Cork grower claims Glanbia grain award

The Cork farmer was one of 11 category winners recognised for the excellence of his crops at the annual event held in Kilkenny on Thursday.

Dermot farms 140 acres of land close to Castlelyons on the banks of the River Bride.

He said that the key to success was attention to detail. “You’ve got to get all your ducks in a row,” he explained – getting the soil fertility right, and then making sure the crop suffers no setback.

Dermot took the category award for malting barley with a sample of grain which analysed at 16% moisture, 67.4 kph, screenings of 1.1% and protein at 10.1%.

Dermot’s crop rotation includes winter barley, winter wheat, winter oats and spring barley. High soil fertility forms the backbone for consistently high yields, with a particular emphasis on potassium and sulphur. Winter barley and malting barley are both grown on contract for Glanbia.

Glanbia chair Henry Corbally congratulated all award winners on the high standards achieved. “Quality, traceability and high standards are essential for the success of the Irish grain industry,” he said.

Kellogg’s looking for high-spec grain

Guest speaker at the event was Meath native Ciaran Calvey, who is a buyer for global food company Kellogg’s.

“We demand high specifications for our grains – that’s why we purchase from Glanbia,” he said. “At Kellogg’s, we also insist that all our grains are responsibly grown and responsibly sourced. It’s great that through Glanbia we have a supply chain that goes straight back to the individual farmer grower.”

Kellogg’s is developing a trading relationship with Glanbia, having first purchased grain from it in 2014. Calvey was clearly impressed with the calibre of farmer he met at the function.

Close to 40% of our total intake is now premium grains, such as food-grade oats, malting barley, equine oats and seed grain

Glanbia Agribusiness chief executive Colm Eustace said that the company continues to make significant investments to develop new markets for grain growers.

“Close to 40% of our total intake is now premium grains, such as food-grade oats, malting barley, equine oats and seed grain. These crops all carry a bonus over feed price, which was worth an additional €1.8m to growers compared with equivalent feed grains in 2015.”

He said that Glanbia Agribusiness is continually seeking to innovate and add value to grain, citing the example of gluten-free oats and recent trials on growing the ancient grain quinoa in Ireland.

Category winners

The category winners came from nine counties across Glanbia’s grower base, from Tipperary to Wexford to Meath.

They were as follows: