As readers will know, The Dealer is a good man for grub so I was delighted to hear that Delvin Mart’s canteen is set for a revamp over the Christmas period.
The canteen was served with a closure order by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in November. While the FSAI noted a serious risk of contamination to foodstuffs, Delvin Mart manager John Gilligan assured me there had been no issue with the food or from customers.
He added that a refurbishment is under way and the canteen will reopen in the new year.
So, where to dine in the meantime?
Top chef Dylan McGrath opened his new eaterie, the Shelbourne Social, last week.
I’ll have to wait for next year’s Single Farm Payment to land, mind you, with a platter of 35-day aged rib-eye with pickled red onion and fried chard costing a cool €120.
The beef? It’s Bord Bia Quality Assured 100% Irish beef from a farm in Co Kilkenny.
EU ‘forgot Ireland was wet’
Farmers in the ANC scheme were spared huge losses after folks in Brussels were reminded it rains a lot in Ireland, according to Teagasc director Gerry Boyle. “When the original maps came out first, Ireland was going to be a substantial net loser,” Prof Boyle told the Oireachtas agriculture committee on Tuesday. Teagasc’s assessment was that “the officials in Europe that put this map together had forgotten that we were a very wet country”, he recalled. “We rebalanced things at the time.” Asked by committee chair Pat Deering about Teagasc’s involvement in the ANC redesignation appeals process, Prof Boyle said farmers could use his agency’s publicly available data on soil type and grass growth, but staff will not participate in the process directly.
Prof Gerry Boyle of Teagasc.
Milking powder for all it’s worth
The Dealer was agog to see how much value is put on milk powder abroad compared to at home.
A colleague was waiting in the departures lounge in New Zealand’s Christchurch airport where he spotted milk powder being sold alongside premium bottles of perfume and whiskey.
The lowest priced milk powder on the stand was selling for €100/kg. In contrast, the current farmgate price for milk in Ireland is €6.24/kg. Meanwhile, buying infant formula in Australia has become a somewhat dangerous event, as Aidan Brennan reports on page 14.
Twice weekly calf sales in Bandon
I hear the board of Bandon Mart has decided to hold twice weekly calf sales starting at the end of February. Subject to demand, this will run to the end of April. The traditional Monday sale of calves and cattle will continue as normal but a decision has been made to have an extra calf sale. This will take place on Thursdays and will also include dairy stock. With a surge in dairy calf births in the area at this time of year, the move is expected to reduce the pressure at peak calf season for farmers.
With the premises a licensed export lairage, exporters will now have the opportunity to ship from the west Cork venue twice a week.
Bandon mart saw large numbers of calves this past spring with numbers exceeding 2,000 on a number of Monday’s and a top of 2,300 calves sold on one sale.
No beef between Charolais and ICBF
In this column last week I reported that the Irish Charolais Cattle Society boycotted the ICBF genetics conference.
I’ve since been informed the society did not boycott the event in Athlone. The reality is it did not get an invitation.
The word is the society received a reminder a day before the conference took place. I’m also told this came after it had emerged that the Charolais society received no invitation.
It was all OK in the end and instead of staying away as a result of not being asked to attend, a Charolais society employee spent the two full days at the conference.
Lactating plants? Pull the other one
The Dealer notes that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking the US public for its opinion on the nutritional value of plant-based drinks.
The FDA has concerns that the labelling of some plant-based products may lead consumers to believe that those products have the same key nutritional attributes as dairy products, even though plant products can vary widely in their nutritional content.
I see that the FDA will be looking at issuing guidance for industry and could make changes around the labelling of plant-based products with names that include the names of dairy foods.
GLAS payments have been rolling out with admirable efficiency from the Department of Agriculture this year. It said 96% of eligible farmers were paid advances last week.
However, there appear to be some question marks over whether the 96% relates to all farmers, eligible farmers or some other cohort chosen by the Department. Take a deep dive into the figures on page 67.
IFA livestock chair Angus Woods has put Christmas on hold as he and his colleagues stage a sit in at the Department of Agriculture in Dublin over excessive carcase trimming by factories.
“My wife has taken a picture of the Christmas turkey for me, we’re here for as long as it takes to get the names,” he told the Dealer on Kildare street on Wednesday.
