Turkey
Some 90% of all turkey consumed in Ireland this Christmas will come from an Irish turkey farmer that specialises in rearing turkeys for the festive feast.
More than a million turkeys will be eaten in Ireland this Christmas, of which 900,000 will be Irish. The rest will be imported, mainly from Italy.
Irish farmers receive between €7 and €30 for each bird, depending on whether they are sold direct to the customer from the farm or in bulk to butchers’ shops. IFA poultry chair Andy Boylan said the increased availability of Bord Bia Quality Assured turkeys was due to a lot of lobbying by IFA turkey farmers. He reminded buyers to specify that they want Irish birds when buying from the butcher.
Ham
Some €15m worth of ham and bacon are sold in December to accompany the turkey on your plate. This amounts to 3,500t in all.
Buyers are urged to look for the Bord Bia Quality Assured label when buying ham. Imports of ham come from Denmark in the main and will not carry the Bord Bia logo.
IFA pig chair Tom Hogan urged buyers to ask where the turkey and ham in the butcher’s shop, restaurant or canteen comes from.
Potatoes
The Irish potato crop is down significantly this year, due to a massive 32% fall in yield and a combination of lower plantings. This year was the lowest potato plantings on record.
Nonetheless, some 15,000t of spuds will be buttered and salted this Christmas, mainly the Golden Wonder and Kerr’s Pink varieties. The sales are worth €6m to Irish farmers as farmgate prices have increased.
Brussels sprouts
Brussels sprout yields are back around 20% this year due to the summer drought. Five Irish farmers have grown the 2018 annual crop of 4,500t and, of that, 1,800t will end up on the Christmas table. The Christmas sprout harvest is worth €1.62m.
Ireland is about 80% self-sufficient in sprouts, with imports coming from the UK, Holland and Belgium.
Parsnips
The wet spring and extreme drought conditions during the summer of 2018 took a toll on both carrots and parsnips, with yields down 20% on average.
This year growers planted 450ac of parsnips, producing 5,400t of the root vegetable. Around 1,000t of these will be served for Christmas, amounting to €850,000 for farmers.
Carrots
UK imports of carrots have undermined the Irish market since the Brexit vote, according to the IFA.
With 1,600ac of carrots and a national crop of 42,000t, Irish growers produce enough to meet demand from August to April. However, cheaper imports from the UK and Holland are often used by the foodservice and wholesale markets.
In all, 3,200t of Irish carrots will be sold for Christmas, yielding €1.2m for Irish farmers.
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