Farming Independent

23/09/2025

“Can we watch the guy that does the cows’ feet?”

That’s what Eamon O’Connell’s five-year-old asked one rainy evening at the hurling pitch. Not cartoons. Not superheroes. Just a Scottish hoof trimmer on YouTube, expertly lifting and paring cows’ hooves.

It might sound funny, but there’s a serious lesson for every farmer here. Lameness in cows isn’t just a welfare problem – it hits milk yield, weight gain, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Eamon walks through what to look for before problems get chronic: the subtle dip behind a cow’s last rib, an arch in the back, or a bobbing head as she walks. Small signs, big consequences if missed. He also shares why regular hoof care, early detection, and a careful eye at milking can save weeks of pain and lost profit.

👉 Read the full column here:

‘Can we watch the guy that does the cows’ feet?” my five-year-old daughter asked me on Thursday evening. We were sitting in the jeep at the hurling field, waiting for her two brothers to finish training.

23/09/2025

“It’s all about looking at what the markets want, increasing profit and having cash-flow at different times of the year.”

That’s the motto of the Glennon family in Ballydangan, south Roscommon – and it’s how three generations are making sucklers work when so many others have stepped back.

On 130 acres, Martin farms alongside his father Michael, brother Shane and even his grandfather Peter. Their herd is a mix of pedigree Simmentals, commercial sucklers, Belgian Blue show-calf producers and even bucket-reared Angus and Hereford calves.

It’s a system built on split calving, careful bull selection and a sharp eye for what buyers are chasing – from U grade weanlings for export, to pedigree bulls for sales, to the growing demand for Belgian Blue stock in the show ring.

There were years when weanling prices nearly broke them, but they stuck with it. Now, with prices turning and demand running hot, Martin says the outlook for sucklers is finally “looking very positive” – and he reckons the next generation will stick with it if the trade stays strong.

👉 Full story here: https://www.independent.ie/farming/beef/its-all-about-looking-at-what-the-markets-want-and-increasing-profit-how-this-roscommon-family-get-maximum-value-from-their-suckler-farm/a317564934.html

23/09/2025

Would you be happy if the exact location of your herd was published for all to see?

That’s the reality facing over 600 of Ireland’s biggest cattle farms after a ruling ordered the Department of Agriculture to hand over herd numbers and locations to an environmental group.

The Commissioner for Environmental Information says there’s a “public interest” in knowing where the country’s largest herds are, since they’re linked to emissions targets. The Department argued it’s personal data and should be kept private — but the ruling disagreed.

Now the clock is ticking: farmers or the Department have just two months to appeal to the High Court.

👉 Read the full story here: https://www.independent.ie/farming/news/ruling-forces-government-to-share-location-details-of-irelands-largest-cattle-farms/a1935542605.html?errorCode=0

What’s your take — is this transparency gone too far, or do farmers need to brace for more of it?

The Department of Agriculture, has been ordered to release the herd numbers and exact locations of Ireland's largest cattle farms, following a decisive ruling by the Commissioner for Environmental Information (CEI)

23/09/2025

“I’d be €10,000 better off this year if I was with another processor.”

That’s not a soundbite from a farm lobbyist or a co-op critic. It’s from dairy farmer Peter Hynes, writing in this week’s Farming Independent.

When Dairygold dropped milk price by 3c/l in one swoop, Peter says it wasn’t just a cut - it was a shock. Even the sales team didn’t see it coming.

Farmers are angry, meetings are being held, and questions are piling up fast:

Why weren’t suppliers warned?

Could the board have softened the blow?

And with markets still in free-fall, how much lower can base price really go?

👉 Read Peter’s full piece here: https://www.independent.ie/farming/comment/3cl-is-a-drop-too-far-why-dairygolds-drastic-cut-has-left-farmers-furious/a1483807568.html

23/09/2025

“Married to the cows” – that’s how one reader described life on a big dairy farm today.

We asked our followers why young people are turning away from farming, and the responses came in fast and frank. Money alone isn’t the issue. While €150,000 in gross output might sound impressive, many pointed out that once feed, machinery, fertiliser, diesel, insurance, and loan repayments are covered, the take-home is far less.

The bigger concern, readers said, is the lifestyle. Farming is relentless – seven days a week, 365 days a year. Holidays are rare, social life often takes a back seat, and the emotional toll can be heavy. “Slavery” and “a lonely life” were words used by more than one person to describe the reality.

Then there’s the bureaucracy. Inspections, environmental rules, paperwork – for some, it’s the regulatory maze that turns young people away faster than the pay packet ever could. Succession pressures also loom large, with family tensions over land or decision-making sometimes making it feel impossible for a young farmer to step up.

Several readers warned that farming itself may be turning off the next generation. Constant complaints about stress and hardship, they said, plant the idea in young minds that farming isn’t worth it.

So, the question is:
👉 Is it the lifestyle, the bureaucracy, or family dynamics that’s the real barrier?
👉 And what would make young people excited to take over the reins again?

