Pigmeat processor Rosderra reports a “huge response” to its recent Irish Farmers Journal advertisement seeking farmers interested in contract finishing of pigs.

The model is similar to that used by the poultry industry, with the company – Rosderra – providing the pigs, feed and technical support.

The farmer never owns the pigs, but is paid a fee for each finished pig, as well as bonuses for low mortality rates and high feed efficiency. Rosderra is offering a 10-year contract to successful applicants.

The farmer will be provided with 12-week-old weaner pigs averaging 35kg and required to bring them to a finishing weight of 105kg over 11 weeks.

New buildings are required, with design templates available for 1,000 and 1,900 finishing places. Rosderra is hopeful that livestock and possibly tillage farmers may qualify for grant aid for the slurry storage involved, although this will only be confirmed when the full details of the new Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) are available.

At present, Rosderra Farms has 5,000 sows on five fully intergrated sow breeding units and a further five owned and leased pig fattening units.

James Brady, head of pig procurement with Rosderra, explained that the contract rearer model would allow the company to increase sow numbers on their own units. “More pigs makes for a more efficient factory,” he explained.

Construction costs would typically range from €180 to €200 per fattening place, pointing to a minimum €180,000 construction cost for the entry level unit. The Rosderra fee has yet to be agreed with contracted growers, but €7 to €8 per finished pig is an industry figure quoted.

James Brady said that the company has had interest from farmers in a range of enterprises and he expects the first of the new units to be up and running later this year, subject to planning permission.

The advantages for the contract rearer include a supplementary income source, tax reliefs on the building depreciation and valuable pig slurry. The information brochure on the contract quotes a Teagasc estimate of one-to-two hours of labour input per day.

For the pig industry, attracting new contract growers has the advantage of bringing new capital sources, as well as reducing slurry pressure in intensive areas.

Rosderra signs up for Origin Green

Rosderra, Ireland’s largest pigmeat processor with 52% of the national kill, this week joined the growing list of Irish food companies participating the Origin Green sustainability programme organised by Bord Bia.

To mark the occasion, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney toured the company’s plant at Edenderry in Co Offaly on Tuesday. The plant, which employs over 400 people, is the largest pigmeat processing site in the country, slaughtering 17,000 pigs per week.

Rosderrra now employs 984 people, 30% more than the 748 employed when the management team acquired the business from Glanbia in February 2008. The company does not disclose financial information, but turnover is likely to have exceeded €300m last year.

During the plant tour, the Minister was shown the range of meat products produced, as well as the range of markets being supplied. Rosderra sells around half of its output in Ireland, with the remainder sent to a range of countries including Britain, China, Japan, Korea and Australia. Russia has been significant, but the entire EU product is currently excluded from the market due to an African Swine Fever outbreak in eastern Europe.

Apart from Edenderry, Rosderra’s Roscrea plant processes a further 12,000 pigs per week. The company also has a speciality meats facility in Clara, Co Offaly; a pork curing facility in Jamestown, Co Leitrim; and a cooked meats facility in Stradone, Co Cavan.

Rosderra chief executive Jim Hanley said Origin Green targets would allow the company to increase efficiency by reducing waste, energy consumption and water usage. “This will be beneficial to customers, suppliers and the company,” he said.

Minister Coveney, a passionate advocate of Origin Green, said that the scheme allows him to “talk about Irish food in a different way abroad”.

He added: “Mark my words, in the next five years you will see all of the major food buyers and distributors, particularly in the developed world, insisting on sustainability and looking for guarantees around that. We are the first movers in that area and it will give Ireland a big competitive advantage that other countries will struggle to match.”