Growing our own food can be fun, but there is a science and skill to it as well. In Ireland 4,300 ha of vegetables with a farm gate value of €67m are grown annually.
Traditionally vegetable production took place close the main centres of population, such as Dublin and Cork. It’s no surprise that Dublin is the county growing the most vegetables, followed by Meath, Wexford and Cork. Vegetable growing is a very specialised and labour intensive enterprise. There are about 200 growers; many of these have been in the business for generations. The industry gives employment to around 1,000 people.
One area of Dublin is the location for the majority of vegetable growers in Co Dublin and that is Lusk. With perfect soil for growing vegetables, there is no doubt that this is the best place in the country to do just that.
A wide range of vegetables are grown in Ireland, the most popular being cabbage, carrots, broccoli, turnips, swedes, cauliflower and parsnips. Harvesting of vegetables normally takes place every week of the year but the main season of production is from July to March.
Vegetables grow on a wide range of soil types and in every county of the country. Most vegetables are conventionally grown but there is a small and increasing acreage of organic production. Outlets for the produce include supermarkets, local shops, farmer’s markets, restaurants and direct sale via the farm shop.
Most growers tend to focus on one or two vegetables and for this month’s edition of Irish Tractor we profile the family run Mark Taylor & Sons who have been operating for three generations now from their farm in Lusk.
Vegetable growing is a tough business mainly due to the pressures of supplying the multiples and coping with the vagaries of the weather, but Alan Taylor revealed to us that it is something that is in the blood.
“My brother Mark and I are fourth generation farmers and we have been growing produce here in North County Dublin for as long as we can remember,” said Mark.
Their Dad Mark Snr took over the family business in the late 1960s and at that stage, they focused on growing cereals, potatoes and a variety of vegetables but they now specialise in two main crops – turnips and broccoli.
Alan and Mark now run the business which sees them harvest around 200 acres of crops on an annual basis.
“The land here is excellent for growing vegetables. We would rent a good bit of land as we have to rotate the land every few years, but we would be harvesting within a 15-mile radius.
“Turnips would be planted around St Patrick’s Day and we would continue sowing until June. We would harvest then on a weekly basis. We would roughly have 150 acres of turnips and 80 acres of broccoli.”
Alan revealed that the process of getting their vegetables from the field to the shelves was very much a manual affair.
“An awful lot of the work would be manual, the early turnips are all picked by hand as is the broccoli, while we have a self-propelled Jones harvester which is on tracks and that is used for main crop throughout the year.
“Once harvested, the produce arrives into the pack-house where it is chilled, washed, trimmed and readied for dispatch. Our aim is to get the produce in and out to the customer as quickly as we can.”
Mark Taylor & Sons supply a large customer base that include ALDI, LIDL, Centra, Dunnes Stores, Total Produce, Donnelly’s, Meade Potatoes and Dennigans to name just a few.
“We also supply our produce to the food service industry with Ready Chef, Fresh Cut, Pallas Foods and Nugents amongst our customers in this sector. We would have a very good relationship with our customers, something that we always have done and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come.”
With the tight regulations placed on what pesticides can and can’t be used, Alan revealed that they have opted a different type of prevention from insects or bugs.
“In 2010, we trialled growing turnips under netting and this has made a huge difference to the growing of the crop. As a result, the positive dividend has been in producing a more consistent crop when it reaches maturity.
“One hundred per cent of our turnips are now covered by netting. It is a massive procedure, but it is one that is worth doing.”
With ten people employed including Alan’s wife Leona who looks after the administration, Taylor’s Farm reputation for producing high quality turnips and broccoli now precedes them.
“There is also tremendous satisfaction in successfully getting a product to market that looks great, tastes good and is bursting with goodness: that is Irish locally grown vegetables.”
In order to keep the land that needs to go through rotation, the family harvest grain annually and sell it on to a local merchant.
“We are busy all year round and if there is work to be done, you can’t be putting it off for a day or two, it has to be done there and then. There are many time constraints in this industry, but once you are on top of things then it makes everything so much easier.
“The whole team here work well together and we are happy with how business is going. Markets are tight, but that has always been the case and once you can keep the overheads down, then that is a big help.”
Mark Taylor & Sons,
Lusk,
Co Dublin.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 6, September 2017
