General manager of Aurivo Marts and mart manager at Balla Mart in Co. Mayo, farmer Stephen Hannon, has said that “the suckler cow and breeding ewe are the backbone of rural Ireland”.
He was speaking to farmers at a recent conference held in Tuam, Co, Galway on the future of agriculture, organised by Fine Gael.
“The marts in the west of Ireland, and certainly in the regions where we [Aurivo] operate, are mainly dependent on the suckler cow and the breeding ewes,” he told the meeting.
“For the marts to survive into the future, farmers have to keep calving the cows, have to keep lambing the ewes and the suckler cow and the breeding ewe is the backbone of rural Ireland.
“If they leave rural Ireland, it will be a very difficult landscape for sure,” he added.
“Our livestock marts face lots of challenges into the future and we will depend on throughput of cattle and sheep to keep our doors opened. That’s what we survive on, it’s the commission of the cattle and the sheep.”
Hannon said that rural communities and farmers are facing “crippling costs” for feed, fertiliser and fuel, which he said has the potential to “wipe out many viable farms”.
Speaking about the sheep trade in general, Hannon said: “We’ve seen it since mid-last year, the price dropping every week. It took a particularly bad turn at January of this year.
“You’re talking about €20 or €22 of a difference in a lamb this year compared to this time last year and sheep farmers are very absolutely downbeat over it.
“It must be down to markets. We [have] seen the beef, since Covid-19, has really improved and the beef factories often got slack for not paying enough and it is down to marketing.”
Hannon added that whatever marketing can be done to promote sheep and ensure better markets for produce is vital.
“People will leave the business if something doesn’t change, and change quickly,” he stated.
Challenges for the industry
Hannon stated that the challenge facing the industry is the retention of young farmers in the sectors.
“The average age of beef farmers in Ireland at the moment is 59 years, so the younger generation must see that farming is a worthwhile career,” he said.
“As I look around our marts every week, we know that we have a very aging population coming to our marts.”
Hannon said that on a positive note, while Covid-19 was a terrible time for marts and other businesses, which also brought sadness to homes, it did bring some positive change too, for example to the way marts operate.
“The introduction of online [facilities], whilst it probably was coming in time, but definitely Covid-19 brought it a lot quicker into the business and that gives young farmers a chance to do business without being in the mart all day.
“It’s not everybody [who] wants to hang around the mart all day and young farmers – it is giving them a chance to do business without hanging around all day,” Hannon said.
Climate change
The Aurivo manager said that farmers as “well aware” of their responsibilities in terms of climate change.
“The challenge here is to get the balance right between climate change and keeping rural Ireland alive,” he said.
“This is where we depend on the farming organisations and the local politicians to get the mix right to keep rural Ireland alive.”
Aurivo Marts
Hannon told the conference that Aurivo employs over 650 staff based in the west of Ireland.
It owns four livestock marts: Balla, Co. Mayo, which sells almost 40,000 cattle per year; Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo which sells 50,000 sheep and about 11,000 per year; as well at Ballymote, Co. Sligo which sells cattle and sheep; and the cattle mart at Mohill, Co. Leitrim.
Hannon said that approximately €1 million was paid to part-time employees in 2022 working at the four marts.
The Aurivo marts had a combined turnover of €100 million last year according to Hannon.
He said:
“That’s €100 million that goes back into the local economy of the area we operate in and it’s money that ends up back in shops, stores, restaurants, pubs and a lot of it, indeed, makes its way back to the marts again for repeat business.
“We must never lose sight of the fact that marts play a crucial role at the very heart of Irish rural society,” Hannon said.