in Cork but the location is more a matter of necessity than any great passion. “Being a musician, I live in the city because it’s the only source of money I have,” he says. “If 10 years from now, 15 years from now, I got the opportunity to move onto a farm or move into a house in the countryside, I’d jump at it. Definitely. My personality is more suited to country living.”

Patrick Cullen of The Altered Hours.

Hearing The

Call

Leaving the family farm to pursue one’s dreams is a time-honoured tradition that, for better or worse, is alive and well today. Ian Maleney meets some of Ireland’s young alternative musicians and talks about their relationship with their farming roots, finding like-minded souls in the countryside, and the draw of big cities.

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Music

Ed Devane

Brendan Jenkinson, Cloud Castle Lake.

Brendan Jenkinson (Cloud Castle Lake) Brendan Jenkinson grew up on the family’s dry stock farm, located in Kilsharvan, County Meath. With his father involved in beef and sheep and two uncles working with tillage, much of his youth was spent in one field or another, until he left for boarding school aged 13. “I find there’s a tension there between the early part of my life, which was all about that kind of bucolic love of nature, and then my teenage years when I started to learn about music and culture,” he says. “I find that tension has sort of carried through to where I am now.” It was in boarding school that Jenkinson found friends who shared his burgeoning love of music, something which made a marked change from the more sportfocused friends of his primary school days. “Where I lived and where I grew up, where the farm was, it was actually quite insular,” he says. “I had friends in the area, but in terms of music and culture, I never really branched out to anyone in my area. I would never have joined up with them to play or anything like that.”

Even though he’s lived and worked in Dublin for several years now, he feels there can be a strange self-consciousness in exposing his roots to a more urban set of peers. “People finding out something that important about you is kind of daunting,” he says. “I don’t think people are judging me for that, but I think it’s probably more in my own head that when I divulge that information, there’s a sense of something slightly awkward.” Jenkinson says his parents have been very understanding and supportive of his artistic pursuits so far. This, he feels, is a sign of how the farming life has changed in recent times. “There was a time when I started to disengage with [the farm] a little bit more and concentrate on my music and it was never really an issue,” he says. “I think farming is so different nowadays than it was 40 years ago. You’re not automatically expected to take over the family farm. It’s kind of understood that there is a choice there. Whereas, in my dad’s day, there wasn’t really a choice there.”

Ed Devane’s story is a little different than that of most farmers’ sons. His parents were born and bred in Dublin, without a farmer on either side of the family in generations. At the tail end of the ‘70s, they decided to up sticks and move to Slane in Co Meath to start a dairy farm. It was there that Devane grew up, before moving to another farm in Wexford when he was 13. He describes the effect of this move as “doubly isolating”. “I suppose I was raised as a city kid in the country,” he says. “That kind of added to my independence for one thing; my ability entertain myself. I started playing music just after [we moved], when I was 14.” Since starting out playing guitar alongside friends from school, Devane has moved into more esoteric territory. These days he builds many of his own instruments, combining electronic and acoustic elements, and, when we talk, he is in the middle of preparing an installation in an art gallery in Letterkenny. This artistic direction has sometimes confused his more traditional parents. “I suppose it took them a while to get to grips with the fact that what I was doing was music at all, to begin with,” he says. “But they’ve seen that it’s led me to where I am. I think they do appreciate it on some levels.” Though they still live in Wexford, Devane’s parents have also left their farming days behind. “At the time when they became farmers it was possible to make a living from being a small farmer and progressively, as time went on, that became less and less the case,” he says. “I think it has to be a vocation.” The countryside remains important to Devane, even though he left it for Dublin over a decade ago. Now based in Limerick, home offers an escape and a chance to focus, though he has no plans to return there on a more permanent basis any time soon. “It’s a quiet place, there are no distractions,” he says. “It’s just a perfect place to really concentrate on getting work done.” Ed Devane.

