A young farmer in Donegal says innovation is vital to the future of farming. Stephen Robb is a farmer from Newtowncunningham, Co.Donegal and earlier this year he won the Young Tillage Farmer of the Year award at the FBD/Macra Young Farmer of the Year Awards.
The competition is organised by Macra na Feirme in partnership with the IFA and sponsors, FBD. The Co. Donegal farmer was crowned at an awards ceremony in the Boyne Valley Hotel and Country Club in Drogheda, Co. Louth in September.
There were sector prizes for dairy, beef, tillage and sheep as well as adjudicator prizes. Stephen has won the prestigious title following a challenging interview process visit. He has won a €500 travel bursary.
Stephen said despite all of the challenges facing not just the farming sector but the tillage sector in particular with poor grain prices and dreadful weather conditions; he says he still has confidence in the future of tillage farming in Ireland. However, he says being innovative is key to overcoming these challenges:
“Farming is in incredibly challenging times at the moment, you look at the dairy situation, it’s been a very bad year for them, beef continues to be very challenging, sheep is doing reasonable at the moment, but my own area tillage, the prices are on the floor and huge losses are being made” said Stephen.
“The best we can get now is about €120- 130 per tonne of grain, a lot of crops are not making money this year, the winter barley harvest was a total write off. Spring barley was on course to break even until it was ravaged by the weather. Winter wheat did ok and we were just extremely lucky with the spring oilseed rape.”
So what does the future hold for farming in Ireland?
“Going forward, innovation is key, as well as increased efficiency and the two go hand in hand. For our own situation, we cover a lot of ground and in order to help us do this, we’ve invested in a number of precision agriculture technologies.
“We use a number of GPS systems to help maximise our efficiency. This helps us ensure that the crop receives the correct treatments and nutrients while minimising wastage and overlaps.
“That’s one example of how we are going to survive in these times of low prices and increased volatility. We have try and get as much crops out of the ground, while being efficient as possible.”
Is there a future in farming? Absolutely.
“In my opinion, yes we’re in the middle of a dark period for the tillage sector particularly in Donegal, but there’s ups and there’s downs in every sector and I’ve no doubt that there is light at the end of the tunnel, it’s really about getting through these bad couple of years.
“We’re on a global market, being players in the global market means we have to take advantages of the highs and shelter ourselves from the lows.”
Having completed a four year BAgrSc (Hons) Food and Agribusiness Management degree with University College Dublin, Stephen is currently in the middle of completing a MAgrSc in Agricultural Innovation Support with Teagasc and UCD studying the area of bioenergy and energy crops. While also completing a HETAC Professional Diploma in Integrated Pest Management and the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, Stephen is still heavily involved in farming at home with his father Liam and uncle Cieran who run Drumbuoy Farm.
With over 35 years’ experience the business provides an extensive range of agricultural services, including full farm contracts. Crop husbandry operations include crop spraying, fertiliser spreading and slug pellet application on cereals, potatoes and grass. Arable operations include ploughing, harrowing, cultivation, drilling, rolling, sowing, harvesting and baling. Potato Operations include seedbed cultivation, bedforming, destoning, planting and harvesting. The company also produces oilseed rape for Donegal Rapeseed Oil Company.
The weather as mentioned plays a huge part in harvesting as there are only small windows of opportunity to get the work done.
“The rainfall we experience here in Donegal is far greater than in the key tillage areas in the rest of the country. In July, 29.6mm of rain fell in Oakpark Carlow, while Dublin was 43.7mm, but in Donegal, the rainfall measured at 109.9mm. The 2016 harvest has been the most difficult I have experienced so far. The relentless poor weather which has hampered the Northwest has made harvest conditions extremely challenging, as well as significantly reducing the yield of the crops we were able to harvest. Every grower up here is in the same boat, it’s a matter of getting through it at this stage and looking to next year.
“So that gives you an indication of what we have to deal with up here. The farm is geared towards narrow weather windows and this allows us to cover a lot of ground as efficiently as possible.”
There are many challenges to be met in farming, but with young people like Stephen having the drive and determination to make the most of the opportunities that are being put on front of them, then the future of farming is in safe hands.
Contact Details
Stephen Robb
Drumbuoy,
Newtowncunningham,
Co. Donegal
Tel: 087 297 4610
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 8, October 2016
