Irish farmers have a real beef with processors

I CONFESS to having a love affair with Ireland that has lasted for more than 25 years.

My first visit to the emerald isle was with a BBC Scotland television team to film an item for Landward, which back in those days was a real farming programme far removed from the insipid version of today. We were to film at the Hillsborough Research Institute in Northern Ireland and were billeted in a very comfortable hotel. The crew retired to bed at a decent hour, not always the case on some jaunts, only to be rudely awakened by the fire alarm near midnight. Did we move fast, because this was a period when the euphemistically entitled "troubles" were at their peak. Fortunately it proved to be a false call, but I for one did not sleep too soundly.

Much has been written and said about the fearful bombings and killings in Belfast and elsewhere, but rural parts of the province were also affected. In more peaceful times, farmers helped each other at busy times, regardless of religion. However, the paramilitary organisations of both persuasions put a stop to that and anyone who failed to heed those instructions faced the prospect of gruesome sanctions. A few farmers paid the ultimate price while some farms close to the border were simply abandoned. Thankfully peace and harmony have been restored and neighbours speak to each other once more and the farming industry is thriving.

But my visit last week was to the Republic of Ireland to visit the Keenan factory at Borris in Co Carlow, but more of that later. With a group of fellow journalists from Scotland and England, we had a grand chance to view some wonderful scenery and take stock of farming in Ireland. Many on this side of the water tend to assume that Ireland is a land of grass and cattle, but that is not the full story.

Many of the eastern counties grow substantial areas of cereals and I would wager that the crops of wheat we saw would stand comparison with any in Scotland and the same could be said for both winter and spring barley. One downside for arable farmers in Ireland is that they can no longer grow sugar beet, with the processing factory having closed as a result of changes in the EU sugar regime. Sugar beet was a substantial earner for Irish farmers, but no doubt they will adjust just as their counterparts in Scotland did over 30 years ago when they lost the plant in Cupar.

On the livestock front, milk prices, just like in the UK, have been under pressure but are now showing some signs of a modest revival. Ireland is a fully paid-up member of the EU and embraces the euro while speed limits and road signs are all in kilometres. However, it was only last year that farmers finally stopped selling their milk in gallons! The Irish have always been known to do their own thing.

Returns to beef producers have always been lower than in UK and are around 25p per kilo below current Scottish prices. Irish farmers claim that this is a direct result of the near monopolistic powers of the meat trade and especially the dominance of plants overseen by Larry Goodman and his associates.

The abattoirs, or "factories" as the Irish call them, endeavour to control and, wherever possible, push down prices. But just occasionally Irish producers go on strike and withhold supplies of cattle until better prices are offered. But as sure as night follows day, the pressure returns.

There are lessons to be drawn from this by UK farmers. Firstly it is a fact that very few prime cattle in Ireland are sold live through auction marts and while there some in the meat trade who would like to see that replicated in the UK, it would be madness to abandon live selling on this side of the Irish Sea. Secondly, the UK slaughter industry must not be allowed to fall into too few hands. Competition is good for everyone.

Land prices in Ireland are way above any direct connection with returns from farming, but they still soar upwards. Much of the reason for this is the laxity in planning controls. One cannot drive a mile, sorry, a kilometre, without passing some fine house that as been built in recent years in the countryside. It appears that if a farmer gets into financial difficulties all he has to do is sell a small parcel of land and his problems are resolved. The Irish farmer uses his land like a bank deposit.

But back to Keenan and the recent 8 million (5.4m) investment in the factory at Borris where 1,700 mixer-wagons will be manufactured this year. The company is the European leader in this field, but is also active in North America, Australia and New Zealand. The reputation of these wagons is second to none.

The company is headed by Gerard Keenan, a quite exceptional individual who is interested in far more than just selling his machinery. He has developed a complete feeding regime, mostly to date for dairy farmers, by hiring some of the best nutritionists in the world. For those who follow the Keenan regime, which includes a higher level of fibre in the ration than normal practice, the rewards can be substantial. One large-scale Scottish dairy farmer, who is a devotee of the Keenan system, admitted recently that, despite low milk prices, he had never made as much money as he did last year. That's the kind of news that Gerard Keenan likes to hear.

• The champagne corks were popping on Saturday in Edinburgh's Castle Terrace as stallholders and customers celebrated the 200th staging of Scotland biggest and most successful farmers' market.