Organic Study Tour 2008
A group of early risers took to the road for a couple of days to see how other guys do things. The long journey, starting for some in the Glens of Antrim, was rewarded when we arrived on the well managed 65 ha farm of Harry O’Grady just outside Adare in Co Limerick.
The key message, evident from Harry’s farming system, was finding a comfortable balance between the production capacity of the farm and the number of stock carried. In addition to his own sucklers Harry buys in organic weanlings and store cattle and he markets all his organic beef to AIBP.
In addition to his commercial suckler herd, sales from a small pedigree herd of Aberdeen Angus brought in some additional returns.
As we walked around the farm it was obvious that the 50 ewe flock had a beneficial effect on the swards.
The latter were very impressive in terms of both the quantity and the quality of the grass produced. John had an excellent cover of grass built up to carry the stock at minimum cost well into November.
Concentrate feed requirements have been reduced in recent years, moving from a Charolais to an Aberdeen Angus bull.
Winter feed is mainly supplied from home produced grain –oats and triticale, although Harry was hoping to sell some oats for human consumption
John and Olive Forde’s organic farm near Newmarket, Co Cork, was an excellent example of a first class, well-managed organic farm.
Having converted a conventional 54 ha dairy unit to an organic mixed farm that sells the bulk of its produce direct to the public, the Forde’s pace of life has become much more relaxed.
By growing sufficient feed in terms of cereals and fodder crops, the farm is virtually self sufficient. Horse power is even used to complete some light jobs around the farm, a reflection of John’s strong interest in horses and old horse-drawn machinery.
If John and Olive were to continue in dairying, then considerable investment would have been needed to upgrade the inadequate milking facilities.
Converting to organic production necessitated making the cubicles bigger and an on-going programme was put in place to stitch in clover and establish a suitable crop rotation.
Beef, lamb, pork, bacon, and turkeys for the Christmas trade, are produced on the farm and sold through a stall at the local farmers market. Some of the produce is also sold direct from the farm itself.
John made a customised trailer into which freezers are placed. One side of the trailer conveniently opens up to form a stall from which customers are served.
Tackling the difficulty of ensuring a “home” for all of the various parts of the carcase, Olive started to manufacture pies and lasagne to utilise and add value to cuts that were slower to sell. A range of field vegetables add to the range of produce for sale.
The “traditional” appearance of the very well kept farmyard, and the outdoor pigs in particular, provide a great attraction for those customers who come to make their purchases direct from the “farm gate”.
Video recordings of some of the farm work, especially tasks carried out using the horses, are used as promotional material on the market stall.
One thing customers can be sure of from John and Olive is a very warm welcome and good “craic”.
The visit to John Purcell near Cahir in Co Tipperary provided an opportunity to see well organised organic beef production and marketing on a large scale.
John finishes upward of 800 organic cattle each year. These are all purchased as weanlings and stores, mostly from small organic farms in the West of Ireland, but some are also sourced from special organic sales.
The winter accommodation was very impressive. This comprised roofed, straw-bedded cattle courts and out-doors wood-chip corrals.
The latter were used mainly for the Aberdeen Angus bred cattle which performed very well on this system.
John is Managing Director of Good Herdsmen Organic Meats which he founded along with Joseph Finke in 1989.
Good Herdsmen buy beef and lamb from about 200 organic farmers and the stock from John’s farm provide a buffer to even out imbalances in livestock supply.
About half of the product is sold in Ireland to most of the major multiple retailers, including Tesco, Dunnes and SuperValu, and also many independent quality food stores and restaurants.
Product is also sold into London and a number of European countries, including Holland, Sweden and Germany. John also believes that there are opportunities to market organic beef in Saudia Arabia.
Teagasc organic advisers, Dan Clavin and Pat Barry, organised the visits and provided a useful link with the host farmers.
The group consisted of a mixture of organic producers, some of whom are in conversion, and others strongly considering opting for organic production.
Taking part in the study tour provided an excellent opportunity for a very useful exchange of ideas and experiences, and certainly provoked much thought and discussion on the long journey home.
