Last week, the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society (ITLUS) visited southeast Mayo on a warm day that showed nothing of the bad weather conditions suffered in recent years.

Our day began with a presentation from Markus Müller, who is fisheries information manager at Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). He spoke about the importance of fishing to Mayo, which is renowned for its salmon fishing.

Markus stated that recreational angling was estimated to be worth about €836m annually to the Irish economy, supports over 11,350 jobs and an estimated 446,000 people actually fish (over 50% domestic).

He described the Moy as Ireland’s most productive salmon river, with an annual run of 30,000 to 65,000 fish. And while all of Mayo was happy with the recent sunshine, Markus reported that IFI staff had to relocate fish recently from areas of the river because water levels were too low.

Markus said that IFI contributes to the success of the fisheries by protecting and managing fish stocks for angling, operating the control regulations, promoting the sport and by enhancing the angling facilities along the rivers.

Asked about pollution, he said that things have improved considerably in recent decades. While there might be a very occasional fish kill (and there was one a few days after our visit), the days of widespread problems as a result of agricultural practices are rare.

Indeed, Markus suggested that it is the bigger climate change picture that is now generating the greatest concern for the future. Warming or cooling of the oceans can push the feeding grounds for salmon a few thousand miles further away and no one really knows what the consequences of this might be.

Three days from sheet to truck

McHale’s production facility outside Ballinrobe is very impressive indeed. From a company that began trading secondhand machinery outside of Kilmaine in 1976, McHale has become synonymous with machine quality and endurance and is now employing 300 people in Ballinrobe, plus a further 200 in Hungary.

Eoin Clarke from McHale explained that the company has recently invested heavily to meet the ever-increasing demand for its products, which are now sold in over 55 countries worldwide.

The first product produced was a silage block cutter and this was made because an import supplier would not make essential modifications for the local market. Slurry pumps were also made around that time.

The next move was into round bale wrappers in the late 1980s and then into balers. Even the basic products continue to be developed and its orbital wrapper can now wrap on the move, as well as pick and carry on the move.

Balers evolved also from fixed chamber to multi-belt machines and now to single belt variable bale-size machines. Bale wrapping can be done with net or film and they can now do a complete wrap with film on film. The bulk of its products are grass- and silage-related. The company has now diversified into grass-cutting machinery and rakes. It also makes bale-handling and cutting equipment and a range of bale choppers.

It takes three days from sheet metal delivery to a machine going out on a truck. They send out 1,800 truck loads of machines per year and turnover is currently growing at around 20% per annum. This is being achieved by virtue of new markets and new products. Quality sells products and that has been the ethos of the company from the start.

Every machine is tested before it leaves the factory. This is to help minimise problems when it arrives on a farm – domestic or foreign.

Land use in Mayo

Liam Fahey from the Department of Agriculture’s office in Castlebar gave a brief rundown of farming activity in Mayo, which has about 11,500 farms with an average size of 22ha. Mayo has a lot of commonage land – about 84,000ha – and in the past this led to problems of over-grazing on the mountains.

Mayo is very much a suckler breeding county, with about 60% of farmers involved. A further 20% of farmers are involved in sheep production and much of this is on the hills, using Blackface.

Roughly 3% are in dairy and this may expand as other enterprises come under more financial pressure. About 650 applicants have crops, but only about 50 of these have any significant area.

Support payments are critical for farmers here, as market sales leave little or no return. The Basic Payment Scheme, GLAS and other supports are all hugely important. Farming generates very significant spend in the local economy, so its survival is crucial.

The age structure of farming is very worrying, with 65% to 70% of farmers over 65 years of age. While the EU is currently talking about generational renewal for the next CAP, there is also talk of payment cuts.

Active farmers and public goods are current buzz words from the CAP vocabulary, but if there are no goods produced, there can be no services provided.

Forestry is a serious consideration now in the county as a use for marginal land. This is seen as increasingly attractive for those involved in part-time farming.

Aquaculture and tourism are also being increasingly considered. Social inclusion projects, such as greenways, are opening up small local diversification opportunities along such routes, enabling commercial opportunities in activities such as B&B, bicycle hire, coffee shops, etc.

Falling grain area

During discussion, Ray Walsh from Kilmaine said that this is the first time in very many years that he has not grown spring barley.

While he did get his crops cut and straw baled last harvest, he commented that the stress in getting this done was just not worth it for many growers in the west.

Ray said that there was much less planting done in his area this spring. There was a limited amount of winter barley planted, but little or no spring planting in his region. This will mean that even more grain and straw will have to be hauled into the region in the years ahead.

AgriSpread

David Murphy, MD of the Ballyhaunis-based AgriSpread fertiliser spreader manufacturer, told us about how the company evolved and that they are currently supplying big trailed machines to large-scale farming in Canada and Australia in particular.

He explained that the company ethos is very much about delivering what the customer wants. These machines are hugely sophisticated, with full bout width control in development.

David explained that they plan to make smaller machines for the home market in the near future and there was considerable and genuine interest in this development.

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