Newford Farm Update
On Friday, 5th May the IDA announced that Dexcom, Inc., a global leader in continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, plans to build its newest global manufacturing facility in Athenry, Galway. The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland and represents an investment of €300 million over five years and the potential to create up to 1,000 high skilled jobs over the same period.
Newford Farm Update
Teagasc welcomes this positive announcement for the Athenry area and the West of Ireland.
The land identified for this new initiative is owned by the IDA and has been leased by Teagasc for over ten years. The particular land parcel is currently being used for the Newford suckler beef demonstration farm, a joint venture between Teagasc and Dawn Meats with the support of McDonald's and The Irish Farmers Journal. The farm acts as a shop window to demonstrate the technologies that improve profitability and environmental sustainability in suckler to beef systems. It operates in a completely transparent manner, with all measurements and financial data available to visiting groups, other interested parties and the farming public.
In light of the recent announcement, Teagasc will enter discussions with the IDA on the transition process for the land lease and in particular the anticipated timeframe. As part of these discussions, Teagasc will seek to maintain the Newford suckler beef demonstration herd in the Newford farm for as long as is feasible during the transition process.
Teagasc are also in discussions with its partners Dawn Meats in the Newford demonstration farm on future plans for the project.
In the meantime the herd will continue to be managed as normal. The Newford Open Day will take place on Tuesday, 23rd of May, and will be an opportunity for farmers to review the progress of the demonstration herd over the last eight years.