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Cattle mart

Livestock marts are located throughout Ireland and are used as trading centres where regular - mostly weekly – live auctions of livestock take place. The majority of marts are owned by farmer co-operatives (www.icos.ie), while some are privately run businesses. In 2010, a total of 1.68million livestock sales through marts were recorded, with the peak month, October, accounting for 249,000. Animals are sold by public auction, with the video showing a typical sale day at Kilkenny mart in autumn 2011.

Copyright Irish Farmers Journal

Pat O’ Keeffe, author of the Farming in Ireland section

Pat O’ Keeffe is the news editor and deputy editor of the Irish Farmers Journal.

Chickens

Chicken meat is now the most popular meat in Ireland, with average consumption of 30kgs per capita. The industry is highly consolidated with only a small number of large scale growers who are closely linked to the processing firm. Ireland’s largest poultry firm is Carton Brothers in Co Cavan (www.chicken.ie). The company employs over 600 people and has 150 farmer suppliers. Meanwhile, Ireland’s largest producer of duck meat and associated products is Silver Hills Foods, based at Emyvale in Co Monaghan (www.silverhillfoods.com).

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Barley

Barley is used in the production of feed for cattle and pigs. A proportion of the crop in Ireland is also specially grown as “malting barley” to be used to make beer and whiskey by the brewing industry. Pictured above are combine harvesters gathering the crop.

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Meat factory

Over 1.4million bovine animals were slaughtered at approved export meat plants in 2010. This consisted of 664,000 steers, 444,000 heifers and 337,000 cows. The product is sold in a range of formats to Irish and international customers. Irish beef processors now have a substantial presence in the retail markets of the UK and Continental Europe (www.bordbia.ie).

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Cattle breeding

Thousands of farmers in Ireland are engaged in pedigree breeding of cattle, with their purebred stock registered in the herdbook of their chosen breed. The numerically largest pedigree breed is the Irish Holstein Friesian Association (ww.ihfa.ie) with over 3,000 breeders (pictured). Eighteen beef breed societies are participants in the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (www.icbf.com). The following are the main beef breeds, as well as their country of origin and year of first importation: Angus (Great Britain, 1843); Aubrac (France, 1992); Blonde d’Aquitaine (France, 1974); Belgian Blue (Belgium, 1980); Charolais (France, 1964); Hereford (Great Britain, 1775); Limousin (France, 1972); Piemontese (Italy, 1982); Parthenaise (France, 1997); Saler (France, 1997); Shorthorn (Great Britain, 1882) and Simmental (Austria, 1971).

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Prize bulls at a show

Beef cattle breeding in Ireland is being advanced by the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (www.icbf.com). The organisation, based in Bandon in Co Cork, was established in 1997 and has as its mission “to achieve the greatest possible genetic gain in the national cattle herd for the benefit of Irish farmers and the industry”.

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Harvest

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney pictured driving a combine harvester as he assists in the barley harvest on his home farm at Roberts Cove in Co Cork. Cereals are types of grass with grains that can be eaten or used to make food. The main cereals grown in Ireland are wheat, oats and barley. Their seeds, which are called grains, are used to feed animals and to make food such as bread and porridge. “Milling Wheat” is used to make flour. A large proportion of the crop in Ireland is used for pig and cattle feed. Oats are used in porridge and in muesli. They are also important for use as a feed for horses.

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