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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.

Oilseed rape

The distinctive bright yellow flowers of a crop of Oilseed rape, a member of the Brassica family. It is grown for its oil content and is increasingly popular in Ireland. There are two types grown in Ireland - Winter oilseed rape and Spring oilseed rape. Oilseed rape acts as a break crop in a tillage rotation in order to prevent the build up of cereal diseases. Winter oilseed rape planting almost doubled between 2010 and 2011; from 8,000ha to 15,000ha.

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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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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.

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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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Flahavans

An important user of organic oats grown in Ireland is Flahavans, a family business now in its sixth generation. There has been an oats mill at Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford since the late 1700's. An oatflaking facility was added in 1935. Today Flahavan's Progress Oatlets is an increasingly popular choice for breakfast in Ireland and abroad. Flavahans dominates the warm breakfast category in Ireland with their famous porridge and the company is also growing their exports to the UK and USA (www.flahavans.com).

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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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