In 1974, a young man called Jim O’Regan who had been working on the family farm in Bandon, Co. Cork decided to go out on his own and began spreading lime for local farmers.
Today, Jim farms 1,600 acres of land which is mainly used to grow cereals, but also sugar beet (approximately 135 acres) for animal feed. He has certainly come a long way since the days of when he first began providing a service to the farming public.
Wheats, oats and barley are the preferred cereals grown on Jim’s land at Coolyrahilly, near Kinsale and for this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri, we profile his farm and speak to Jim about the many aspects that help make a successful business.
“We have in the region of 1,600 acres these days, the majority of which is leased and shared farmed,” he says.
“In the 1970s, after I started spreading the lime, I diversified into sugar beet and in 1975, started off growing eight acres.
“Over the years, the tillage enterprise expanded with wheat oats and barley being our main focus now. We harvest 700 acres of winter cereals, while we do the same amount of spring cereals. The oats crop is grown on contract for Flahavan’s Mill.”
Jim revealed that in the 1990s, he decided to extend his business: “I bought two big square balers in 1994 and have done a lot of work in Co. Cork with these. We bale approximately 11,000 bales of straw for the livestock market and deliver all over Munster and to Northern Ireland.” “There has been a large customer base on the books for many years now. We have a lot of repeat customers and we know that once we provide the right level of service, they will keep giving us their business” he said,
Another area of the business is his landfill site and he has the relevant permits to remove earth and stone to a landfill site on his land.
“We started the landfill site in 2007 and we have our own trucks on the road. Earth and stone are brought from building sites to our own site where they are disposed of, and we have all the necessary permits to carry out this work. We have three trucks, one artic and two rigids which have demountable bodies.
Jim also has a major contract to spread slurry. “Slurry spreading is a big part of the business and I’ve a contract to spread two million gallons of slurry with two local piggeries. The nutrient value of pig slurry brings life to the soil and it is very beneficial to our land.”
An extensive range of machinery is needed to carry out the duties and Jim told us that he is not afraid to add to the fleet of machinery if a particular machine is needed.
“We upgrade on a regular basis. You have too. There is a lot of machinery and plant here, all of which is in excellent condition. We dry most of the grain and store when necessary.
Jim has a wide range of modern machinery to carry out his work quickly and efficiently. He operates a New Holland CX8090 four-wheel drive combine harvester which is the largest of New Holland straw walker machines. He also has a wide range of New Holland tractors form the earlier 8360s to the newer T.7260 with front and rear linkage. This tractor is used for big square baling and for powering a six metre Kuhn combination unit with front seed hopper, power harrow and seed unit.
Jim also runs three industrial loaders, two of which are JCB TM300s which he finds ideal for stacking and loading big square bales of straw. He purchases his machinery from Cavanagh’s of Fermoy, McCarthy & Sullivan of Ballincollig and Bandon, McCarthy Commercials, main Volvo dealers in Watergrasshill as well as E.C.I. in Carrigtowhill.
A passionate farmer, Jim has been no shrieking violet when it comes to fighting the cause of tillage farmers and he has held many positions in the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
“I became the county grain chairman in 1987 and in 1994 I became overall county chairman,” he explains.
“In 2000, I was elected onto the IFA sugar beet committee, representing Bandon/Kinsale. I was elected national chairman of the same committee in 2003.”
During his tenure as national chairman, Jim was involved in critical negotiations on sugar reform and at all timesPicturesque Cork was opposed to the closure of the sugar beet industry.
“I believe then and still believe that we should have retained the sugar beet industry,” he maintains.
“I was extremely critical of the line taken by IFA nationally by the then officers and senior staff for the misleading information supplied to growers during the lead-up to the closure of the industry in 2005/06. I was extremely critical of a banner headline on the Irish Farmers’ Journal in May 2005 which stated that growers would receive €750 per tonne in compensation. There was absolutely no basis whatsoever for such a headline.
“I believe that it was a deliberately misleading headline put out by the Irish Farm Centre in Bluebell, Dublin to shift the emphasis away from the retention of the industry to that of going for compensation.”
Jim continues: “Growers were also advised by IFA personnel that most of the beet growing countries across Europe were about to exit the industry and that there was a limited pool of compensation, and that if we didn’t sign up quickly, that we would miss out on this compensation package.
“I was also be critical of the Government, Greencore and the EU for their stance on the industry. Latvia and ourselves were the only two countries in Europe to exit the industry, and look what has happened to the price of sugar since, escalating to over €700 a tonne.
“The tillage sector has never recovered from the loss of this vital crop as well as being a hugely beneficial break crop for cereals,” laments Jim, who has ceased all involvement in I.F.A in protest at their stance.
On a lighter note, Jim is actively involved in the DeCourcey Vintage Club which is an annual vintage machinery show held on his land.
The DeCourcey Harvest Working Day Show is different to any other farming show in the country as the machinery there is not just on display, but is seen to be working as Jim gives up a portion of his winter barley crop for the event. The Show is held on the August Bank Holiday weekend and has grown year on year.
“We are delighted to have hosted the Show for the last four years,” the affable Kinsale man enthuses.
“In 2013, Claas celebrated their 100th anniversary and sponsored the event on our farm, while New Holland celebrated the 50th anniversary of tractor manufacturing at their Basildon plant last year.
“The Show has continued to grow and up to 6,000 people attended last year. With New Holland celebrating, there was a line-up of models from the earliest model assembled at the old Ford plant in the Marina in Cork in 1920 to present-day models, as well as New Holland combine harvesters from the late 1950s to the present day.
“All proceeds are donated to charitable organisations and to local clubs. Everything is done voluntarily.”
Jim has worked hard to get to where he is today and he admitted that it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of his wife Eileen and family. These days, their son Martin is on board and ready to lead the O’Regan farm into the next generation.
Jim O’Regan
Coolrahilly
Bandon
Co Cork
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 9, October 2015
