Glenmore Farms in Co Down is renowned for being one of the country’s top potato growing farms, so Irish Tractor & Agri felt it was time to hear more from co-owner Dessie Patterson.
Through the generations, the Pattersons have always had a glowing reputation for carrying out a top class service for their customers.
Nowadays, brothers Dessie and Raymond Patterson run Glenmore Farms, which is north of the Mourne Mountains in Newcastle, Co Down, and growing potatoes is very much their speciality up there.
Dessie, a former Ulster Unionist Councillor and long-time member of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, spoke to us about the different services that Glenmore Farm provides, as well delving into his own personal background both in and outside of farming.
“Glenmore Farms is the name of the farm here and we own 300 acres here and rent out a further 200 acres on top of that,” explained Dessie.
“We grow 180 acres of potatoes and 100 of grain. We’ve a 100 head of cattle and run 350 cross bred ewes.
He continued: “We’re based on the northern side of the Mourne mountains and the family would be Newcastle born and bred. I’ve been involved in farming all my life and I’ve been in the Ulster Farmers’ Union a long time and held various different positions throughout my time with them.
“I’m still heavily involved to this day and was elected vice-chairman of The Potato Committee at the last AGM.”
Founded in 1918, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) is the largest democratic voluntary organisation representing farmers and growers in Northern Ireland.
The central objective of the UFU has always been to promote their interests both at home and abroad through professional lobbying. Today, the UFU has over 11,500 members.
Indeed Dessie’s schedule has been busy over the past decade or so, between his duties as a farmer, a member of the UFU and an Ulster Unionist Councillor.
An UUP Councillor for the Newcastle area for over a decade, Dessie has undoubtedly been a focal part of the local community and it’s something that the people close by won’t forget.
“I had served as an Ulster Unionist Councillor for 10 years, so I’d have first started with them in 2005 and stepped down in May of last year,” he said.
“I’m also chairman of the Mourne Heritage Trust and was a founding member of it when it was first established 20 years ago.”
The Mourne Heritage Trust is an independent limited company and a registered charity established to meet an identified need for locally based, strategic management of the Mourne AONB.
The model of a trust-based partnership was agreed in 1997 by Environment and Heritage Service (now Northern Ireland Environment Agency) and Northern Ireland Tourist Board, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the three local councils of Banbridge, Down and Newry and Mourne respectively.
The Trust’s mission statement is: “To sustain and enhance the environment, rural regeneration, cultural heritag
The members of the Trust are continuing to endeavour and get the best results for the betterment of the Mourne community, and with Dessie Patterson at the helm that trend certainly looks set to last.
Indeed endeavouring has been a part of Dessie’s make up since the days back when he used to work with his father on the family farm during his youth.
Along with his brother Raymond, they earned their stripes as potato and grain growers under their father’s guidance and they find themselves successfully navigating the same fields more than 45 years on.
“My father always farmed,” explained Dessie. “After I finished college in 1972, my brother and I both started working on the farm and we have been at it ever since.
“It is difficult at the moment, but we’ve to keep going and get the potatoes in. No matter how tough business might be, you’re always kept busy at something and I suppose you can’t really complain about that.”
Today, the Pattersons plant and grow their potatoes for one particular client, moving away from the days when they used to export their potatoes to different outlets throughout Europe.
Dessie, for one, is happy to work with Wilson’s and Wilson’s only when it comes to selling their products.
“We’ve been growing potatoes for Wilson’s in Portadown for the last 20 years and we used to grow for export all across Europe,” he said.
“Exporting across the continent proved more and more difficult as time went on, so we decided to stop it altogether. We got the opportunity to grow for Wilson’s 20 years ago and we seem to do a reasonably good job for them – I think that’s why they choose us first.”
At present, the Dessie and Raymond, along with their nephews James and Robert, who have recently come on board, are preparing their land for potato planting.
That means plenty of ploughing and hard work ahead of the upcoming summer, as Dessie illustrated.
“We are very busy right now with ploughing and getting the land ready to field potatoes,” he said.
“There are four of us on the farm at the minute and we bring in the machinery to ensure that the land is ready. We’ve six New Holland tractors here and a couple of harvesters.
“With regards to maintenance, we do most of it ourselves which is obviously a cost saver.”
He continued: “We don’t put any potatoes in the ground without getting the growers input, so Wilson’s are an outfit that we would sit down with before the process begins.
“For me, it has always come down to attention to detail and as we speak we’re getting the seeds set now. There’s a lot of work to go with regards to ploughing before we plant any potatoes.”
Even another wet summer wouldn’t derail Glenmore Farms from getting the work done. Unlike many other farmers across the country, it would actually be welcomed by Dessie and co.
“A damp summer doesn’t do a bit of harm and it’s actually a very good thing for us, so we can’t complain about the past few summers at all.”
Keeping it family, Dessie’s daughter Ruth is also kept busy by managing the Meelmore Lodge, a Tourism Complex owned by the Pattersons.
Situated a stone’s throw away from the stunning Mourne mountain range, Dessie maintains that you can’t go wrong with a holiday at Meelmore Lodge, where we have accommodation to facilitate 30 people.
“We have recently opened our New Hare’s Gap Café And Bistro, which is now Open Daily and we pride ourselves in Home -Made Produce and can accommodate any visitor to the Mournes.”
“It just opened there last month and we see tourism as having huge potential in the Mourne Mountains,” he said.
“The weekends are busy and even during the week we would have visitors coming. Since we’ve re-opened the signs are positive and that’s all you can ask for at this stage.”
Hear, hear.
Glenmore Farms
Newcastle
Co. Down
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 4, April/May 2016
