Former IFA President John Bryan and his wife Rena run a suckler beef operation in Inistioge. John has 60 suckler cows, both Limousin and Limousin Charolais crosses, and has two Limousin bulls.

Over the last few years, John has been buying in continental weanlings, selling 100 to 120 U grade bulls, along with some heifers, to the factories. He has also recently started buying 40 Friesian 18-month bullocks to finish off grass in the summer at 28 to 30 months of age.

John has two children, Cathy (27), who works for KPMG in Dublin, and James (25), who has just recently travelled to Australia for a year to work on a cattle farm. He plans to return home next year to farm.

John lives in south Kilkenny, having grown up just three miles from Kilkenny city.

“Carlow and Kilkenny have a huge tradition of mixed farming, with many having small suckler and sheep units and some tillage along with it,” according to John.

“A lot of the land in the area is heavy and stony and might not suit grain. With the bad lamb, grain and beef prices and the milk quotas going, some farmers in the area are thinking of converting to dairy. However, the biggest restriction for conversion is the large amount of borrowing that would have to go with it.”

John has been farming since 1980. “Over the last 35 years, I have built up and invested in my farm, so it would be very difficult for me, and others like me, to convert now having invested so much time, money and energy already. There is a very strong farming community in Kilkenny and farmers are very progressive. They see it as a priority to improve their land.

“As a county, there is a high level of investment on farms – in sheds, drainage, yards, etc. The new factory weight and age specifications, along with the numerous other hits that farmers have taken, has done serious damage to farmer confidence, which could see a reduction in farm investment and could have long-term implications.”

“Rural areas need mixed farming. Having a mix of some grain, livestock and horticulture employs people locally. We need vibrant agriculture to sustain rural towns, with a mix of small, medium and larger farmers, and not just large dominant farmers. As a county, there are a large number of farmer’s sons/daughters returning home to farm, so there are minimal succession problems in the area.”

John, along with many livestock farmers in the Kilkenny area, has been badly burned this year.

“The factories left us with no margin for our cattle this year. Like many farmers, I got into buying and fattening bulls and was advised and encouraged to do so. I am now left with sheds full of expensive cattle with no market.

“Farmers in the Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Kildare areas, where there is a lot of livestock, will suffer massive losses. It’s not sustainable.

“A lot of farming families in Kilkenny will come out this year with little or no income. The Single Farm Payment is normally the family income, whereas now a lot of farm operation costs will be eating into this. This will be difficult for farming families, with children in college and school, to survive.”

John was president of the IFA from 2011 to 2014 and finished his term in January. Before this, he was National Livestock Committee chairperson from 2004 to 2007, so for the last 10 years he has been on the road.

“My wife, Rena, and a hired worker managed the farm while I was full-time working for the IFA. The greatest part of my involvement, for me, was being able to influence European policy.

“From 2005 to 2007, I had a huge role in the Brazilian beef campaign. As part of this, we visited Brazil twice, had parliament sit-ins and also visited Brussels, highlighting the lack of standards of beef being imported into Europe to the Commission, and yet such stringent rules governed our own beef production.

“Since the campaign, the quality of beef and the amount of beef imported from Brazil has been greatly reduced, and the value set on European cattle increased. Being able to change and see results that benefitted the Irish farmer was brilliant.”

Along with the Brazilian beef campaign, John led a campaign resisting the flat regional CAP model that didn’t suit the Irish agricultural system. He favoured a slower and more gradual change away from the historic CAP model, to allow farmers to adjust.

“I believe in effective lobbying organisations. As part of the IFA, I organised a protest in 2012 which gathered 20,000 people to the streets of Dublin. We got there, got heard and got out, with minimal residential disruption. It can change policy.”

Even though John has now retired, he plans to remain actively involved in Kilkenny IFA. “After 10 very intensive years in the IFA, the farm at home is showing some signs of neglect. At the moment, I am focusing on tidying up the fields and yard, improving drainage around the yard, fencing and other field maintenance.

“I plan to stay active in the local IFA and continue to support local farmers as we head into years of great change on the Irish agricultural front.”