So Prof. Gerry Boyle makes a few erudite comments about the future significance of dairy-bred beef in Ireland and instantly, all the naysayers – not to mention the luddites – throw their collective rattles out of the pram at the same time.
This is just typical of the way that Irish agriculture goes about its business.
More to the point, did Gerry go off on a solo run? Or did he brief his successor as Teagasc director, Prof. Frank O’ Mara, of his intention to go public on the matter?
Personally, I find it hard to believe that Boyle would not have taken such a close colleague into his confidence on the matter, before addressing an issue that will dominate such a large proportion of Teagasc’s future funding allocation and research expertise.
Boyle taking one for the team?
One might also imagine that the aforementioned Prof. O’Mara is sitting down right now penning a note to his former boss, encompassing the following sentiments:
‘Gerry, may I take this opportunity of wishing you a long and happy retirement. PS, you took one for the team on the way out the door. Well done you. Your commitment to the cause will not be forgotten!’
But I come back to the fundamental point. The reality is that dairy beef will be at the heart of Irish agriculture for many years to come.
And this unfolding scenario has nothing at all to do with the farming response to climate change. Rather it has everything to do with the growing use of sexed semen within the dairy industry.
If milk producers can get the replacements they need from a much smaller cohort of cows then, obviously, the scope to produce more beef-bred calves from the national dairy herd increases accordingly.
Future for beef
Ah, but there’s beef… and then there is quality beef. Ireland is full of those ’purists’ who believe that the only beef animal worth talking about is one born to a three-quarter bred Charolais or Limousin cow.
These zealots also hold the view that they have a divine right to dictate the policies followed by an entire industry, on the basis of their totally dogmatic perspectives.
What absolute nonsense! Quality beef will always secure a premium from the market place. And, in current circumstances, meat derived from proven Angus and Hereford sires ticks this box in every possible sense.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the plants pay the full Angus and Hereford premium on all eligible animals, whether or not they are born to dairy or suckler dams.
Consumers seem to be happy with this arrangement, so why can’t this reality be fully and positively embraced by the Irish beef industry as a whole?
‘Storm in a teacup’
I would liken the outcry that followed Prof. Boyle’s comments on the future of dairy beef to a ‘storm in a teacup’.
As the outgoing director of Teagasc, he has every right to express his views on the whole panoply of issues that are impacting Irish agriculture right now.
In the meantime, the Irish beef industry has much more significant challenges to confront e.g. getting sustainable prices for farmers in the long-term being at the top of a very long list.