GLANBIA SHARE BUY-BACK Glanbia has announced that it intends to launch a share repurchase programme of up to €50 million. The intention is to acquire Glanbia shares on the open market and subsequently cancel them. The Board has decided to launch this programme as a result of the strong cash flows in the business which provides an opportunity to allocate capital to benefit shareholders. In the nine months ended 3 October 2020, Glanbia’s wholly owned


revenue on a reported basis increased by 1.0% when compared to the same period in 2019. Excluding the impact of the 53rd week in 2019 and acquisitions, wholly owned revenues in the first nine months of 2020 were up 3.1% on a constant currency basis. The drivers of this revenue increase were price growth of 4.8%


offset by a volume decline of 1.7%. Price growth reflected strong cheese markets in the period in Glanbia Nutritionals and volume decline in Glanbia Performance Nutrition, primarily as a result of the challenges experienced in the second quarter. Commenting on these developments, Glanbia group managing


director Siobhan Talbot said: “Through the challenges of the Covid- 19 pandemic, the Glanbia portfolio has been resilient, particularly the Glanbia Nutritionals segment and our joint ventures. “In the third quarter, trends in Glanbia Performance Nutrition


improved significantly with an increase in revenues and margins versus the second quarter as markets gradually reopened and trading patterns improved.” She added: “Operating cash flow has been strong and net debt


versus the same period in the prior year has reduced by €188 million. We expect to continue to build momentum into quarter four and to exit the year well positioned for 2021 growth.”


VALUE OF IRISH TILLAGE SECTOR KNOCKED BY 15% Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Grain Chairman Mark Browne has pointed out that tillage farmers in Ireland have endured a torrid season. “A wet Autumn/Winter was followed by drought conditions in late spring, culminating in a very difficult harvest,’ he said. Preliminary estimates by IFA indicate that at current spot grain and


straw prices, the overall farm gate value of the Irish tillage sector could drop by at least 15% in 2020 compared to the previous year. Mark Browne continued: “It’s likely that the main cereal harvest


will come in somewhere between 1.9m and 2m tonnes. While oats tonnage is down on last year, the real hit is on barley and wheat with the combined output will be down approx. 400,000 tonnes. “After a very difficult harvest, the majority of it is now finished.


However, there are pockets of spring crops still to be finished along with the bean crops. Yields have remained very variable. Some of the Spring barley crops were promising good late yield potential. However, the continuation of the broken weather scuppered this hope for a lot


of farmers.” According to Teagasc, Ireland’s farm development and research


organisation, tillage farm incomes fell by 15% in 2019 compared to 2018. Mark Browne said we are now looking at a collapse in farm income, following consecutive years of significant declines for the tillage sector. He continued: “This is unsustainable, final harvest grain prices


must rise significantly just to cover production costs. The Government must support tillage farmers. Any reduction of funding for the sector under the next CAP will decimate the sector.” Ireland imported one million tonnes of maize from third countries


such as Brazil in the 2019/2020 marketing season. This is double the figure imported five years ago. These imports, which are produced to lower regulatory and environmental standards, are undermining the value of quality assured Irish grain. Other issues in the sector include the access to low cost finance,


loss of Plant Protection Products (PPPs), access to new crop breeding technologies plus support for renewables and limited R&D.


In My Opinion … Richard Halleron PLOUGHING IN STRAW: WHAT MADNESS? The decision by Ireland’s Farm Minister Charlie McConalogue to financially support the chopping of straw and its subsequent incorporation into the soil on tillage farms makes little sense to me. Dairy farmers in Northern Ireland alone – with their commitment


to winter milk production – could mop up every bale of straw produced on this island. I know this because I see the lorries that come over from England each year laden with bales that make up for the straw shortfall, once home supplies have been exhausted. Weight for weight, straw bales are twice and maybe three times the value of baled silage. So why would tillage farmers simply plough in a genuine asset that is worth real money? What’s more, the argument to chop up straw on its farm of origin


makes little sense from an environmental point of view. If it’s sold on for either feeding or bedding purposes, it stills ends up back in the soil, courtesy of the manure and slurry that are eventually produced. Would it not make more sense to carry out research that would


help identify cereal varieties that produce straw with enhanced feeding values? By taking this approach, it would add more value to the overall cereal crop produced by tillage farmers. There is a strong argument to be made for expanding Ireland’s


tillage sector. The country needs more home produced grain and – for that matter – more straw. I don’t know enough about the direct agronomic benefits of


incorporating straw prior to following on with the next crop. Such practices might reduce the tillage farmer’s potash and phosphate requirements to some extent. But surely a straw: soil mulch would be a ‘slug paradise’, particularly during a wet growing season.


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Alltech.com/ireland AlltechNaturally @Alltech Sarney | Summerhill Road | Dunboyne | Co. Meath FEED COMPOUNDER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 PAGE 25


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