The Angus angle

Multitasking is the name of the game for Richard. As well as being involved in the family beef farm, and working with the Certified Irish Angus Producer Group, his family also run an agri-business, Gilsenan Agri Ltd. “My grandfather established it. It’s years and years in the making,” says Richard. “It’s a small family agri-business, retailing in fertiliser, meal and general hardware,” he adds.
After secondary school, Richard completed the agriculture degree course offered by Dundalk Institute of Technology, in conjunction with Ballyhaise Agricultural College: “After my four years there, I pushed on to do the MSc. in Food Business Strategy at the UCD Michael Smurfit Business School. The degree and the masters complement each other very, very well in terms of providing a broad perspective in my career.” he says.

Promoting Irish Angus

Richard’s role with the Certified Irish Angus Producer Group is two-fold, he explains: “It combines project manager and marketing roles. Certified Irish Angus was established in 1995 by a group of breeders. It’s now Ireland’s largest producer group with over 10,000 active members. The role of the organisation today is to protect the authenticity and attributes of the Irish Angus breed, specifically promoting Certified Irish Angus animals.

“I also support both ABP and Kepak in procurement and marketing of Angus cattle. ABP and Kepak are our processing partners. The ultimate customers for Certified Irish Angus are in foodservice and retail, both with different process partners. Musgraves provides our foodservice outlet. They work with several of the large restaurants. And Tesco is our big retail outlet for Certified Irish Angus. The producer group has been involved with Tesco since 2008.”

Producer benefits

Richard is clear about the value to producers of the producer group: “Anyone that delivers Irish Angus to ABP or Kepak factories can become a member of Certified Irish Angus. By supplying cattle there, they can avail of a guaranteed premium. From April 1, there is a guaranteed 25c premium bonus once you are signed on as a member of the group. Throughout the year, it’s a 10 cent bonus, and it can vary from 10c to 30c across the year, depending on cattle supply and demand. These cattle can be crossbred Angus animals, and a lot of Angus cattle are coming off the dairy herd, especially since the milk quota was abolished in 2015. The increase in dairy numbers has led to an increase in dairy beef cross Angus animals. Better breeding is delivering better cattle for the beef sector,” he says.

The home farm

The Gilsenan farm is home to a suckler herd, with an emphasis on breeding Angus cattle. Richard explains: "We have a herd of predominantly Limousin-breed suckler cows, which we cross with Irish Angus bulls, and we’re getting really good results. We bring all the progeny to slaughter, and they grade very well in the factory. Angus has a huge advantage for us especially, because this is a part-time cattle-farming enterprise. They’re easy calving, the calves jump up and they suck straight away [when born] and there’s very little work with them, which is a huge benefit for part-time farmers. After we calve down, we take them through to slaughter at two years of age. We also buy in cattle and that allows us to put together batches of cattle for finishing.”

Benefits of data

The introduction of the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) is a game changer, Richard agrees: “It is, because it gives a value on the calf. Every calf in the initial stages looks very much the same. It’s hard to distinguish between a good calf and a bad calf at that stage. The data puts a figure on the calf, with a predicted Commercial Beef Value (CBV). When the breeders are picking sires, they’re able to predict the CBV value so they can put a value on the calf before the calf is even born. The calf buyers, in turn, know what they are getting and have a better prospect of making a margin on that animal.”

Weather impact on agri-business

Richard comments on the impact of the poor weather on the family agri-business: “In early April, fertiliser was only starting to move. Most farmers get the fertiliser delivered. With the agri-business, we would also have seen a lot of farmers having to buffer feed, with additional dairy rations and beef mixes for cattle, even to maintain the body condition score of the cows. We have a weighbridge there as well and farmers were weighing trailers of silage every day for the month of March. On our own farm we would have had cows out by the end of February in a normal year. So, we’ve seen and personally experienced the huge strain on farmers.”

Farmers need to highlight sustainability

The Meath man takes a long-term view of his career and farming in general: “I’m going to push on with my work for Certified Irish Angus and keep developing my career in the agri-food and business fields. Coming from a farming background, I can see that, as a community, the farming sector has a lot of challenges facing it at the moment, especially in terms of sustainability. We need to change people’s perspective on farming, and we need to showcase the fact we’re the first country in the world to implement a national sustainability programme through Origin Green. We need to keep marketing ourselves well and getting our proven green credentials across to consumers as best we can.”