Providing a wide range of specialist advisory solutions to farmers across Donegal, Ards Business Services has established an enviable reputation as one of Ireland’s most reputable agricultural consultancy practices since its inception in 1997. We interrupted co-founder Brian Dolan’s busy schedule to find out more.
Operating out of Creeslough in County Donegal, Ards Business Services was established almost a quarter of a century ago by Cavan man Brian Dolan and his wife, Margaret Anne. The professional services offered to farmers enable their agri-businesses to operate in an efficient, profitable, lawful and complaint manner, allowing farmers to focus their attention on doing what they do best.
As a member of the Agricultural Consultants Association, Brian represents the interests of no fewer than 1,250 farmers annually, calling upon his wealth of expertise and experience to provide a comprehensive range of expert consultancy services (from basic payment applications land acquisition and inheritance, to wills, probate, etc.) as well as planning, management, inheritance, technical and environmental advice (including the preparation of environmental impact statements and applications for various agri-environmental schemes).
Brian says the objective of Ards Business Services – essentially a one-stop shop for anything relating to faming applications or compliance – is to make farmers’ lives easier by eliminating unnecessary hassle and thereby allowing them to benefit through substantial savings of both time and money: “We are essentially trouble shooters and when the farmers have headaches they will come to us,” he notes. “Our role is to provide services that help maximise farmers’ benefits in terms of both time and money.
“I am here to help farmers maximise their farm income whether that is in terms of compliance or making sure they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to through the various schemes. We solve problems before they become problems.”
The local rural landscape is such that Brian predominantly represents the interests of beef and sheep farmers, the vast majority of whom have been on his books long-term, although he is also picking up new clients on a regular basis.
“Normal, everyday farmers might not necessarily know what their full entitlements and allowances are but we have built up a trust with them and will make sure they are fully represented and that they receive their full entitlements. We don’t wait for them to come to us with queries. We stay on top of everything and chase them and make sure everything is above board at all times.”
This proactive approach ensures that nothing can slip through the net. “We have already started work for next year’s applications and have that file open even though this year’s applications were only closed a few weeks ago,” Brian reveals. “There’s never a quiet time here. TAMS grants, for example, run all year but the paperwork has to be very precise and if everything isn’t 100% right then the application won’t go through.
“We also deal with the Basic Payment Scheme, the GLAS Scheme and various other environmental and eco schemes such as the Pearl Mussel Programme in conjunction with the European Innovation Partnership. On these results based agri-environmental programmes and others, too, we can give very good insights into what is coming down the line.
“Herd number applications are big at the moment because there seems to have been an increase in herds since Covid. Say for instance where people had perhaps inherited the home farm and let it out but now with more time on their hands are farming the land themselves. We also look after a lot of general schemes with the Department, such as the Sheep Welfare Scheme and various beef schemes as well as general advice on topics such as soil sampling, silage sampling, fertiliser and feed recommendations – which is actually what we were initially trained to do before the paperwork side took over!”
The Cavan native graduated from UCD in 1987, his wife and business partner having graduated the previous year. Meanwhile, Peter Prior, the third member of the ABS team, is also a Breffni County man and another UCD graduate.
“After graduating, I spent some time working for the Ministry of Agriculture in the UK and then joined Farm Business Advisors in Fermoy, County Cork,” recalls Brian, who has set up a fledgling Irish Moiled pedigree cattle breeding enterprise as an aside to the agri consulting practice. “Margaret Anne, who worked as an advisor with Monaghan Mushrooms previously, is from this part of the country, though, so we decided to set up our own business here, first providing a general farm advisory service before moving more and more into the applications and compliance side of it.
“Of the 1,250 clients that we represent, we’d do all their Basic Payment Scheme applications and other scheme applications on an annual basis, while in excess of 500 of them would be on various environmental schemes. Prior to Covid, we’d have visited all those farms at least once a year, although the restrictions meant this hasn’t been possible recently.
“We enjoy a personal relationship with all of our clients and we see ourselves as part of a team. We’ve been with the majority of them for a long time and, in some cases, we are now dealing with second and even third generations of those same families. While they are clients and farmers, I would honestly say that they are nearly all friends as well at this stage.
“The biggest thing they are looking for is No.1 trust and No.2 confidentiality. We pride ourselves on building up strong levels of trust with farmers. When you are dealing with wills and probate, these are very sensitive matters and farmers expect you to act professionally and with complete discretion.
“All of the farms in this part of the world qualify for a Greening Payment, which is going to be replaced by Eco-Schemes in the next CAP. These will no longer be automatic and there are going to be additional requirements. There are going to be big changes in the way things are set up from 2023 onwards and there are going to be winners and losers but, in general, the average farmer will still get similar payments although there might be more hoops to jump through in terms of paperwork.”
But farmers don’t need to panic as Ards Business Services are on hand to take care of business!
Ards Business Services Ltd.,
Cashelmore,
Creeslough,
Letterkenny,
County Donegal.
Tel: 074 9138322
Mobile: 087 2334418 / 087 6207919
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 6, November/December 2021
