One of Ireland’s leading strawberry growers is Jimmy Kearns of Kearns Fruit Farm near Enniscorthy. Thrust into the family business at an early age following the sudden death of his father, it has been a way of life for him for almost 50 years.
Jimmy was in his early teens when he lost both of his parents, Margaret and Pat, within the space of 10 months. Pat started the business in the early 1950s and a young Jimmy was left to take up the reins. Today, he runs Kearns Fruit Farm in the shadow of Mount Leinster along with his wife Susan, son Noel, daughter Patricia and son-in-law and Wexford’s 1996 All-Ireland winning hurling goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry, who is married to another daughter, Eilis.
Employing up to 80 staff at peak times, the company grows strawberries as well as raspberries, blackberries, barley and wheat. The fresh strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are supplied to multiples Dunnes Stores, Musgraves and Lidl, while the barley goes to Boortmalt in Enniscorthy for malt production.
“Wexford is famous for its strawberries and like many growers in the area at the time, my father initially grew them for jam production,” Jimmy explains.
“The likes of Chivers and Robinson’s had factories in the area who all the local growers supplied their strawberries to. But since they closed, the number of growers has fallen dramatically. Up to the 1990s, there were between 400 and 500 growers in Wexford. Nowadays, there are no more than 15 growers left and half of those are small.
“We have worked hard and invested heavily in equipment and staff to remain the size we are. We grow 30 acres of strawberries in tunnels and a further five-and-a-half acres in glasshouses each year. We also grow indoors one acre of raspberries and a quarter of an acre of blackberries. On top of that, we grow 60 acres of barley and 10 acres of wheat. We take great pride in everything we produce and are members of both the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme and the Good Food Ireland Initiative.”
Strawberries are grown for seven months of the year, while raspberries have a shorter time frame of three months. The process begins in March when strawberries are planted in heated glass tunnels. The first of the 60-day crops are planted in April for July picking when the main crop also arrives. Raspberries and blackberries are planted at the end of May and are harvested 10 weeks later. Kearns Fruit Farm plants strawberries every two weeks from March onwards. In total, about one million strawberry plants are planted each year.
“We produce about 25 tonnes of strawberries every week. Because of the time constraints involved and the need to have them on the shop shelves as quickly as possible, the work is very labour intensive. When we’re really busy, I’d be working seven days a week and would hardly have time to go to Mass on a Sunday,” Jimmy says.
The last two years have been among the toughest the affable fruit grower has ever experienced due to extreme weather conditions. Last year, the hot weather wreaked havoc, while this year heavy rainfall has had a hugely detrimental effect on his strawberry crop.
“We’re after having two bad years,” he ruefully reflects.
“It was too hot last summer and this summer it’s been too wet. Our problems this year started last October when we had to take the plastic off the tunnels six weeks ahead of schedule due to the storms. Then we had a cold start to the year which impacted on pollinating. Yields were back by up to 40%.
“Thankfully, the 60-day crops we planted in April did well. They had a nice slow production system because the weather wasn’t too hot. But then the month of May and half of June were poor. We’ve had a very poor summer overall. We haven’t had two good days together and that’s not good when your product has such a limited shelf life.
“Growing fruit isn’t easy. The crops require a lot care and attention. There are huge risks involved and you’re always at the mercy of the weather. It can be very stressful, but you have to take the setbacks on the chin and keep going.”
Kearns Fruit Farm in Curraghgraigue houses numerous tunnels and glasshouses as well as a state-of-the-art packhouse. Jimmy has an array of equipment to carry out the various tasks, including two John Deere tractors (613 and R125), a David Brown 1390, a Massey Ferguson 135, a LS orchard tractor, two Manitou telehandlers, a DAF refrigerated rigid truck, three Ford Transit vans and a Mercedes Sprinter van.
Jimmy’s passion for growing fruit has seen him hold various representative positions for fruit growers. He is a founding member, former chairman and director of Wexford Fruit Producers Ltd. The other directors are Philip Somers, John Greene and John Mernagh. He is also vice-chairman of the Irish Soft Fruit Growers’ Association and chairman of the IFA Fruit Horticulture Committee.
Jimmy notes how rising labour costs and adherence to voluntary quality assurance schemes, which ensure the highest standards on traceability, food hygiene, workers’ rights and sustainability, have created increased financial burden on growers, which is not recognised by retailers.
“Sales of fruit continue to increase in volume as consumers are buying more quantity per trip, but it is critical that strawberries are treated as a premium product and that growers receive a fair return.
“Although Irish strawberries are synonymous with the Irish summer, growers have made sizeable investments on their farms to extend the production season beyond the summer months. Fresh fruit is now available to the Irish consumer from April right through to November.”
He continues: “We need to get more money for our produce. Farming is at a crossroads right across the board. The trend towards bigger farms and intensive farming is a worry. If we start mass producing, the question has to be asked: what’s the quality and health of that product? Produce won’t get the same care or attention to detail as they do on smaller farms.”
Regardless of what the future holds, quality and freshness will continue to be the number one goal of Jimmy and the Kearns Fruit Farm team. Buying Irish strawberries means that, as well as supporting a locally grown product and local industry, consumers also benefit from the nutritional and health benefits of this delicious fruit. Strawberries are a versatile fruit which are naturally high in Vitamins C and K, and are also an excellent source of fibre, folic acid and phytonutrients known as anthocyanins, which give them their vibrant red colour.
Kearns Fruit Farm
Curraghgraigue,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
Telephone: 087 824 1978 (Jimmy) or 087 663 0347 (Susan)
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 7 No 6, November 2019
