Ireland’s first new flour mill in over half a century will commence construction in 2026, Andrew Kavanagh of Ballycarney Grain revealed to a recent Irish Grain Growers Group meeting in Enniscorthy.

“Building work has commenced on the new flour mill in Ballycarney,” he said.

“Site investigations are complete.”

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal after the meeting, Kavanagh confirmed the scale of progress.

“We can now move to the design phase for the building. Malone O’Regan consulting engineers have been engaged for this process, and we hope to start building this year.”

Kavanagh said both winter and spring milling wheat grown in 2025 performed excellently.

“Varieties imported from Germany yielded well, and over 95% was of milling quality, and was milled on the island.”

He says demand for milling wheat growers will expand rapidly over the next two years.

“This is a great opportunity to develop a premium tillage crop, but we need grower buy-in. With malting barley markets dull and contracts set to be cut in 2026, milling wheat is a perfect alternative,” he said.

“There is no reason why Ireland can’t be self-sufficient in flour, we were before, and with the right varieties and grower buy-in, Ballycarney Grain can make Ireland a milling wheat stronghold again.”