What are the biggest challenges facing Irish agriculture today?

Climate change and anti-microbial resistance (AMR) are two massive challenges facing agriculture today.

The future of Irish agriculture has to be about getting more from less. At the core of Alltech since it was founded by Dr Pearse Lyons in 1982 is the ACE principal to improve the health and performance of the animal (A), provide products that are healthier and more nutritious for the consumer (C) and ensuring agriculture has a positive impact on the environment (E).

For example, we’re currently working on a sustainability programme with Kepak and we’re also working with Country Crest trying to reduce food waste by improving the percentage of marketable potatoes in a crop.

What is Alltech developing to tackle carbon emissions?

We are currently working on the development of specific feed technologies that have a direct impact on reducing carbon emissions. In recent years, Alltech acquired a company called ECO2 to measure the carbon footprint on farms.

ECO2 is already working with the likes of Tesco to benchmark farms and help reduce carbon emissions.

What do you see as the solution to AMR?

Our European Bioscience Centre in Dunboyne has a strong emphasis on research relating to AMR.

We’ve 21 full-time researchers along with 13 PhD and masters students working on extension through local universities.

The focus of the research in on developing technologies to improve the microbial diversity in the gut of the animal, particularly in poultry and pigs.

The more diversity of bacteria in the gut, the more you increase immunity and increase animal health.

Did you see a big increase in demand this year due to the fodder shortages?

There was unprecedented demand this year on the animal feed sector due to the fodder shortage but that didn’t necessarily translate into unprecedented demand for Alltech products.

A lot of the extra feed that went out to fill the gap was two-way mixes, three-way mixes or straights.

Feed tonnages were up 20% to 30% but that was nearly all filler products.

How have you developed InTouch since acquiring Keenan?

Our farm advisory service InTouch is gaining momentum since we brought it under the Alltech umbrella.

We saw a big increase in demand for the InTouch service in the last 12 months with farmers seeking nutrition advice with the grass and fodder shortages.

We are currently working with almost 600 farmers, which is up from just under 400 in 2017.

InTouch was previously seen as service for the high input farmer.

However, we have evolved the service and now include grass measuring and budgeting as part of the offering.

How can you achieve this?

We now collect information on grass growth from PastureBase and data on milk production from some of the dairy co-ops.

The more data we can get in terms of milk production and dry matter intake, the clearer the picture we can develop of what’s happening on the farm.

We can monitor performance and if there is an issue the InTouch system will flag it and the farmer will receive a proactive call from one of the InTouch advisers.

Over 90% of the dairy cows in Ireland are spring-calving so we aim to help those farmers through the key bottlenecks in the season, such as calving and breeding with proactive advice.

Profile

Title: Country manager for Alltech Ireland.

Company: Alltech.

Turnover: €3bn.