Good week for…

  • Niall Browne, who is in the hot seat as executive chair as Dawn Meats takes over Dunbia.
  • Dairy farmers and processors, as milk volumes look set to hit a massive 1bn litres in May and butter prices continue to rise.
  • Anyone buying silage wrap and fertiliser as prices for both are down.
  • Glanbia Co-op members, as they embark on the next stage of creating Glanbia Ireland.
  • Fighting rural crime, as new figures from An Garda Síochána show that demand for text alert schemes has doubled and farmers are warned about bogus callers.

    • Bad week for…

  • Farmers waiting on payments from the Department of Agriculture, as computer chaos continues.
  • Silage contractors, as they are being hit by a shortage of drivers.
  • Cattle and sheep farmers, who worry how the merging of Dawn Meats and Dunbia will affect them. Phelim O’Neill reports on how the big three has become the big two.
  • The milk supplier at the centre of a blazing row in Boherbue Co-op.
  • Farmer health and safety, as an ESRI study shows they take too many risks and a Carlow researcher finds serious problems with heart disease among farmers.