Sky Sports mightn’t have noticed, but the IFA has been more active than Chelsea in the transfer market in recent months. While the appointments have been made with little fanfare, there is a distinctly fresh look to the team.

Tadhg Buckley is probably the key appointment. As both director of policy and economist, he is arguably second only to director general Damian McDonald.

Aine O’Connell has been recruited from ICMSA as dairy executive, a rare transfer across the rival organisations. The internal redeployments of Denis Griffin and Geraldine O’Sullivan to more significant roles will see Griffin take on rural development, hill farming and leadership of the CAP project team.

O’Sullivan takes responsibility for the vital area of environment, combining it with forestry and farm family.

With Anna Daly coming in to take on Mary Jenner’s role, the picture is almost complete.

A livestock executive is now the one remaining senior vacancy.

Following the recent departures of Kevin Kinsella, Catherine Lascurettes, Fintan Conway, Thomas Ryan and Edel Kelly, and with Gerry Gunning set to retire before year-end, it marks a real changing of the guard.

Kinsella continues to work on a consultative basis with the IFA on infrastructure issues. The vexed question of a proposed 38kv line from Great Island to New Ross, crossing many farms that have just been hit by the New Ross bypass, will be one such situation.

McCullough’s rave in the ruins

Meath farmer and Ear to the Ground presenter Darragh McCullough was among those wrapping up the harvest on Sunday morning when he got more than he bargained for.

After traversing the beach with his combine – an unusual journey in itself – the broadcaster met stragglers leaving an all-night rave.

The venue? A ruined old house in the centre of his crop of spring beans.

The partygoers were immediately instructed to leave the site. McCullough said: “They were all gone within 10 minutes with no hassle, and didn’t leave a scrap behind them. All Brazilians down from Dublin – God help me if they’d been Irish.”

The Dealer wonders how I would react to discovering a similar rave on my farm.

Fair play to McCullough for keeping his feet, as well as his ear to the ground on this occasion.

Ornua board nominees surface

The names of some of those nominated for the Ornua board are leaking out as we go to press. Down south, I understand Carbery is going to nominate Joe O’Sullivan. Joe is CEO of Drinagh Co-op since 1990. However, Seamus Daly was selected to take over the Drinagh CEO position at the Drinagh AGM last week effective from 1 January, 2021. Joe has been on the Carbery board for over 15 years, I’d say.

In the west, dairy farmer Seán Sweeney has been nominated for the Ornua board. Seán currently sits on the Aurivo board so he’ll have to resign and, in the meantime, UCD Smurfit School’s Helen Brophy will keep the seat warm.

Many of the co-ops are holding virtual AGMs at the moment and I understand the number watching are far greater than if they were held in person – that’s a positive.

Eurofarm to hit a million

Eurofarm, the Co Meath beef factory, is about to reach the landmark of processing its 1,000,000th animal any day now.

It was set up by Michael Fox in 2003, at a time when consolidation featured strongly in the industry, and is one of the few remaining independent factories outside the large groups.

The Dealer always has a soft spot for the underdog, even among factories, and the success of Eurofarm shows that the determination to overcome obstacles in the early days was the basis for sustaining a successful business.

The Duleek plant also gives farmers an option for their cattle outside of the big groups.

Bord Bia on the move

I hear Bord Bia is on the hunt for a new home next year.

The Dealer is told that the lease on its offices at Clanwilliam Court, close to the Grand Canal, is due to end in August 2021.

Clanwilliam Court is due to undergo development (builder code for being razed to the ground) so Tara McCarthy and her staff are searching for suitable office space to relocate to.

Non-GMO Irish milk on shelf

I picked up a bottle of the GMO-free milk from Centenary Thurles at €1.59/l yesterday. It was sitting beside the Dunnes own-label milk at 75c/l. It’s the only Irish GMO-free milk, I understand. Packaged in a snazzy-looking hard plastic bottle, the milk is from selected herds where the cows eat GMO-free feed and grass. The intention is to try to copy the trend among German consumers who want to drink GMO-free product.