Big Beef Finishing Unit In Galway

patsy_mccabe · 06-02-2016 11:49am #1

Finishing 1,500 cattle annually on 1,400 acres in Galway.
From page 46 of this weeks Farmers Journal;

Finishing

gazahayes · 06-02-2016 12:09pm

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Finishing 1,500 cattle annually on 1,400 acres in Galway.
From page 46 of this weeks Farmers Journal;

Finishing

They were on rare breed last year

rangler1 · 06-02-2016 2:32pm

They have 1600 ewes as well, our sheep discussion group visited it last year, great farmers, they also breed sporthorses for export to america

Willfarman · 06-02-2016 11:51pm

Good employers too.

TITANIUM. · 07-02-2016 8:42am

And dont forget their tillage operation.
Ya they were on rare breed last year alright. They split there sheep up into herds of 250 for easy management. If memory serves me correctly he said that they had a contract to provide 80cattle a week to the factory. The wife was a fairly formidable character, she seemed to be in charge of the horse and sheep side of the operation. Very impressive operation all round, it would make you feel like a hobby farmer.

farawaygrass · 07-02-2016 11:02am

Without taken away from them, they had a great start getting a farm like that. It's probably some of the finest land in Ireland. And there single farm payment is well over a 100,000, nearer 150,000.
They must be serious workers though. You would want your head well screwed on to run that operation.
I suppose if he only made 60-70e profit on the cattle each, you'd be talkng 90,000 to 105,000. Scale matters unfortunately

rangler1 · 07-02-2016 12:10pm

farawaygrass wrote: »

Without taken away from them, they had a great start getting a farm like that. It's probably some of the finest land in Ireland. And there single farm payment is well over a 100,000, nearer 150,000.
They must be serious workers though. You would want your head well screwed on to run that operation.
I suppose if he only made 60-70e profit on the cattle each, you'd be talkng 90,000 to 105,000. Scale matters unfortunately

And selling 3000 lambs as well, every enterprise is a big farm in itself, what really impressed me was their enthusiasm, even chris's new wife and she not from a farm....some team
One of the advisors at the sheep conference was telling that bournes have one shed with 300 ewes and every one carrying either three or four lambs

FarmerDougal · 07-02-2016 1:03pm

farawaygrass wrote: »

Without taken away from them, they had a great start getting a farm like that. It's probably some of the finest land in Ireland. And there single farm payment is well over a 100,000, nearer 150,000.
They must be serious workers though. You would want your head well screwed on to run that operation.
I suppose if he only made 60-70e profit on the cattle each, you'd be talkng 90,000 to 105,000. Scale matters unfortunately

250 Sfp in total

60-70 a head not much good..15 full time staff to be paid aswell

Miname · 07-02-2016 1:32pm

It's not all as clean cut as the cameras portray. Fair play for anyone to get that far on in farming but it wasn't always rosey. Their land would be very mixed too so that has to be handed to them. A lot of it would still be under water.

Dickie10 · 07-02-2016 5:17pm

where are they from originally? how did they gather that much land are they from the time of landed ascendency?

Bullocks · 07-02-2016 5:57pm

Dickie10 wrote: »

where are they from originally? how did they gather that much land are they from the time of landed ascendency?

I'd imagine they came from the other side of the water . I think he said they were 4th generation farmers there . In all fairness they would be one of the few to hold a block of land together that long .

Miname · 07-02-2016 7:06pm

Dickie10 wrote: »

where are they from originally? how did they gather that much land are they from the time of landed ascendency?

East Galway, between eyre court and banagher. Leaning right into the Shannon.

barnaman · 07-02-2016 7:43pm

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/farmer-fined-22-500-over-cattle-growth-hormones-1.109924

Bullocks · 07-02-2016 7:54pm

barnaman wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/farmer-fined-22-500-over-cattle-growth-hormones-1.109924

I was wondering when that would pop up . Its a good while ago now though

Cattlepen · 07-02-2016 8:07pm

barnaman wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/farmer-fined-22-500-over-cattle-growth-hormones-1.109924

And they say crime doesn't pay

rangler1 · 07-02-2016 9:19pm

Bullocks wrote: »

I was wondering when that would pop up . Its a good while ago now though

yea I was aware of it at the time, the fines were so lenient at the time that most of us were kicking ourselves that we didn't indulge, a lot of people made a lot of money using them

Bullocks · 07-02-2016 9:40pm

rangler1 wrote: »

yea I was aware of it at the time, the fines were so lenient at the time that most of us were kicking ourselves that we didn't indulge, a lot of people made a lot of money using them

I wouldn't be old enough to remember how hard the penalty would affect you but I'd guess it wasn't easy to gather 22k back then .He want to have got mileage out of his powder .
I know a couple of lads out beside him and they never have much good to say about him but I would put most of it down to jealousy !
I'd love to know what part pays him better , beef , sheep or horses or would they all balance out over a few years

rangler1 · 07-02-2016 9:57pm

Bullocks wrote: »

I wouldn't be old enough to remember how hard the penalty would affect you but I'd guess it wasn't easy to gather 22k back then .He want to have got mileage out of his powder .
I know a couple of lads out beside him and they never have much good to say about him but I would put most of it down to jealousy !
I'd love to know what part pays him better , beef , sheep or horses or would they all balance out over a few years

There was unreal profit to be made out of using it, even the legal growth promoters did a great job on poor friesians, loads of farmers got caught but the sentences were minimal.
I've relations nearby, so Richard would know me and was very friendly on the day we were there. we got lovely food and even hot whiskeys which was welcome on a very cold day

MfMan · 07-02-2016 10:02pm

rangler1 wrote: »

There was unreal profit to be made out of using it, even the legal growth promoters did a great job on poor friesians, loads of farmers got caught but the sentences were minimal.
I've relations nearby, so Richard would know me and was very friendly on the day we were there. we got lovely food and even hot whiskeys which was welcome on a very cold day

Was it an invite-only event or open to Teagasc clients or something?