Full story and all the reader voices (paywalled): https://www.independent.ie/farming/news/married-to-the-cows-readers-weigh-in-on-why-young-people-are-turning-away-from-farming/a591633451.html

23/09/2025

“Cheap food was never real – it was just farmers carrying the cost.”
That was the blunt message from the IFA last week, calling the recent hikes in food prices a “necessary correction” after 20 years of being held below the cost of production.

For too long, the price of milk, veg, meat and grain lagged miles behind inflation – forcing hundreds of growers and producers out of business. Electricity went up tenfold in 20 years… food barely moved.

Now prices are finally catching up, but for many families it feels like a shock. The IFA says it’s not profiteering, just a long-overdue levelling out – and unless farmers are paid properly, there won’t be food to buy in the first place.

👉 Do you see these hikes as fair correction, or just more pressure on households?
👉 And will consumers ever accept that good food simply can’t be cheap?

Full report:

The era of “unsustainable” cheap food is officially over, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.

23/09/2025

“£30 for a steak – and that’s just the rump.”
That’s the warning from across the water, as British steakhouses push prices past what most diners would have thought possible not long ago.

For Irish farmers, it’s worth watching: the UK is still our biggest beef customer, and supplies are tightening on both sides of the Irish Sea. Factories here might be pulling quotes, but restaurants in London are staring down the same squeeze and passing it straight onto the menu.

👉 Is beef drifting back to being a luxury rather than an everyday choice?
👉 And if UK consumers start balking at £30 steaks, what does that mean for the trade here?

Britain’s steakhouses are poised to start charging at least £30 (€34.40) for a piece of steak as restaurants grapple with soaring prices in what is Ireland’s most important beef market.

23/09/2025

Cull ewes clipped by 10–20c/kg this week… but at the ringside it’s a different story.
Some lads are still hammering out €4.60/kg, while breeding sheep are changing hands at money not seen in years.

One mart man reminded me this week that the Muslim wholesale trade in the towns is putting a serious base under heavy hoggets and culls – and you can see it in the prices.

So here’s the question:
👉 Are the factories talking the trade down again, or is it just the natural “stickiness” of the sheepmeat market?
👉 And with ram lambs hitting €4,000 in Di**le, are we seeing real confidence returning to the sector—or just a flash in the pan?

Full report (paywalled):

The only change to sheep quotes in the past seven days is a 10-20c/kg cut for cull ewes.

23/09/2025

“You’ll get nothing for them this week, I’m full.”
That’s what a farmer was told by a factory agent in a mart office last week.
Minutes later, the same agent was on the phone with his boss—desperate for cattle the very next morning and cursing himself for letting the only lad with beef walk out the door.

That little scene pretty much sums up the trade at the minute. Factories are talking the price down—but when it comes to it, they’re still paying more.

👉 Are lads right to house cattle now and hold out for stronger money later in the autumn?
👉 Or do you take the price that’s there before things slide?

One thing’s for sure: the tug-of-war between farmers and processors is heating up—and the numbers mightn’t be there to keep a lid on the trade.

Full story (paywalled): https://www.independent.ie/farming/beef/factories-forced-to-pay-more-despite-attempts-to-pull-quotes/a673698133.html?errorCode=0

18/09/2025

“Beef farmers might feel like David beating Goliath this year… but Goliath is already making other plans.”

High mart prices had plenty of us catching a dose of “mart fever” in 2024. Calves that looked more like Bambi than beef were making silly money — and some small farmers felt they finally had the upper hand on the factories.

But as Hannah Quinn-Mulligan points out, feedlots now account for 40pc of the kill — and they’re growing fast.

👉 So is this year’s win just a blip?
And if you had a bit of extra profit from cattle this year, would you plough it back into stock… or into something like solar panels, pensions, or even diversification?

Full column here:

Farmers are susceptible to many afflictions over the year. There is ‘silage fever’, which is the obsession to get your silage in before your neighbour’s.

18/09/2025

“Food prices will keep rising – and climate targets are driving it.”

Everyone’s feeling the squeeze at the checkout, but farmers are getting hammered on both sides — higher costs on everything from diesel to ration, while still being told to cut back stock numbers.

Eddie Punch argues it’s time for some brutal honesty: climate targets will force up the cost of food, and consumers need to be told straight.

👉 The question is:
Should the public be willing to pay more for Irish food — or are politicians hiding behind climate policy while farmers take the blame?

Read his full column here:

Rising food prices concern everybody. Farmers are also consumers, so the cost of the weekly shop is something we are all aware of.

18/09/2025

“Maize silage – the best finishing feed going… if you get it right.” 🌽

This year’s harvest has been one for the books – record early dates, high-quality crops, and maize coming off the field in August.

But here’s the catch: if you don’t judge maturity right or process the grain properly, you might as well watch hard-earned feed value pass straight through the animal.

Gerry Giggins lays out the do’s, don’ts, and the pitfalls that cost farmers money every winter.

This year continues to break records across the board. We had the earliest completion date of the grain harvest and straw baling, then we had high-quality hay being made and maize silage being harvested in August.