“In terms of music and culture, I never really branched out to anyone in my area.” Ear to the Ground 135

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Music

Shane Culloty, Winter Aid

Shane Culloty (Winter Aid) Shane Culloty grew up on the family farm a little ways outside Tralee, Co Kerry. He currently lives in Dublin. His first record, released under the name Winter Aid, came out last year on Bluestack Records. Culloty left Tralee 10 years ago to attend college in Cork, and then moved on to Berlin before coming back to work in Dublin. The perspective this distance has given him has been important in finding a new way to relate to and appreciate his childhood home through his music. “I think you need space and a little bit of, maybe not isolation, but space to be yourself to do something like this, or at least I do,” he says. “I think because I left when I was a teenager and I don’t know if I’ll ever go back, [the farm] probably is a bit more romantic for me than it would be for me if I was still there.”

Although his parents have now left the farm in order to run a small shop in Ballybunion, trips home still have an inspirational effect. “Now that I’m back in Ireland, it’s like I draw on the original imagery of living in the countryside a lot more now than I would have,” he says. “Every time I go back to Kerry, which isn’t all that often, I feel a lot more like there’s a link between me and the music I make and where I started making music.” Will he ever return home for good? “I could go back to Kerry, but not any time soon,” he says. “I always thought I’d really enjoy living alone but I don’t think I could do that now, I’ve got too used to people. But just being somewhere really isolated, it’s nice. It’s conducive to a lot of deep thinking.”

“I always thought I’d really enjoy living alone but I don’t think I could do that now, I’ve got too used to people. But just being somewhere really isolated, it’s nice.” 136 Ear to the Ground

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

STRONG GROWTH IN

Agricultural Property Market Property is in the headlines once again – but what’s the state of play when it comes to agricultural property? Evan Lonergan, director of estate agent Knight Frank’s Development and Agricultural Land Department, explains.

s we all know, the past few years have not been kind to the property market. Now, though, rising prices and demand have prompted talk of a housing boom. But how is agricultural land faring? “The agricultural market is very strong, depending on lot size holdings,” reports Evan Lonergan, Director of the Development and Agricultural Land Department at Knight Frank. “Any of the smaller lots – 30 or 40 acres – have huge demand. Bigger lots naturally have fewer buyers, but there are a lot of specialist purchasers; dairy farmers trying to expand etc. That’s often location-driven: is the lot size big enough to warrant them moving location? Is it adjoining them? There are also specialist purchasers from outside of Ireland looking for estates and so on, looking for 300-400 acre lots. They don’t often come to the market in Ireland.” There was a quietening in the market earlier last the year, given weather

conditions: people were too busy to consider expanding. Now things are moving on and there is what Lonergan describes as a steady market. “From what we’re selling at the moment I think we’ll see values stabilise this year and next year. Rental values are bucking the trend at the moment in certain locations,” he says. “Credit is still a huge issue. In fairness, from what we’re seeing in transactions, banks are supporting farmers, and agricultural land purchases up to a level. But in all aspects of property, credit remains a problem.” High-profile, high-value homes are also in demand, such as Courtown Demesne in Co Kildare, a sale being handled by Knight Frank: 330 acres with a large period house and the option of additional land if required. The quality of the accommodation on the land is key, he explains. Some of the estates on the market at present are in need of further investment or refurbishment. Even so, there are a number of parties out there looking for large country estates.

GOOD ADVICE ESSENTIAL According to Lonergan, not many people attempt the DIY route and try to sell their own land these days, but when they do they end up reverting back to professionals. “There’s no substitute for experience. This is what we do day-to-day, and we can see the pitfalls before they arrive. Getting a price is one thing. Getting the transaction across the line is a totally different thing. Having an experienced agent who brings vendor, purchaser and their solicitors together and getting a deal is critical. “The way we approach every sale is that we treat the land as if we own it ourselves. What would we do to get the very best price out of the sale for the vendor? It’s setting out a roadmap from the day you look at the land to the day the deal is closed. That’s the difference. We’ve been through the boom and the recession, and we know what it takes to get it across the line,” he says.

Lands in Kilcock, Co Kildare for sale by auction through Knight Frank.

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History