DEAR SIR:

It was with surprise that I read your comments on page 2 of last week’s Irish Farmers Journal indicating that a knowledge transfer model with sound technical advice in Britain should be made available to cereal growers in Ireland. That model is already in place here in Ireland and has been for some time, particularly from Acorn Independent Merchants members who specialise in cereals.

The holistic approach you comment on in relation to crop rotation, crop production methods, soil fertility and crop protection is available to all growers who supply Acorn members, which also includes a credit line that is not available to cereal growers elsewhere.

The opportunity for cereal growers here to market their production either as green grain or dried grain, depending on their circumstances, is available without the necessity of investing in expensive drying equipment.

Current services have been so successful that cereal growers in Ireland have achieved the distinction of being world number one and two in yields of wheat and barley, respectively.

I believe your comments in relation to agronomists in Ireland are ill-informed and I would argue that the cereal agronomist in Ireland is as good as any agromomist worldwide: results prove this.

Admittedly, cereal growers here do not have the same opportunity for rotation of crops as some other countries, particularly since the demise of beet growing. But our members have endeavoured to get growers to use more break crops like beans, oilseed rape etc. Unfortunately, one of the big issues in relation to the growing of these break crops has been the window of opportunity for planting in our climate.

So please, can we have more balanced and informed comments from your newspaper in the future.