Dublin is not only the capital of Ireland, it is also the capital for vegetable growing as the land around the likes of Rush, Skerries, Lusk and Swords to name a few areas has always been ideal for the growth of many vegetables.
Most of the farms that focus on vegetable growing are operated by families over the course of a few generations and for this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri, we profile one such family.
The Grimes family operating under the business name of Castleview Farm Produce Ltd from their premises in Skerries, have been growing leeks, cauliflowers, rhubarb, scallions and grain for many years now and they supply a number of wholesalers with their fresh produce.
Christy Grimes began farming more than 50 years ago and these days his son Colm runs the day to day activities in the business, alongside Christy.
Colm spoke to us about the trials and tribulations of growing vegetables in this country and he stressed the fact that they are at the mercy of the weather in any given season.
“The weather in Ireland is so unpredictable that you can’t plan too far ahead. This year alone has been a disaster for our leek growing as the temperatures in June & July were much lower than normal years and the rest of the year was extremely mild and humid. This resulted in the crops being very soft and maturing too quickly in the seasons. The Cauliflowers came on too fast which lead to a huge number of unsold produce as the supply was too plentiful and cauliflowers were too large in size,” said Colm.
“You are at the mercy of the weather particularly in the winter as we grow mostly winter vegetables. You just have to take the good with the bad. This is a very competitive market and the margins are very tight and the profits are minimal.”
Colm revealed that despite production costs are continuously going up, vegetables prices have remained unchanged and even dropped slightly in the last few years and this has left it a very tough industry to be involved in.
The technology age has produced all types of machinery for this type of work and Colm added that it was cost effective to invest in the machinery to do the work and cut down on labour costs.
“Where we can use a machine to do a job, we will. It is far more efficient to do it this way and we have invested heavily in recent years to help modernise our working techniques and therefore providing a comfortable working environment for the staff.
We harvest our leeks using a specialised Asa lift leek harvester and have also invested in a Christians Leek trimming/washing and grading line to increase production capacity. The leeks are then automatically packed using a Ulma PV 350 Flow wrapping machine to meet Class 1 supermarket requirements.
In the past, we have planted all our leeks by hand at approximately 700 – 800 plants per hour per person, which works out as a very expensive method of planting, resulting in very high labour costs and potential back ache. This year we hope to invest in a specialised leek planting machine, which will complete the cycle of the leek season from planting, to harvesting, to washing and packing of the leeks crop – bringing the leek production to a maximum efficiency level. And also providing a comfortable working environment for the staff.
Sourcing the proper machinery generally takes the Grimes family to Holland where they see at first-hand what a new machine can do.
“It is all specialised machinery we use for the vegetables and it can’t be bought in Ireland so we go to the manufacturer in Holland.
Scallions are the only crop that cannot be harvested, cleaned or bunched using a machine, and is therefore dependant on manual labour, which means it is extremely expensive to grow.
“Almost everything can be done by a machine now. We employ ten staff here between full and part time, with some of the people being here a good few years now.”
A Government grant scheme is in place for specialised machinery needed to carry out their duties on the farm.
“There is a grant in place at the moment which gives up to 40% on the specialised machinery that we need and this is a huge help to us at the moment. Without that it we would be very hard for us to invest to the extent that we want too.”
Castleview Farm Produce Ltd supply a wide range of customers including Sam Dennigan, Donnelly Fruit & Veg and Meade Potato Company, Total Produce, C McGee & Sons, to name just a few.
“We have been working with our customers for a long number of years now and we have a great relationship with them. Once we can provide them with the quality goods that they expect then there should be no problem.”
Colm admits that crop rotation means that land can be scarce when it comes to planting vegetables, but he admitted that they are fortunate in that they don’t have to travel as far as some of their neighbours.
“We own our own land, while we rent other ground. There is a group of us here that swap land from time to time if it suits and if we can plant straight away. Some farmers have to travel miles to rent some land, but we’re fortunate on that front so far.
“This is not an easy business to be involved in, but you just have to keep working hard and making sure that the customers are always kept happy. That is always the main objective. We have suffered numerous setbacks with crops due to the weather, but you just have to carry on regardless and hope your luck will change sooner rather than later.”
Castleview Farm Produce Ltd
Baldongan,
Skerries,
Co Dublin
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 4, April/May 2016
