The Craig family have been farming from their base up in Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal for a quarter of a century now, so Irish Tractor & Agri felt it was time to catch up with a member of the clan.
Farming and family is a combination has always gone hand in hand together in this country like no other and for 50 years now the Craig family have been making it work with a certain degree of success.
Since taking over the reins of the business from their father, Ian Craig and his brothers have been endeavouring to make sure that things continue to thrive for their farm in the midst of tough economic times.
Down through the years, the Craig name has gained a glowing reputation for their beef and grain trade, with the latter being the primary focus in the family with some 400 acres of land dedicated to its continued growth. They also have between 100 and 200 acres dedicated to potato growth.
“We’re based here in Newtowncunningham, Lifford in Co Donegal,” explained Ian. “We’re established 50 years and my father (Robin) would have started up here first.
“There’s four full-time working here and a few others part-time along with that during the busy periods. I’ve two brothers working with me, Robert and Colin, and my father is still involved with the company as well.”
When Robin Craig snr first started his agri business in the mid-1950s with no land, he worked hard and with the help of his sons he now built up the farm to over 800 acres.
Ian has been involved in the agricultural industry most of his life now, having left school at 16, along with his brother Colin, to do placement work in all different parts of the country before taking on the responsibility of his own agricultural outfit.
“We own about 800 acres of land and rent another 500 on top of that,” Ian explained.
“Approximately 180 of those acres would be potatoes and then we have between 200 and 400 acres of grain, which would consist of spring barley and spring oats. Beef is just doing ok at the minute. We finish every year with somewhere in between 2,000 and 2,500 bulls, so beef is just about covering cost. Grain, on the other hand, would be very busy for us.”
As things stand, the Craigs’ farm are currently killing upwards of 1,500 cattle on an annual basis and those high numbers go a long way in explaining why they have to employ up to four staff during their peak times.
The Craigs have earned a glowing reputation over the last two-and-a-half decades for the efficiency they carry out in their work and it has seen their numbers rise across the board – whether it be acres owned, cattle killed or grain purchased. The latter has become a huge part of the business and it’s no surprise to see Ian having invested strongly in his grain over the past 12 months.
“We purchased 1,800 tonnes of grain this year and we’d be crushing anything between 4,000 and 6,000 tonnes here,” he said.
“We started calf to beef two years ago as well and it has been going ok for us – we started it with 350 calves in 2014 and in 2015 it rose to 600. Hopefully that will pick up more in the next few years.”
2015 was a marked improvement on last year, according to Ian. A mixture of poor weather and businesses going under off the back of the economic downturn made things that bit more challenging but they’ve certainly felt a turnaround 12 months on.
The overall picture is brighter now than it was then and Ian is looking forward to 2016 with enthusiasm, having experienced some rare mild weather in October and November which helped to make up for a damp summer to some degree.
“Last year was very difficult with bad bull and potato prices. The weather was poor enough this summer as well, but it’s very good now at the moment,” said Ian.
“Donegal gets a lot of different weather all year round and it has been a good improvement lately, but there are still a lot of crops that aren’t ready yet.”
Different aspects of the business see Ian and his brothers kept busy all year round, however. Between cattle feeding, two mobile mills for crushing grains and boxing potatoes during the winter months, their services are demanded 12 months a year – which any agricultural contractor would be happy to report.
The farm’s fleet is made up of nine tractors and four teleporters and over the last 15 years, the Craigs have put much of their trust into two of the most reliable brands in the industry.
“We’ve a fleet of six John Deere, three New Hollands and four teleporters here at the moment,” said Ian.
“We had all Massey Fergusons in our fleet up until 2000 and changed to John Deere and New Hollands. John Deere are a reliable brand and even though New Hollands are a bit sharp on diesel we still like to use them for the work that we do here. We’ve bought New Hollands mostly in the last three years here.”
Ian’s brother, Robert, runs a potato chipping outfit called Craig Fresh Chips, while the youngest brother Colin specialises in bulls under 16 months old. Colin himself would have a herd of between 600 and 700 continentals.
Ian and his brothers will no doubt be hoping for more of the same busy times – across all fronts – again next year, and you can be sure that more heady times are ahead with all shoulders set to go to the wheel again in 2016.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 2, March 2017
