The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney TD this evening, 18 July, officially opened the expanded J Grennan & Sons’ animal feed compounding mill at Rath Co Offaly. Representing an investment of €6m, the new facility will allow the business to almost double its annual 100,000 tonnes throughput while, at the same time, allowing Grennan’s to manufacture high quality pelleted feeds for the dairy, beef and sheep sectors.
Speaking at the opening of the new Mill, Minister Coveney congratulated the Grennan family and said: “This is a very significant initiative for the farming and food sector in the Midlands and this investment by Grennans will play an important role in maximising farm output in the livestock sector which will contribute to achieving the targets set out in Food Harvest 2020”.
The new plant will also help secure the existing 70 jobs at Rath and facilitate the creation of higher employment levels during the period ahead. Grennan’s has one of the fastest growing customer base throughout Ireland, supplying a comprehensive range of compound feeds, fertilisers, crop packaging, seeds and agrochemicals, through its wide network of wholesale customers.
The company, which is family owned, has a history stretching back to 1878. Speaking at the official opening managing director John Grennan said: “This is an historic day for the business. It represents the culmination of many years’ work and will give us a platform to build for the future.”
He added: “We are a customer driven company. And that means putting the needs of farmers first at all times. There is every expectation that Irish agriculture and food is about to enter a period of sustained growth.
“In order to maximise these opportunities, farm businesses must become efficiency driven. Our recent investment programme has been undertaken to ensure that producers can achieve these objectives in the most cost effective way possible.”
Grennan went on to confirm that the coming on stream of the new pelleting plant at Rath should open new opportunities for Grennan’s within the dairy and other ruminant sector.
“We are totally committed to manufacturing rations of the highest quality, which is backed up by a comprehensive advisory and technical support service,” he explained.
Selected as the Offaly Person of the Year for 2012, John Grennan has been to the fore in driving forward the business over recent years. A farmer, himself, he is fully aware of the challenges facing the various agriculture sectors throughout Ireland and has structured the company to act as a genuine partner to its fast growing customer base.
Grennan concluded: “The growth that we have achieved over recent years reflects the total commitment of everyone working within the business. It really has been a team effort and I would like to thank everyone involved for the tremendous work they have put in. Agri food has a bright future. And J Grennan and Sons is keen to be at the very heart of these developments.”
Images
Main: The new compound animal feed Mill at J Grennan & Sons, Rath, Co Offaly, was officially opened by Farm Minister Simon Coveney TD (centre) in the company of Mary and John Grennan
Pictured: Chatting at the official opening of the new J Grennan & Sons’ animal feed mill were Michale Burke, J Grennan & Sons,
Michael Stephens, Birr and Colm Duffy, Alltech
Pictured: Discussing the scope of the investment undertaken at J Grennan & Sons were Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney TD, John Grennan and John Deering, from Emo in Co Laois 
Pictured: J Grennan & Sons’ managing director John Grennan (right) discusses the quality of the dairy, beef and sheep nuts – now being manufactured at the company’s new feed mill – with Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney