I see Irish international CJ Stander is a brand ambassador for Hellbent, a new venture bringing Irish beef and South African cuisine together.
Hellbent “boerewors”, a sausage made from beef, combine Irish beef and South African farmhouse seasoning and will hit the shelves in Aldi at the end of the month.
Good to see Stander, who is isolating on his family farm in South Africa at the minute, supporting the cause.
CJ Stander. \ Philip Doyle
COVID-19 surge in cattle wormer
The Dealer heard there was a brief surge in demand for Ivermectin globally when news broke that it could potentially cure the cursed coronavirus.
Since Ivermectin, there have been suggestions that bleach and anti-malarial pills could cure you.
While half the farmers in Ireland have probably accidentally dosed themselves with the wormer by this stage, self-dosing is not advised and the only real cure right now is to take precautions and not to get it at all.
Thieves target firefighters at bog fire
I was shocked to see firefighters attending a bog fire in Co Roscommon on Monday had their equipment stolen as they worked to bring the blaze, which spanned 2km under control.
The thieves took €2,000 worth of equipment, according to Shannonside, which included lights and tools.
Thankfully, the equipment was recovered on Tuesday.
A significant number of bog and gorse fires have caused extensive damage to wildlife habitats recently.
Beef Plan Movement own goal
It appears things remain at stalemate between the two factions of the Beef Plan Movement.
A well-placed source in the Department told me that the Department has received “correspondence from two separate addresses, signed by three separate chairpersons, purporting to be the Beef Plan Movement regarding participation in the Beef Market Taskforce”.
As I hear it, one side is looking to replace the current appointees on the taskforce. If they are at war with themselves, with one side trying to out the other, do they deserve a seat at the taskforce table? What do their members think of the whole thing? The Dealer’s mind boggles.
Surely it’s an own goal on their behalf?
Perhaps a Zoom meeting is needed with all sides to thrash the whole thing out.
A BEAM stock reduction solution?
The Dealer has been wracking the brains over the last few weeks on how the BEAM problem is going to be overcome.
You have to reduce stock numbers by 5% from June for the next 12 months to avoid paying back money.
It’s against my nature to have to pay anything back, but reducing stock just goes against The Dealer’s adage for life: “One more cow, one more sow, one more acre under the plough.” Less just doesn’t have the same rhyme to it.
With calves at good value back in March, there was a spending spree and the place is full to the gills with stock. With beef prices rising, I’m holding on for more so don’t want to sell too early here either.
So after a lot of thought, there’s only one solution and that’s to get the other half a herd number. We’ll transfer a few stock out to herself for the 12 months and the job is oxo.
Just have to make sure that no stock are sold out of that herd number during the year. I’ll keep the cards I think.
The automatic milking system installed on the Teagasc farm at Kilworth, Co Cork, has been switched off, possibly for good.
The Dealer is told changes in staff personnel at the facility led to the decision to mothball the machine.
The cows which were on the robot are now being milked in the existing herringbone parlour on the farm.
Research on automatic milking systems has been stop-start in Moorepark. The initial study commenced in 2013 using a Fullwood machine and looked at the performance of robots under different milking frequencies.
Funded
This machine was subsequently replaced by a Lely machine in 2016 with the aim of establishing a 100-cow herd. It is understood that while Teagasc purchased the machine, the experiment was being funded by Lely.
The EU’s Green Deal is making great play of how it wants farmers to farm in harmony with nature. As a long-time Brussels watcher, you have to hand it to them for bare-faced cheek in some of their language.
For most of Ireland’s time in the EEC/EC/EU, farmers were encouraged to drain that bog and increase productivity.
Then area-based payments encouraged farmers to clear habitats and scrub to render it eligible for payment. The change in emphasis is now complete, and has been good to see, but don’t scapegoat farmers for the policy sins of the past.
Much of the destruction was encouraged and incentivised by the same bureaucrats who are at the heart of this U-turn.
