Each month, we put the spotlight on a Tirlán employee and for our April newsletter, we’re talking to Caoimhe Murphy, Ruminant Business Manager

The prolonged wet weather means Caoimhe Murphy’s skills and expertise are in high demand at the moment.

The Ruminant Business Manager serves customers across Carlow and Wexford and the fact that cattle in large swathes of her sales area are still housed and not out in the fields means there are extra calls from under pressure farmers trying to manage fodder need, the nutritional needs of their herd and optimise dairy output.

“I’m a direct contact for farmers and manage feed sales to them, give them advice on managing the dietary needs of cows and help solve lingering problems about how to optimise production on farm as the wet weather lingers on.

“The mood among farmers is low, it’s absolutely not ideal that cattle are still in most of the time. They’re definitely under pressure. The fact that we can do absolutely nothing about the weather can be frustrating. Grass is definitely the best feed for cows and when they do get out to grass, the mood will lift. But it is a tough time.

“In lots of instances, farmers are running low on fodder and silage. I work with them to find the best nutritional plan for the herd in such circumstances and get their energy requirements right. It’s brilliant when you work with a farmer and find a solution. It’s incredibly rewarding,” the UCD Animal and Crop Production graduate said.

Caoimhe grew up on and still lives on a dairy and beef farm in Kilmanagh, just outside Kilkenny city, so she lives and breathes farming 24/7.  “We’re milking about 180 cows at home at the moment, so I know exactly what it’s like for farmers in the current climate. Farming really is a labour of love and it’s 24/7. I’m our farmers’ direct contact so I could get a call after evening milking looking for something to be ordered.

“Orders are always coming in. You could get a text late in the evening, some early in the morning, at weekends even. To try to balance things out, I make direct calls to farmers at the start of the week after I go through my list, see who might be running low by the end of the week. It helps me to try to keep one step ahead.

“I started out with Tirlán when I graduated during Covid in 2020. I got a place on the Graduate Programme and worked first on the Ruminant East team, based out of the Bunclody branch. It also involved some telesales work. A year later, I got my own list of customers in Carlow and Wexford, based out of the Graiguecullen and Bunclody branches. I absolutely love my role in sales.

“I love being in direct contact with farmers, helping find solutions to any problems they may have. Farming is rapidly changing and they’re facing greater sustainability challenges now more than ever. It’s very rewarding to work with them. They’re very passionate about what they do, but there’s a lot of new legislation coming at them so they do need support.

“I’m happiest in sales and have found that there are definite career paths in Tirlán for those who want to progress within the company. The opportunities are absolutely endless and there’s a great spirit of cooperation and support.”

Caoimhe likes to keep active and as well as playing golf, she enjoys playing camogie with the local club in Kilmanagh and getting in hikes at the weekends.

“I’m very lucky to have a role in Tirlán that I love, that is close to friends and family. Farming is in a bit of a flux at the moment with so much change happening. But we have solutions and farmers are more than willing to adapt, so there’s always plenty to do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Celebrating International Women’s day at Tirlán

We celebrated International Women’s Day 2024, the invaluable contributions of women in agriculture, in our facilities and the vital role of female farmers in the Irish economy and society.

We also took part in events highlighting this year’s theme: “Inspire Inclusion”.

• Anna Daly, Member Relations Manager, joined the National Dairy Council for their podcast discussion on women in agriculture and farming, in particular women under 30 who are making strides in what is a traditionally male-dominated sector.🎙️ http://bit.ly/IWDpodcast2024
• Ailish Byrne, Director of Agribusiness, was a guest speaker at the joint Macra na Feirme and Agricultural Science Association International Women’s Day event entitled ‘Resilient Industry: Adapting to Change’ on 7th March.
• Dr. Lisa (Elisabeth) Koep, Chief ESG Officer, joined the Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and PwC Ireland for their International Women’s Day event ‘Profit and Purpose, Women Leading the Way’.
• Anna Daly, Member Relations Manager, joined Nicole Keohane, Kathryn Thomas, Sophie Bell and Frances Nash, at the recording of the NDC Podcast.

Internally, we celebrated International Women’s Day with a week-long series of events. These included a Personal Branding Masterclass conducted by Carol O’Kelly, an announcement on Riley Collaboration, and a series of webinars in partnership with VHI.

2023 Excellence Showcase ‘People’s Choice’ winners donate their €2,000 prize winnings to Focus Ireland

2023 Excellence Showcase ‘People’s Choice’ award winners Robert Kehoe and Grace O’Dwyer, alongside Micheal Phelan, presented their €2,000 prize winnings to Focus Ireland in March.

Representing the homeless charity was Patrick Jordan, who outlined the positive impact of such charitable donations in the fight against homelessness in Ireland. With the latest official figures of people registered on emergency beds at an all-time high of 13,500, 4,000 of which are children, there is no doubt that the funds will be put to good use.

The charity was selected by the team due to the prevailing and worsening homelessness crisis in Ireland. Particularly poignant are the figures around homelessness amongst children – no child should ever have to worried about having a roof over their head and this really struck a chord within the team. As a reputable charity with a long running history of having a positive impact all around Ireland, the team felt it was a suitable choice.

‘Building the Branch Network of the Future’ was the ‘People’s Choice’ project at last year’s Excellence Showcase and outlined the agri category’s strategic approach to the development of our 52 branch estate. The objective was to create a modern branch network that epitomise’s Tirlán’s vision of building a community that celebrates wholesome nutrition from the land we live and love.

The work included a rebrand of all 52 Tirlán’s store estate within a 12 month time period, along with creating a new concept store design that would inspire the communities we serve and demonstrate the new look and feel of the Tirlán brand across Ireland, with a view to all stores receiving a revamp or redevelopment within a 4-5 year period. Bunclody was selected as the pilot concept store and renovations were completed by the end of March ’23. Athboy followed in September 2023. This concept is now being rolled out across Tirlán’s Branch network.

In addition, a low carbon store was trialled in our Castlecomer branch, with a view to monitoring the impact overtime and rolling out changes across the store estate.