Wexford Farmers Co-op AGM to review difficult year

There’s likely to be a big turnout at the agm of Wexford Farmers Co-op next Wednesday.

The society has had a very difficult year, taking the decision to close their agri-trading division last February.

Since then, all the trading branches have re-opened under new management, with Glanbia formally opening in Bunclody a couple of weeks ago.

Gardiner Grain are now settled in to Gorey, with Cooney-Furlong operating in Wexford, New Ross, and the former main branch in Enniscorthy, adjacent to Enniscorthy mart, now the hub of WFC’s operations.

WFC has also sold land outside Enniscorthy, which had been purchased with the intention of relocating the mart. While sold at a ‘substantial’ loss, it did make €17,000/acre at auction, showing the recovery in land prices in the south-east.

Apart from the mart, the main asset of the group is Green Biofuels Ireland (GBI) , the joint venture they are majority shareholders in. It processes 30,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually, and according to the 2013 annual report ‘remains very profitable’.

There has been speculation of interest in GBI, and chairman Charles Kavanagh’s report indicates that the society ‘expects to greatly improve the liquidity of the society with more sales of other assets and investments in the new financial year’.