Bullocks · 07-02-2016 10:03pm

rangler1 wrote: »

There was unreal profit to be made out of using it, even the legal growth promoters did a great job on poor friesians, loads of farmers got caught but the sentences were minimal.
I've relations nearby, so Richard would know me and was very friendly on the day we were there. we got lovely food and even hot whiskeys which was welcome on a very cold day

Did you put on extra condition after the grub

rangler1 · 07-02-2016 10:10pm

MfMan wrote: »

Was it an invite-only event or open to Teagasc clients or something?

Our teagasc sheep discussion group does a day out every year along with the other groups that our facilitator looks after, we asked bournes could we come for a few hrs and it was no problem, went bowling on the way home and then a meal in athlone.......we're easy amused.
There was about 50 of us from 3 groups
Their horses do very well, good few prizewinners in the RDS this year, also their other son has a fam in new york that they export some of the sport horses too

barnaman · 07-02-2016 10:14pm

It really paid back then alot of finishers were are at it; father named a long list of lads who were at it and sure Rangler could do the same. The corruption and general dodginess back then was unreal. Farm here is just under 400 acres and relations with even larger farms and my father would know alot that used to go on. What made me laugh was that alot of lads at it were substantial Protestant farmers and the guys supplying it were getting it from the North from that organisation that Gerry never ever belonged to; and that the supplier was common knowledge too. Just goes to show when it comes to money people not care.

Bass Reeves · 08-02-2016 12:51am

This put in perceptive all the US technology that he speaks about that is not available here. It is interesting as well that now he is getting a premium for supplying GM free beef. All in all a goof farmer but it is a lot easier to be a good farmer if you have to make decisions between putting bread on the table or kids to college and putting rubber mats under bulls.

Everything he is doing is top class but that is relative to size of farm. Yes he has 15 employed but in that size of operation you would expect that. The interesting thing is that he is not trying to make it pay from around the mart ring. He has a really novel way of buying cattle. He or his agent sources the cattle from farms, then he agrees a price/kg. The farmer brings them to his farm they are weighed, paper work done and payed for. No mart fees, no agent fees ( unless he uses an agent to source) and no transport fees on the supply side. That is 25/ head saved straight off and no ar5eing around the mart 3-4 days a week buying 30-40 cattle and running a land cruised and box. On the plus side for the farmer supplying, again no mart fees, no day selling and collect on the day.

I imagine the sheep unit is similar. If he is selling 2 lambs/ewe then he is selling 3K lambs to the factory/year.

farawaygrass · 08-02-2016 10:32am

FarmerDougal wrote: »

250 Sfp in total

60-70 a head not much good..15 full time staff to be paid aswell

Not all paid out of the beef though. The horse business they have is very lucrative, they are very very good at it, and with the other son and farm in America they have a lot of contacts built up. Tbh I'd say if he was clearing that he would be doing better that slot of lads.
I wonder will the carcass weight limit have a lot of implications for him?

Cattlepen · 08-02-2016 11:48am

rangler1 wrote: »

yea I was aware of it at the time, the fines were so lenient at the time that most of us were kicking ourselves that we didn't indulge, a lot of people made a lot of money using them

Never kicked myself for not using it and was killing a lot of cattle per year at the time.
Don't forget the suppliers of the illegal growth promoters shot and killed a farmer in tipperary

Willfarman · 08-02-2016 12:58pm

It was rampant in the early 90s in these parts. Remember these bucks ruling the roost for the heavy cattle in the marts.. I see one of them trains horses now.

MickeyShtyles · 08-02-2016 1:38pm

MfMan wrote: »

Was it an invite-only event or open to Teagasc clients or something?

Invite only.

Cattlepen · 08-02-2016 2:22pm

Willfarman wrote: »

It was rampant in the early 90s in these parts. Remember these bucks ruling the roost for the heavy cattle in the marts.. I see one of them trains horses now.

Very true. It was to hard compete with them alright. And the dogs in the street knew who was using it and who was selling it. It was a sort of a farming Mafia

patsy_mccabe · 08-02-2016 2:45pm

I remember when those 'Growth Promoters', as they called them then, were legal. They used to drive bullocks mad. They'd start acting like bulls, bellowing and rooting the ground etc.

Cattlepen · 08-02-2016 5:57pm

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I remember when those 'Growth Promoters', as they called them then, were legal. They used to drive bullocks mad. They'd start acting like bulls, bellowing and rooting the ground etc.

Some of the real smart boy is used to give it to lambs. Crazy stuff

Count Mondego · 08-02-2016 11:58pm

barnaman wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/farmer-fined-22-500-over-cattle-growth-hormones-1.109924

I'm surprised Mary was so lenient. Usually she's a hard case of a judge.

Bullocks · 09-02-2016 12:32am

Count Mondego wrote: »

I'm surprised Mary was so lenient. Usually she's a hard case of a judge.

I'd say it's harder she is getting in her old age aswell , no harm for alot of repeat offenders

Big Beef Finishing Unit In Galway

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