Tell us about your business

We are farm agricultural merchants based in Camolin, Co Wexford. My father Michael branched out on his own in the early 1980s, having established himself as an agronomist in the area. Wexford farmers have gotten used to taking advice from a Kerryman. We also have a branch in Michael’s homeplace in Asdee near Listowel, run by his brother Tom.

What is happening in your business at present?

We are completing work on our new grain store, which opened just in time for last year’s harvest. We are focused on selling straight feed products to farmers. We offer an all-Irish, non-GM ration, consisting of rolled barley, oats and beans.

It’s competitively priced and stock is performing well on it. It’s the way to move forward, particularly for dairy and beef, which are so export dependant. Almost all our grain was aerated rather than dried last year, minimising the carbon footprint.

What is the business environment like?

We are operating in a very competitive environment. There is enormous pressure on the family farm and the traditional agricultural merchant. We believe the survival of both is essential to the wellbeing of the countryside. The family farm must be supported by the Government and the public, but in return must protect the environment. As an advisory-led rather than a margin-led business, we try to keep costs as low as possible for the farmer.

How does a smaller business cope?

We believe that the edge we offer our customers comes from the field-specific advice we can offer on cropping and inputs. We are in every field every year, with a bank of learning built up. We are committed to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to deliver efficient input usage, which minimises costs.

What is the biggest threat to the grain sector at present?

The threat of losing glyphosate (Round-Up). If glyphosate goes, so does the grain sector. Then we are dependent on imports of grain from Russia and North and South America, which is genetically modified and has been sprayed by glyposate and other chemicals banned in the EU.

This year, we are losing chlorothalonil and a host of other chemicals, which will make life very difficult for the grower. These chemicals are still available to growers outside the EU.

The threat is that we lose our grain sector while importing from other countries with little or no restrictions on GM chemicals or fertilisers. That is a no-win situation.

It’s looking like a late spring. Are inputs moving yet?

Fertiliser is moving, but people aren’t spreading yet. For tillage farmers, we suggest spreading straights. It gets the phosphorus out before or during planting and then applies the potassium onto the growing crop when it is most needed.

Where straights don’t suit, we have a range of high-potassium compounds, such as 9-10-25 and 13-8-18. Grazing ground is generally high in K and we recommend a 15-12-10 +S, rather than the traditional 18-6-12. Most silage ground is low in P and extremely low in K, so a high K compound is essential.

This year, we are getting our own compounds manufactured to suit the needs of land and crops, under the brand-name of NO-GRIT fertilizer. Unlike many traditional compounds, there is no grit in our products.