It was good to meet farmers and friends in Screggan, Co Offaly, at the National Ploughing Championships. On day four, I found a relatively quiet corner at the back of the Irish Farmers Journal (IFJ) stand to gather my thoughts on the previous days. A ladylike wind was curling around finding its way into all corners. My colleagues were having the banter before the long day. Neven Maguire and his team were getting all the bits ready for the cookery demonstrations. It was an unscheduled extra day, yet Neven was up for it. He is long enough at the game to know that a rest day for the team is necessary after three long days of ‘ploughing’. In the back of his head, he also knows that anything unusual can happen and planning for the unforeseen is a must. Whether, you’re a chef or a farmer, there must be time in the budget to be able to down tools and attend to the extraordinary.

Planning is the key to success and yet last week’s IFJ Red C poll told us that 70% of farmers are short of fodder for the winter and one in five of those have done nothing about it. This is serious. It was a constant topic of conversation at the Ploughing.

Orange warning

On Wednesday, with an orange weather warning in place, we had mixed feelings as we approached Screggan for day two. The bus crawled along full of IFJ staff. Others gone ahead of us were reporting a site in turmoil. Debris was flying through the air. Some stands were demolished. It was an exhibitors’ nightmare. On the bus social media was frantic. Everyone had welcomed the announcement on Tuesday evening of the late start, relishing the chance to sleep in. The novelty of that wore off pretty quickly as we remained corralled on the bus for several hours. If teenagers were heading off to a concert with an orange weather warning, we’d try to put a quick stop to their gallop. Yet there we were, grown adults going along with the plan to enter the field. Looking back it was daft and futile. Storm Helene was in charge. After a year of weather events, there was no great surprise that weather would interfere again with farmers’ away days.

There are always funny stories to be heard at the Ploughing. One man was telling me a story about a Mayo man in conversation with a Sligo man. It’s well documented that the west fared best during the summer drought. So the Mayo man asked the Sligo farmer: “How are you for fodder?” “Fine, I have plenty.” And he went on to detail his store. The Mayo man mused: “I suppose, we’ll have to send some the other way (meaning south) this winter.” The Sligo man was quick to answer: “Well I don’t have that much now.”

Irish food tours

There is tremendous credit due to the people who worked to get the stands and the show on the road after the battering that Storm Helene inflicted on random stands. Some were wiped out and others had minimal damage. The conversation will go on as to when the call to cancel should have been made. I have sympathy for the organisers, but I also have empathy for those who suffered damage, lost food and much of their stock. Of course, they will be asking the question: “Who is liable for the damage and will it be covered by insurance and if so, who’s insurance?”

Wendy Kavanagh of Irish Food Tours had a little pod on the FBD stand. It was blown down and the first she knew about it was when she saw a picture of it on Twitter. Zack Gallagher from Donegal is her partner in the business. Suzanne Burns of Kinsale Food Tours was helping out Wendy.

The women were at first shocked. Then they decided that they would turn the loss of the pod into a positive thing and began networking. They made a pile of contacts and felt their time was even better spent than just being in one place: “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.” This is the spirit that defined 2018’s Ploughing Championships.

Dairymaster 50 years

News spread that Dairymaster was celebrating 50 years in business. I had the pleasure of meeting the founder of the business, Ned Harty, along with Liam Lean – the salesman that services our farm. Edmond Harty, CEO explained that the motto of the company is “to try to do things better and to always listen to what the research is telling you”. There are now 350 people working in the business exporting 75% of what they produce into 40 markets. Dairymaster proves that you can grow a business anywhere in our country. The motto is one we can all apply to our businesses.