A 32-county charity silage drive is to kick off on Monday 29 May, with the aim of baling silage in every county of Ireland in less than six days.

The Active Agri Association wants to make 100 bales in each Irish county, and has set a target of raising at least €32,000 for charity.

The nominated charities are Ronald McDonald House at Crumlin Childrens’ Hospital, Dublin, and Daisy Lodge, the Cancer Fund for Children therapeutic centre in Newcastle, Co Down.

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The charity silage event is being run by the Active Agri Association and among those lending their support is Gareth Gault, aka Donkey from Grassmen.

Top of the range

With speed of the essence, the team has enlisted some top-of-the-range machinery to work with, including a New Holland T7.230 and a New Holland T7.315, a Valtra T214 and a four-cylinder Massey, all worth between €120,000 and €150,000 each.

The balers used will include McHale, Lely, Krone, Claas and Kuhn Bio balers.

Joining them on the tour will be a New Holland TW35, which is being raffled this year by the Grassmen for the Make A Wish Foundation.

Each host farmer will pay €10/bale for their 100 bales to be made and neighbours, spectators and machinery fans are encouraged to join in the fun and support the charity effort when the challenge hits their county.

County-by-county

The 32-county challenge will begin on Monday, 29 May, with 100 bales of silage being made in counties Derry, Antrim, Down and Armagh, moving on into Monaghan and Cavan.

Day two, 30 May, will see silage being baled in counties Louth, Meath, Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Laois and Carlow.

Day three, 31 May, will see the silage team roll into Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick.

On 1 June, the action moves south to Cork and Kerry, with the machinery travelling from the Kingdom to the Banner county of Clare by ferry and then on into Co Galway.

Day five is 2 June, when 300 bales will be rolled out in counties Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon and Mayo.

The final day of the epic trip is Saturday, 3 June, when the team will begin bright and early in Sligo, moving on to Leitrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone, before finishing up in Donegal.

The drivers

Active Agri Association Committee chair Floyd McNeill told the Irish Farmers Journal that the 18 drivers will include committee members Gwen McNeill and Ciara Byers, Gareth ‘Donkey’ Gault and three of the Grassmen team.

“Active Agri Association Committee members have our own individual reasons for being involved in this challenge, but the main reason is to raise awareness for ill and terminally-ill children,” he added.

“This challenge will be coming to every county, so please come out and support us, and you might also get a glimpse of the Grassmen team.”