Open Days on Organic Farms - Teagasc
4 November 2005
Ireland celebrates organic food during Organic Week which runs from 7-13 November. Teagasc, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and Food are organising two Open Days on organic farms to coincide with Organic Week.
Speaking at the announcement of these walks, Teagasc Organic Specialistn Ger Shortle said that these Open Days provide the ideal opportunity for people to come and see where organic food is produced and to meet the farmers who produce it. On both farms produce is sold directly to the customer and a direct relationship has built up between the producer and the consumer.
"This offers a new model for buying and selling food to Irish farmers and consumers," said Mr. Shortle.
Open Day Details
Saturday 12th November at 2pm
Ben and Charlotte Colchester, Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny.
(Car Parking in Urlingford with shuttle-buses to farm)
Ben and Charlotte run a 194ac (78ha) mixed farm and sell their produce direct to around 300 regular customers. They produce chicken, turkeys, lamb, beef and honey which their customers collect from the farm. The bulk of the feed used to rear and fatten the animals in produced on the farm. Cattle and sheep are fed mainly on grass and silage with a small amount of home-grown grain. Special rations for the turkeys and chickens are milled and mixed on the farm using home-grown as well as some carefully selected bought-in ingredients.
Through hard work and ingenuity Ben and Charlotte have created a successful and profitable farm business which is delivering a quality product to their customers.
Sunday 13th November at 2pm
Jimmy and Bernadine Mulhall, Coolanowle, Ballickmoyler, Co. Laois.
Jimmy and Bernadine farm 240ac (97ha) near the village of Ballickmoyler in Laois, a few miles out the Portlaoise road from Carlow town. It's a mixed farm with dairying, beef, sheep and tillage. Milk from the 60 cow herd is sold to Glenisk Dairies in Tullamore who sell it on as fresh milk and yoghurt. Jimmy is a well known face at farmers markets where he sells his beef and lamb from a state of the art mobile butcher shop. Jimmy offers his customers a full range of organic meat by buying-in chicken and pork from other organic farmers. As on Colchester's farm the animals are fed mostly on home produced feedstuffs with a small amount of bought-in ingredients.
In inviting people to attend these walks Mr. Shortle said, "These two farms are examples of how farmers can secure a viable future for themselves by producing quality food and marketing it directly to the customer."
"They have both developed businesses which enable them live and work in the Irish countryside and which give them the satisfaction of seeing the smiles on the faces of their customers rather than selling their food as a commodity" concluded Mr. Shortle.
