BETTER Farm Crops - Meath

The farm is run full time by Joe and his brother Colm. They rent approximately 60% of the land with most of it in smaller parcels spread across a 30 mile radius from their base in Stamullen, Co Meath.

Breakdown of 2010 land use on the O'Donoghue farm
Cropping (approx 2010)	Approx area 2010	Av. yields 2006-08
Winter wheat	109 ha	9.9 t/ha
Spring barley	125 ha	7.23 t/ha
Other	27 ha

Getting access to a stable and affordable land bank is a constant challenge in this highly competitive tillage area. The distance between farm parcels & fragmentation reduces efficiency, increases costs and interrupts timeliness of operations. These factors have a consequent impact on profits. The O'Donoghues are exploring all avenues to minimise this fragmentation including; Share Farming, long term lease and rental of larger parcels.

The O'Donoghues have maintained the farm at a critical size and curtailed machinery spend to acceptable levels. All grain is stored and dried before sale to increase output and to maximise returns. The next generation of O’Donoghues are entering the farming arena and may contribute to the existing farming business.