Cork farmers have set up Ireland’s first co-operative for sharing machinery between its members.
The Kilnamartyra dairy discussion group from Macroom, West Cork, said they came up with the idea after a trip to France where nearly half of all farmers are members of machinery co-ops.
Cost of machinery is shared through the co-op structure and reduces the financial burden on each individual member.
The co-op provides access to more modern and efficient machinery at a lower cost for members or for members who large modern machinery is beyond their financial scope.
This includes access to machines that are only occasionally used on a farm; including a stone cart for land drainage, post driver or a cattle trailer can be provided.
The co-op model can also be used to share labour across members’ farms at busy times of the year.
A machinery co-op is applicable for farmers in any enterprise for farmers in any enterprise, including ones that require a heavy input of expensive machinery, such as tillage.
There is a high dependency on machinery in tillage, where the costs for cereals are in the order of 30 per cent of total production costs.
LSL News.