Glanbia foods has purchased Amazing Grass in the US and Body & Fit in Holland at a cost of €181m. The current management teams of both companies will remain in place and will implement Glanbia’s supporting systems.
€200m additional funding has been allocated to improving the Irish forestry sector. There is a €112m investment due from a Finnish based fund for the purchase and management of plantations, along with a €90m investment by Coillte for major replanting.
Forestry land prices are expected to rise to €5,500 per ac, or 10%, due to the arrival of the Finnish investment firm Dasos Capital (see point above). Roscommon estate agent John Early says the acreage prices are achievable on land over 80 acres.
Bord Bia have 37,000 individual improvements targets aimed at beef farmers, and a further 28,000 for dairy farmers as part of its Origin Green programme. The targets set for the beef and dairy farmers could see greenhouse gas emissions decrease by 7% & 14% respectively.
Latest figures by Kantar for the 12 weeks to 29 January reveal that Dunnes Stores has taken back the top supermarket share in Ireland from Supervalu. Dunnes now hold 22.7% market share with SuperValu holding 22.5% and Tesco at 22.4%. Aldi have 10.6% and Lidl have 10.3% market share. Grocery sales decreased 3% for the period as the slowdown after Christmas took hold. Inflation for groceries is expected to stay low during 2017.
The IFA sought a direct coupled payment of €200/cow for suckler calves. The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed declined the request, saying that it was unworkable.
Kerry Group has raised its milk price to 31c/l, up 2c/l, VAT inclusive. The PPI for January grew 1.6pts to 105.4pt which translates to 31.4c/l. The move was welcomed by dairy farmers.
Michael Creed the Minister for Agriculture announced the 2017 National Reserve Scheme with a fund cap of €5m. It is expected to receive applications from 500 farmers with priority given to young farmers or new farming entrants. The scheme opens in March 2017 and applicants cannot be over 40 years of age.
The Department of Agriculture has been called upon by the ICMSA to payout 3,500 farmers who took part in the Voluntary Milk Reduction Scheme. It is estimated that €8m is due to be paid with an average of €2,250 each.
Irish racehorses biggest export market is the UK and the racing industry warned of the threat Brexit poses. The business is worth €225m annually with 8 out of 10 horses exported to the UK. In a revealing statement, it was pointed out that a British buyer today spending £100,000 would have this converted to €110,000 compared to this time last year when £100,000 was worth €127,000.
Centra announced plans to open 20 more stores in 2017, recruiting 460 people in the process. Centra is currently rolling out their ‘Live Every Day’ campaign, and have seen an increase of 80% in salad boxes due to the stores’ emphasis on providing more healthy options to consumers.
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