Good week for…

  • Farmers with top-quality weanlings, who are getting €360/hd more for their animals compared to those with plainer, dairy-bred stock.
  • Boosting Ireland’s export potential to China, with Chinese officials to tour eight beef factories and a dairy processor.
  • Dairy farmers, as milk price continues to rise and the national Johne’s Disease control programme gets the green light to begin.
  • Irish ploughmen in Europe, as Jer Coakley retains his European title and is joined on the podium by two other Irish men.
  • Demand for lamb, as the growing Muslim populations of Europe become increasingly important for Irish sheep farmers.

    • Bad week for…

  • The thousands of farmers, homeowners and businesspeople affected by flash flooding in Donegal, Derry and Tyrone. Livestock were lost, land destroyed and homes and businesses devastated by unprecedented rain and flooding.
  • Factory grading machines, which need to be upgraded, according to one expert.
  • Anyone who needs fertiliser, as Yara announces a €5/t hike on CAN.
  • Meandering at the mart, as farmers could be locked into their seats during sales because of insurance claims.
  • The Knowledge Transfer (KT) programme, which looks like having a 10% drop-out rate in year one.
  • Farmers waiting for news of payment for renewable heat generation from Minister Denis Naughten, who was tight-lipped at the Energy in Agriculture conference at Gurteen College.