There’s a lot of uncertainty in agricultural circles following the Brexit vote but Donegal based pig farmer Jimmy Mooney will continue to fight the good fight.
Launching IFA’s policy Brexit: The Imperatives for Irish Farmers & the Agri-Food Sector in Dublin in early March, IFA President Joe Healy said the implications for Irish agriculture are so serious that farming has to be first in the Government’s negotiating position.
Joe Healy said the threat of Brexit is the most significant challenge facing our farming and food sector in the history of the State, with 40% of our food exports going to the UK.
He said farmers expect our Government to launch a major diplomatic offensive at EU level that places our issues at the heart of the negotiations.
Simply put, no other Member State and no other sector is as exposed in these negotiations.
Jimmy Mooney of Jimmy Mooney Ltd shares these concerns and his pig enterprise is particularly vulnerable due to its location on Malin Head and high dependence on the nearby Northern Ireland market and the land border with the potential to disrupt trade flows and undermine animal health co-operation.
“There is a big fear surrounding the implications of Brexit and the possible introduction of a hard border,” Jimmy told Irish Tractor & Agri magazine.
Ireland exported 88,000 tonnes of pigmeat to the UK in 2016, representing 38% of the total volume of pigmeat exports.
The EU accounted for just over 21% of pigmeat exports, with international markets accounting for 95,000 tonnes, or over 40% of total volume.
There is significant bilateral trade between Ireland and the UK in pigmeat products, which has been developed over many years.
The retention of tariff free access to the UK is very important for the pigmeat sector as the disruption to existing trade flows, through tariff barriers, or other increases in costs, would reduce the overall value of these markets.
In addition, the continuation of cross-border trade of Irish pigs for processing is a critical issue, reflecting the overall processing capacity of the sector on the island of Ireland.
The pig industry has a significant place in the Irish agri-economy – supporting 7,000 jobs in rural Ireland and Jimmy Mooney is rightfully proud of the business he has successfully built up over the last 24 years.
“My father had a small suckler farm up here in Donegal and both me and my brother (Brian) had a great interest in farming growing up,” he recalled. “Unfortunately, the family farm wasn’t big enough to sustain the two of us and before I left school I had the great notion of getting involved in pigs.
“There was a pigs course in Athenry at the time but I was too young for that so I went to St Pat’s in Monaghan and then got into Athenry.”
Jimmy subsequently served his time with Brendan Sharkey in Dundalk and Micheal McMonagle of Raphoe, County Donegal. He learned the ins and outs of the industry and the experience he gained gave him the confidence to start his own piggery in 1993.
“I started out with 40 sows and today have 450 breeding sows. I employ one full-time person and three part-timers.
“Business is quite good and the price is decent enough at the moment. There certainly wasn’t the negativity in the market that there usually is after Christmas and grain is easily bought. As I said, however, there’s a lot of nervousness attached to Brexit.”
Jimmy was fulsome in his praise of the support he has received from the Teagasc Pig Development Department in the areas of research, advice and education across a range of issues of importance to the sector.
“Teagasc’s pig advisors were great down through the years but, like a lot of other things, Teagasc’s services have been hit by cutbacks.
“My sows are on a wet feed system which Paul Cooney of Cavan installed a year ago and that has proven to be a great saver in terms of labour. I’ve also installed a balance floor system which I purchased from Phil Bennis in Limerick which helps save piglets from being crushed. The floor raises when the sow gets up and has been very successful for me.
“You have to stay up-to-date with all the developments in the area of science to progress in the pig business. When I started out the going rate was 24 pigs per sow. That’s now up to 30 pigs per sow. I’m approaching that level and if I don’t stay up with that trend I’ll be left behind.”
There are, of course, more important things in life. Away from his pig business, Jimmy travels to Newcastle once a week, every Thursday, with his son Liam (15) who is receiving treatment for a rare disease – Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. We wish Liam, Jimmy and his wife Mary and their other children Matthew (11) and Eabha (5) all the very best for the future.
Jimmy Mooney Ltd
Kilnoxter
Malin Head
Co. Donegal
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 5, July/August 2017
