After a few very busy days at this year’s Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, it was a nice change to leave all the bustle behind when I set off to visit Harvest Lodge farm late last week – a very unique and interesting property.
Situated just outside the town of Kilcormac in Co Offaly, Harvest Lodge comprises a bungalow residence, a dairy unit and a fully licensed, integrated pig unit set on 116.4 acres. Indeed, the townland address for Harvest Lodge is aptly named Gortnamuck – meaning: hill of the pig.
When I arrived at Harvest Lodge, I was met by the owners, Richard and Rose Fryday, who were kind enough to show me around the business. And a business it certainly is, because like any successful pig farm, the Frydays run a highly scaled, efficient and integrated pig unit that has been built up and added to over many years.
Pig farm
What is clear about the pig unit at Harvest Lodge, is that this is a fully operational business. The required infrastructure is all in place and as Richard Fryday tells me, while guiding me through the different housing units, “this is a push button business in the morning”.
The entire farm has capacity for almost 10,000 pigs between all the different stages of the production cycle. A large dry sow house currently accommodates nearly 700 sows and gilts, but there is room to expand the space for up to 850.
There are nearly 200 farrowing spaces, while three nearby sheds can accommodate up to 4,600 finishers. There are up to 3,200 spaces for first- and second-stage weaners, with the capacity to expand by a further 800 spaces if required.
All housing units of the production cycle are supplied by a computerised automatic feeding system, known as Data Mix. The system works 24 hours a day, pumping feed from the feed-mixing tanks through probe feeders and long troughs throughout the farm.
The feed is a mixture of wheat, barley and soya that the Frydays produce themselves. The on-farm grain store has a capacity of 1,100t and is situated adjacent to the feed-mixing tanks. All units are ventilated via natural and electronic systems, while the slurry is pumped from underground tanks to a 1m gallon permastore to the rear of the farm.
As required, the medicine room is kept separate and locked away from the rest of the unit, and there is a four-bay lean-to shed bedded in straw that is used as an isolation area for sick animals.
Pig farming is a highly regulated industry and Harvest Lodge has all the required certificates, including one for pig welfare inspection from the Department of Agriculture, another for Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Scheme, a certificate of conformity from SAI Global and a welfare certificate from the EU.
Dairy farm
While the majority of the yard is given over to the pig unit, there is still a substantial dairy enterprise in operation at Harvest Lodge, milking 150 cows. The dairy unit includes a 200-space cubicle shed with automatic scrapers, a three-span calving shed with lean-to and 36 calving pens, and a 20-unit herringbone Dairymaster parlour with automatic feeders.
The parlour comes with an immaculate 28,000-litre Mueller bulk tank, that was installed in previous years when the Frydays were milking up to 350 cows. Outside, there is a large walled area for silage that could easily accommodate room for two pits.
The land
The farm at Harvest Lodge comes with very little road frontage, which may be a limiting factor, but the land itself is of excellent quality. The land is all in one large block that stretches away from the roadside yard and is dissected by a hardcore farm roadway that runs throughout the 108 acres of land, providing ease of access to the milking parlour.
All fields are laid out in neat paddocks, well fenced and supplied with water piped from the central pump house in the yard. The land is all in grass, with some of the back fields reseeded in the past year.
The farm at Harvest Lodge also includes a neat four-bedroom bungalow residence, located adjacent to the farm. However, a family member currently has a life interest in the house and it will then pass to the new owner.
Unique complexion
After seeing every inch of this unique farm, I had a long chat with Richard and Rose Fryday over a warm cup of tea as the rain began to beat down outside.
According to Richard, his father installed the initial foundations of today’s pig farm at Harvest Lodge over 45 years ago. Since then, the business has been expanded and added to over the years, to become the modern pig unit in operation today.
During that time, the Frydays have also developed the dairy farm and it is clear to see a lot of hard work has been poured into developing these businesses by the family over the years.
The Frydays say they have given everything to this business over the years, but feel the time to retire is right. However, the unique complexity of this farm may make it a tricky proposition to sell, with two highly intensive enterprises wrapped up in one farm here.
Selling agent Ganly Walters, Dublin 4, is inviting offers by tender for Harvest Lodge by noon on Thursday 29 October.
Interested parties may makes offers for the farm in its entire or in two separate lots. Lot one extends to the residence and the farmyard with the licensed pig farm and dairy unit set on 8.9 acres.
The second lot extends to the 108 acres under grass to the rear of the farm. A guide price has not been disclosed.
The pig sector in Ireland is quite small, with just under 300 commercial pig farmers in operation. There may be a potential buyer among this group, but what appetite they may have for a dairy farm remains to be seen. Likewise, many a farmer would love to get their hands on a ready-to-go dairy farm such as this, but will they have the know-how to run a commercial pig unit?
With this in mind, it makes sense to offer the farm in lots and two buyers may be able to come to some sort of a working relationship. However, when a farm comes to the open market, buyers can come from the most unlikely of places. It will certainly be an interesting sale to watch and as the saying goes: there will be water if God wills it.
SHARING OPTIONS