All Ronan Byrne needed to work on was 100,000 people within 20 miles
Poultry producer Ronan Byrne from Athenry, Co Galway, was one of the prize winners at the Irish Food Writers’ Guild Food Awards.
He received his award for excellence in the production and marketing of his pasture-reared chickens.
But to my mind, Ronan should also be highlighted for demonstrating that even on a small holding (35 acres), if the head is in the right place, success can be achieved.
“I guess I’ve always had the farming bug,” says Ronan.
“I’ve always wanted to be a farmer. You grow up on a farm, your grandparents are here, your parents are here, it’s just a life that you are drawn to.”
Ronan Byrne is married to Maria, and they have three children: Dermot, Muire and Aoibheann. His parents, Páraic and Mary, are still very active on the farm.
After finishing secondary school in Athenry, the next stop for Ronan was Mountbellew Agricultural College, where he gained that all- important Green Cert.
And then it was onto the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, to study agri-business and rural development.
Following college, it was time for travel. Ronan set off for Poland.
“An opportunity came up to manage a farm in Poland,” he explains.
“I worked on the farm for three years, and I learned a lot. But more importantly, I had a great time. The farm was situated close to Warsaw, and was 1,500 acres in size. Cow numbers were being built up at the time, the farm had about 300 milking cows back then, with a lot of the farm under tillage.”
But the farming bug was stronger than the travelling bug, so after three years, Ronan decided to come back home to the farm in Athenry. He returned in 2007.
“It’s only when you are away, that you realise what you have under your two feet at home. I always knew I would eventually come back home to farm.”
Ronan took a good hard look at the home farm, and had the ambition and drive — and awareness of the big picture — to make a go of it.
“There are 100,000 people living within a 20-mile radius of us here in Athenry. We are 20 miles from Galway City, so it was really all about finding something that I could produce on the farm and sell direct to that customer base.
“I also had read someplace that, in your life, you will eat approximately 500 chickens. So our poultry enterprise started. I started with 50 chicks, and we worked our way up.
“I knew nothing about the poultry business at that stage, so I turned to the internet and books on the subject, to research the business. Before long, we were rearing 150 chicks, and really, it’s gone on from there.”
Was it difficult at the beginning?
“Of course it was, Denis, like anything new you embark upon, there are always going to be difficulties and problems. If a farmer is changing from beef to dairying, or increasing sheep numbers, it’s not always straightforward. But you simply get on with it and you learn as you go.
“In the beginning we used to get all our poultry processed in Tipperary, bringing it back and selling some, giving more to friends, and taking a few ourselves. Asking people for feedback, going back and doing it again. Increasing our number of chicks all the time.
“These days, we seasonally produce 200 chickens a week, running from March to September or October. And we rear turkeys. We produce 1,000 turkeys for the Christmas market.”
Also on the farm, 30 to 40 calves are reared each year. The calves are purchased down south and sold on as yearlings.
Business is going well for Ronan, a farmer who saw potential where many would not.
“I’m 39 now, and I’m fortunate really to have grown up in a golden decade with regards to the Irish economy, we weren’t forced into emigration like those in previous years, or indeed like those in more recent times. Very few of my classmates have emigrated. We were finding our feet as the Celtic Tiger roared.”
Ronan Byrne belongs to a new generation of Irish farmer, a generation fuelled with confidence, ambition and drive.
He is positive proof that belief in oneself, and ability, can be the key factors in driving a farm business, of any size, to success.