I see Irish international CJ Stander is a brand ambassador for Hellbent, a new venture bringing Irish beef and South African cuisine together.
Hellbent “boerewors”, a sausage made from beef, combine Irish beef and South African farmhouse seasoning and will hit the shelves in Aldi at the end of the month.
Good to see Stander, who is isolating on his family farm in South Africa at the minute, supporting the cause.
CJ Stander. \ Philip Doyle
COVID-19 surge in cattle wormer
The Dealer heard there was a brief surge in demand for Ivermectin globally when news broke that it could potentially cure the cursed coronavirus.
Since Ivermectin, there have been suggestions that bleach and anti-malarial pills could cure you.
While half the farmers in Ireland have probably accidentally dosed themselves with the wormer by this stage, self-dosing is not advised and the only real cure right now is to take precautions and not to get it at all.
Thieves target firefighters at bog fire
I was shocked to see firefighters attending a bog fire in Co Roscommon on Monday had their equipment stolen as they worked to bring the blaze, which spanned 2km under control.
The thieves took €2,000 worth of equipment, according to Shannonside, which included lights and tools.
Thankfully, the equipment was recovered on Tuesday.
A significant number of bog and gorse fires have caused extensive damage to wildlife habitats recently.
Beef Plan Movement own goal
It appears things remain at stalemate between the two factions of the Beef Plan Movement.
A well-placed source in the Department told me that the Department has received “correspondence from two separate addresses, signed by three separate chairpersons, purporting to be the Beef Plan Movement regarding participation in the Beef Market Taskforce”.
As I hear it, one side is looking to replace the current appointees on the taskforce. If they are at war with themselves, with one side trying to out the other, do they deserve a seat at the taskforce table? What do their members think of the whole thing? The Dealer’s mind boggles.
Surely it’s an own goal on their behalf?
Perhaps a Zoom meeting is needed with all sides to thrash the whole thing out.
A BEAM stock reduction solution?
The Dealer has been wracking the brains over the last few weeks on how the BEAM problem is going to be overcome.
You have to reduce stock numbers by 5% from June for the next 12 months to avoid paying back money.
It’s against my nature to have to pay anything back, but reducing stock just goes against The Dealer’s adage for life: “One more cow, one more sow, one more acre under the plough.” Less just doesn’t have the same rhyme to it.
With calves at good value back in March, there was a spending spree and the place is full to the gills with stock. With beef prices rising, I’m holding on for more so don’t want to sell too early here either.
So after a lot of thought, there’s only one solution and that’s to get the other half a herd number. We’ll transfer a few stock out to herself for the 12 months and the job is oxo.
Just have to make sure that no stock are sold out of that herd number during the year. I’ll keep the cards I think.
The automatic milking system installed on the Teagasc farm at Kilworth, Co Cork, has been switched off, possibly for good.
The Dealer is told changes in staff personnel at the facility led to the decision to mothball the machine.
The cows which were on the robot are now being milked in the existing herringbone parlour on the farm.
Research on automatic milking systems has been stop-start in Moorepark. The initial study commenced in 2013 using a Fullwood machine and looked at the performance of robots under different milking frequencies.
Funded
This machine was subsequently replaced by a Lely machine in 2016 with the aim of establishing a 100-cow herd. It is understood that while Teagasc purchased the machine, the experiment was being funded by Lely.
The EU’s Green Deal is making great play of how it wants farmers to farm in harmony with nature. As a long-time Brussels watcher, you have to hand it to them for bare-faced cheek in some of their language.
For most of Ireland’s time in the EEC/EC/EU, farmers were encouraged to drain that bog and increase productivity.
Then area-based payments encouraged farmers to clear habitats and scrub to render it eligible for payment. The change in emphasis is now complete, and has been good to see, but don’t scapegoat farmers for the policy sins of the past.
Much of the destruction was encouraged and incentivised by the same bureaucrats who are at the heart of this U-turn.
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