As readers will know, The Dealer is a good man for grub so I was delighted to hear that Delvin Mart’s canteen is set for a revamp over the Christmas period.
The canteen was served with a closure order by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in November. While the FSAI noted a serious risk of contamination to foodstuffs, Delvin Mart manager John Gilligan assured me there had been no issue with the food or from customers.
He added that a refurbishment is under way and the canteen will reopen in the new year.
So, where to dine in the meantime?
Top chef Dylan McGrath opened his new eaterie, the Shelbourne Social, last week.
I’ll have to wait for next year’s Single Farm Payment to land, mind you, with a platter of 35-day aged rib-eye with pickled red onion and fried chard costing a cool €120.
The beef? It’s Bord Bia Quality Assured 100% Irish beef from a farm in Co Kilkenny.
EU ‘forgot Ireland was wet’
Farmers in the ANC scheme were spared huge losses after folks in Brussels were reminded it rains a lot in Ireland, according to Teagasc director Gerry Boyle. “When the original maps came out first, Ireland was going to be a substantial net loser,” Prof Boyle told the Oireachtas agriculture committee on Tuesday. Teagasc’s assessment was that “the officials in Europe that put this map together had forgotten that we were a very wet country”, he recalled. “We rebalanced things at the time.” Asked by committee chair Pat Deering about Teagasc’s involvement in the ANC redesignation appeals process, Prof Boyle said farmers could use his agency’s publicly available data on soil type and grass growth, but staff will not participate in the process directly.
Prof Gerry Boyle of Teagasc.
Milking powder for all it’s worth
The Dealer was agog to see how much value is put on milk powder abroad compared to at home.
A colleague was waiting in the departures lounge in New Zealand’s Christchurch airport where he spotted milk powder being sold alongside premium bottles of perfume and whiskey.
The lowest priced milk powder on the stand was selling for €100/kg. In contrast, the current farmgate price for milk in Ireland is €6.24/kg. Meanwhile, buying infant formula in Australia has become a somewhat dangerous event, as Aidan Brennan reports on page 14.
Twice weekly calf sales in Bandon
I hear the board of Bandon Mart has decided to hold twice weekly calf sales starting at the end of February. Subject to demand, this will run to the end of April. The traditional Monday sale of calves and cattle will continue as normal but a decision has been made to have an extra calf sale. This will take place on Thursdays and will also include dairy stock. With a surge in dairy calf births in the area at this time of year, the move is expected to reduce the pressure at peak calf season for farmers.
With the premises a licensed export lairage, exporters will now have the opportunity to ship from the west Cork venue twice a week.
Bandon mart saw large numbers of calves this past spring with numbers exceeding 2,000 on a number of Monday’s and a top of 2,300 calves sold on one sale.
No beef between Charolais and ICBF
In this column last week I reported that the Irish Charolais Cattle Society boycotted the ICBF genetics conference.
I’ve since been informed the society did not boycott the event in Athlone. The reality is it did not get an invitation.
The word is the society received a reminder a day before the conference took place. I’m also told this came after it had emerged that the Charolais society received no invitation.
It was all OK in the end and instead of staying away as a result of not being asked to attend, a Charolais society employee spent the two full days at the conference.
Lactating plants? Pull the other one
The Dealer notes that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking the US public for its opinion on the nutritional value of plant-based drinks.
The FDA has concerns that the labelling of some plant-based products may lead consumers to believe that those products have the same key nutritional attributes as dairy products, even though plant products can vary widely in their nutritional content.
I see that the FDA will be looking at issuing guidance for industry and could make changes around the labelling of plant-based products with names that include the names of dairy foods.
GLAS payments have been rolling out with admirable efficiency from the Department of Agriculture this year. It said 96% of eligible farmers were paid advances last week.
However, there appear to be some question marks over whether the 96% relates to all farmers, eligible farmers or some other cohort chosen by the Department. Take a deep dive into the figures on page 67.
IFA livestock chair Angus Woods has put Christmas on hold as he and his colleagues stage a sit in at the Department of Agriculture in Dublin over excessive carcase trimming by factories.
“My wife has taken a picture of the Christmas turkey for me, we’re here for as long as it takes to get the names,” he told the Dealer on Kildare street on Wednesday.
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