Farmer John Sheridan opens a gate on a farm which straddles both borders where the gate marks the exact border between Ireland and Northern Ireland between County Cavan and County Fermanagh near Florencecourt, Northern Ireland on Nov. 30. (Clodagh Kilcoyne photo for Reuters)

Farmers demand invisible Irish border, post-Brexit

Florencecourt, Northern Ireland | Reuters — Northern Irish sheep farmers like John Sheridan collectively transport more than 1,000 lambs a day over the Irish border for slaughter and shipment to shoppers across the European Union. At the moment, the process is seamless. But Sheridan sees a threat to his life’s work, his family’s future and […] Read more



The past decade has seen a lot of land turned away from growing grain and returned to pasture for sheep and dairy.

Agriculture on the Emerald Isle

Like farmers anywhere, Irish farmers are always eager to talk about agriculture

I recently had the great fortune and opportunity to spend two weeks traveling around Ireland with my wife Kim for our anniversary. Arriving in Dublin, we picked up our subcompact rental car and proceeded south along the coastline to Wexford. We stayed in a remodeled 13th century abbey on the edge of a small town. […] Read more


(OIE.int via Flickr)

OIE cuts six European countries’ BSE risk level

Paris | Reuters — The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has lowered to the safest level the official risk of six countries for BSE, a move expected to open international market access for their beef exports. These countries are France, Ireland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Liechtenstein. OIE members in Paris last week eased […] Read more



U.S. allows imports of Irish beef, first EU shipments in 17 years

Dublin/Brussels | Reuters — Ireland has become the first European Union country allowed to export beef to the U.S., 17 years after Washington banned EU imports over BSE. This follows a successful inspection by U.S. authorities of Ireland’s beef production system completed in July, the Irish agriculture department said on Monday, after the ban on […] Read more