How has the mart trade been this year?

I would say it was a slow start to the year but it picked up in early spring. We had a busier summer than normal due to a combination of weather and good prices.

July and August are traditionally quiet months but it wasn’t as quiet as normal with numbers up.

At our mart in Carrigallen, weather might have been an issue in driving cattle out a bit earlier.

Has the end of dairy quotas driven an increase in numbers?

I couldn’t say we’ve seen a big jump in numbers since the end of quotas.

We saw a big increase in numbers since 2010 and there was a big increase in 2015, particularly in calves. There was a slight dip in numbers last year but numbers are up again in 2017.

Is the return of live export markets helping the trade?

I would definitely think it has.

There are plenty of live exporters around the ring and when you have extra buyers for the cattle it makes a difference.

Obviously the demand for cattle for the Turkish market and other markets is helping. Buyers for the home market are always with us but it’s great to have the extra competition.

Are rising insurance rates an issue for marts?

Rising insurance costs are a major issue.

I would say our insurance costs have gone up 30% to 40% in the last five years. There is an inherent danger in marts when you have livestock and people mixing.

Being conscious of this danger, I feel people must be obliged to take some personal responsibility for their own safety.

For the last few months we’ve employed a health and safety officer at our Kilmallock mart to review our operations.

He’s spotting out the dangers in our marts and helping us eliminate them.

How do you tackle health and safety issues in your business?

It’s about increasing people’s awareness. It’s training, education and trying to improve our facilities. But you’re still going to have people mixing with cattle.

There’s a culture of claiming today. The money from claims is going to the claimant, to the medical professionals, and to the legal profession, such as solicitors and barristers.

There’s a whole industry behind the claims culture, which in my view has an interest in keeping it going.

Do we need to see consolidation at mart level in Ireland?

We’ve closed a mart in my time here at GVM.

It was good for our overall business because it stripped out some big costs, while numbers and income were maintained.

It enabled us to become more efficient and to make more money. And we’ve put that money back into our remaining marts with €1.5m to €1.6m in capital expenditure over recent years.

Over the last 60 years the number of farm units has reduced dramatically.

In addition there is less movement of cattle.

However, in my view there has not been a corresponding reduction in mart units.

Consolidation of marts means bigger, better, more efficient and more profitable units, which should benefit every farmer.

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