I’m told Clare-based agri-solicitor Aisling Meehan has been overwhelmed by the response to a pro-farming billboard campaign she launched just weeks ago.

“Understanding Agriculture” aims to promote a positive image of agriculture in Ireland and help raise the morale in the farming community.

So far, she has self-funded a number of billboards that are already erected in Cork, Waterford and there will be more added in Co Clare next week. She appealed to farmers to use their land to host the billboards.

The response was “phenomenal”, she said. “I received hundreds, if not thousands, of emails from farmers offering their land to host the billboards.

“I received really positive feedback from farmers from all parts of the country and abroad including Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.”

New York bidders at Donegal auction

A Donegal charity auction for Cancer Care West organised by the IFA attracted the attention of two bidders from New York recently.

I am told that a man from Donegal, Seán Quinn, who emigrated to New York years ago, bid €5,100 for a Limousin store bullock on the night through a ringside bidder.

Mayo man Seamus Glynn, also now in New York, bid €2,100 for a Limousin heifer.

How did they hear about the auction you ask? Well, it was during a tea break while making hay on a farm in upstate New York. That, is a story for another day. The cattle won’t be taking the next flight out of Carrickfinn airport to New York, but are in the herd of local man Seamus Quinn.

Cool reception at Culture HQ

Farmers who staged a protest in the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht say they were given the cold shoulder.

A group of farmers staged a sit-in at the department’s headquarters, across the road from Agriculture House on Kildare Street, to highlight the fact that pledges of compensation for the losses inflicted by designation of their lands have yet to be honoured. At first, they say, about a dozen civil servants tried to force them out of the building. Gardaí were called, but did not intervene.

As the farmers settled in, they were warned not to take photographs, were denied access to the toilets and not allowed to eat on the premises. Perhaps they would have fared better if they had performed an interpretative dance in the foyer to highlight the plight of designated farmers.

Rushe ‘has the X-factor’ for IFA deputy chair

Kildare county chair Brian Rushe launched his campaign for the IFA deputy presidency on Tuesday, and received the backing of an impressive array of experienced IFA figures.

First to endorse him for this leadership role were fellow county man Richard Greene and Cork man Teddy Cashman. They know what they’re talking about – both their fathers were IFA presidents. They were followed by county and regional chairs who have worked with Rushe over the years and who want him to progress up the organisation. All noted his youthfulness, passion and communication skills. Laois chair Francie Gorman claimed that when he first met Rushe he saw the milk producer had the X-factor.

Brian Rushe has declared his intention to run for deputy president of the IFA.

City kids get stuck into veterinary

Of all the Ploughing tents last week, the Veterinary Council of Ireland’s mini-animal hospital for kids really stood out.

Child-size blue surgical gowns and masks were handed out to eager aspiring veterinary professionals to work on giant stuffed lambs, dogs and pigs in need of stitching and lambing.

The Dealer expected the city kids to baulk at farrowing a pig, but with a little encouragement from CEO Niamh Muldoon, the little girl in the maternity unit proudly pulled out each teddy piglet.

She got to take home her surgical mask and could in the future be making a visit to a farm near you.

Straw blown into the North Sea

If you think you’ve had a bad week, spare a thought for Aaron Sinclair.

Farming at Sandwick on the Shetland Isles, he lost an entire field of straw when it was blown straight into the North Sea. “It has been a bit of a slip and grip harvest so far but I have never had a field of straw blow into the sea before,” he told The Dealer.

“The wind came 70mph to 80mph in the right direction and lifted the swards into the water with bits left on the fence. It looked like straw hedge.”

Ploughing crowds

Almost 300,000 people made the trip to Ballintrane, Fenagh, Co Carlow, last week for the Ploughing – record crowds, I’m told.

This year’s event went off without a hitch, with the site basking in three days of warm sunshine.

Of course, the rumour mill is already in overdrive about where next year’s event is to be held. I’m hearing Carlow for round two, but anything’s possible.

No-meat ‘meatballs’

Naked Glory is the name of Kerry Foods’ new plant-based food offering in the UK. I see the range includes sausages which are “free of meat, full of taste”.

There’s also mince, quarter pounders and no-meat “meatballs” in the range.

How you can have no meat in meatballs is beyond The Dealer.

I understand the range is made from rehydrated soya. The mind boggles.