Tag Archives: Joe Woulfe

A Lisseycasey councillor is pressing Clare County Council to offer a solution to the Lough Donnell sluice problem at Clohaninchy saying it is “unfair” to the 30 or more local landowners who are affected. Local landowners are fearful that their properties could be flooded by seawater, which could cause significant damage to farm land. Clare County Council said it continues to work to address concerns at Lough Donnell, and a consultant representing the Council met the contractor on site in late February to inspect the culvert. The local authority said a report looking at the options to provide an engineering solution will be prepared, and the preferred option it decides upon will first have to be agreed with National Parks and Wildlife Service and Inland Fisheries Ireland. Councillor PJ Kelly (FF) told Wednesday’s meeting of the West Clare municipal district that no progress has been made on the matter since he last raised it at December’s Clare County Council meeting. …

A NORTH Clare tillage farmer and agricultural contractor has claimed a government initiative encouraging more tillage production in response to the Ukrainian war is “waste of time” and a “hair brained scheme”. Previously involved in electronics, Shane Nolan left his work in Dublin in the early nineties and took over his father’s farm in Finavara and started renting land for tillage. The secretary of the Western Division of the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors of Ireland (FCI) pointed out a dairy or beef farmer would have to reduce the amount of cattle on their land to try and grow a tillage crop. “It would be like me milking cows. I might know what a cow looks like but I wouldn’t know how to maintain a cow. At least with tillage crops I know what I have to do. It is like asking a doctor to go and wire a house.” He said non-tillage farmers have approached him seeking advice …

CLARE beef farmers look set to be hit by further decreases in the meat prices following claims by Meat Industry Ireland of increased export costs caused by Brexit. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe recalled prices began to increase after Christmas with heifers in one meat plant hitting €4 per kg. At this stage farmers were beginning to hope that Teagasc’s break even figure of €4.40 per kg might be achievable. However, without warning Mr Woulfe pointed out the price collapsed by 20 cent, which has prompted fears of a return to the 2019 factory protest price of €3.65. The Quilty suckler farmer said there is an urgent need for a breakdown of what money is paid to the farmer, processor and retailer for meat. He expressed concern that retailers can reduce the price of meat to attract customers into their retail premises before stressing this shouldn’t be done at the expense of producers. He said Meat Industry Ireland need …

CLARE Beef Plan have expressed grave misgivings about the shortcomings of a proposed new classification system for suckler beef. Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture have proposed a new Irish grassfed beef Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for submission to the EU for approval. Clare Beef Plan is concerned Bord Bia intends to market grassfed beef regardless of whether the PGI submission is accepted by the EU or not. For PGI status, it appears that all producers must be Bord Bia QA-approved, which is another cost for suckler farmers from which no benefit flows. The PGI is restricted to heifers and steers less than 36 months and beef cows up to 120 months. Since the over-riding consideration for the PGI is meat quality and this quality is to be determined by inspection, Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe argues these age limits make no sense. He said the implication is that the meat of a 10 year-old cow is of the …

CLARE farmers are being urged to post back new controversial TB herd history letters to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine as a form of protest. There has been a furious reaction by farming organisations and farmers to the department’s decision to send out these letters to herdowners. The call for a postal protest was made this week by Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe, who asked why the DAFM are doing this unnecessary measure, as farmers already know whether they had TB or were TB free over the last ten years. “If a farmer has TB, it is not something they will forget as you can’t move your cattle. “The Department aren’t offering a reward if a farmer didn’t have TB in one year or ten years. 96.5% of TB has been eradicated from the national herd. What is the definition of eradication? “In my view, it has been eradicated if 96.5% of the herd is TB free. …

CLARE IFA officers are planning to seek a meeting with Kepak representatives amid growing concern about whether their meat factory in Drumquin will re-open following its closure on February 14. IFA chairman, Tom Lane told the Clare Champion officers were keen to meet Kepak executives to question them about their future plans for the plant. Mr Lane said Kepak had some contracts with local beef finishers, which it was honouring by slaughtering their animals outside the county. “I would like to see Kepak re-open in Drumquin,” he said. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe has expressed concern about the long delay in re-opening Kepak’s Drumquin plant. Mr Woulfe is worried that Kepak’s Clare plant may not re-open and has been informed that some equipment may have been transferred off site. He said management should have sat down with local farming representatives to work out a future for the plant. Last February, Kepak staff were told two days before its closure …

CONSUMERS should be given an option of purchasing labelled grass-fed beef, according to a local farm leader. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe said there is a lack of traceability for some of the beef that is coming into Europe. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Mr Woulfe pointed out grass-fed beef was much better for the environment than feedlot. The Quilty suckler farmer expressed concern that 900,000 tonnes of poultry and 300,000 tonnes of beef is imported into the Europe from South America on an annual basis. He warned that the amount of beef from South America will increase substantially if the Mercosur Deal is implemented. “Chicken from China is now being sold in a well known Irish supermarket. When it comes to beef there is no differentiation between grass-fed and feedlot beef on the supermarket shelf. “The carbon footprint of different methods of beef production needs to be looked at and should be reflected in the price,” …

THE Clare Beef Plan Movement has called for a total rethink in the way carbon emissions are analysed and for more consideration to the cyclical nature of livestock emissions. Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe believes new environmental studies need to be undertaken following the huge reduction in greenhouse gases from cars and planes as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Mr Woulfe said there has never been such a significant shift away from cars, ships, ferries and aeroplanes throughout the world. “There has been a seismic change in the use of different modes of transport over the last few months. Farmers are being unfairly blamed while the impact of the aviation industry isn’t being looked at. “It is if tourists flying from all over the world into Ireland on holidays don’t do any damage to the planet,” he said. Asked if he accepted that agriculture will have to play its role in the reduction …