The Irish Farmers Journal talked to farmers at the Teagasc pig farmers conference 2019, and asked them what their current plans are for their farms.
Con O’ Kelly, Borris, Co Carlow
“Reducing credit and repairing existing buildings would be the most important things for me at the moment.
"I’ve no plans for expansion, I’m just going to consolidate what I have and try and improve it. Getting labour and obtaining planning permission for buildings would be the things that would be the most limiting to expansion."
Maurice O’Brien, Mitchelstown, Co Cork
“Pigs were bad on and off for the past 30 years on a two-year basis. Pigs are only at a break-even point now, so there’s actually no great money in pigs yet.
"They have gone up, but they were at an all-time low, so the first thing to do is reduce credit and replace and upgrade existing buildings a lot of them are there for 30 or 40 years and they’ve outdone their life cycle. Hopefully they will stay at these prices for another couple of years.”
Rosemarie Friday, Birr, Co Offaly
“This has been a long time coming, so we’re all delighted to get it. Having said that, it’s not a time to go mad, it’s a time to consolidate. It’s a time to catch up on a lot of maintenance issues and just trying to improve the efficiencies that we have.
"It’s not a time to get carried away, the price is good and we celebrate that, but I think that we’ve had such a long run of difficult years that it’s really a time to improve our businesses and future-proof them for what will come down the road.”
Shane McAuliffe, Castleisland, Co Kerry
“We have come from a 20-year low to a 20-year high, a lot of people are still recouping the losses from last year. We will be looking at investing in our housing. One thing that’s been happening is that our numbers have increased significantly and the genetics have improved, but our buildings haven’t grown outward.
"We will probably be looking at building new accommodation for finisher pigs and that will alleviate any stocking issues that we have for improved health, welfare and profitability.”
Michael O’Shea, Roscrea, Co Offaly
“I’d like to do a bit of farm improvement because over the last number of years we’ve been cash-starved and the banks didn’t want to know. Hopefully now we can try and improve our systems.
"The obvious thing to do when a sector is doing well is to expand. However, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket as there will eventually be a downturn, so we’re going to really plan for the future at the moment.”
Read more
Chinese beef market access will be a game changer
Pig prices rise again to 184c/kg
The Irish Farmers Journal talked to farmers at the Teagasc pig farmers conference 2019, and asked them what their current plans are for their farms.
Con O’ Kelly, Borris, Co Carlow
“Reducing credit and repairing existing buildings would be the most important things for me at the moment.
"I’ve no plans for expansion, I’m just going to consolidate what I have and try and improve it. Getting labour and obtaining planning permission for buildings would be the things that would be the most limiting to expansion."
Maurice O’Brien, Mitchelstown, Co Cork
“Pigs were bad on and off for the past 30 years on a two-year basis. Pigs are only at a break-even point now, so there’s actually no great money in pigs yet.
"They have gone up, but they were at an all-time low, so the first thing to do is reduce credit and replace and upgrade existing buildings a lot of them are there for 30 or 40 years and they’ve outdone their life cycle. Hopefully they will stay at these prices for another couple of years.”
Rosemarie Friday, Birr, Co Offaly
“This has been a long time coming, so we’re all delighted to get it. Having said that, it’s not a time to go mad, it’s a time to consolidate. It’s a time to catch up on a lot of maintenance issues and just trying to improve the efficiencies that we have.
"It’s not a time to get carried away, the price is good and we celebrate that, but I think that we’ve had such a long run of difficult years that it’s really a time to improve our businesses and future-proof them for what will come down the road.”
Shane McAuliffe, Castleisland, Co Kerry
“We have come from a 20-year low to a 20-year high, a lot of people are still recouping the losses from last year. We will be looking at investing in our housing. One thing that’s been happening is that our numbers have increased significantly and the genetics have improved, but our buildings haven’t grown outward.
"We will probably be looking at building new accommodation for finisher pigs and that will alleviate any stocking issues that we have for improved health, welfare and profitability.”
Michael O’Shea, Roscrea, Co Offaly
“I’d like to do a bit of farm improvement because over the last number of years we’ve been cash-starved and the banks didn’t want to know. Hopefully now we can try and improve our systems.
"The obvious thing to do when a sector is doing well is to expand. However, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket as there will eventually be a downturn, so we’re going to really plan for the future at the moment.”
Read more
Chinese beef market access will be a game changer
Pig prices rise again to 184c/kg
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