BUCKING THE TREND
One of just three buffalo farmers in the country, Liam Byrne talks to Simon Bourke about life at Macamore Buffalo
IN 2016 Liam Byrne was in a position which those in the farming industry will know all too well. Farming land which his father and grandfather had farmed before him, land which Byrnes had worked on for more than one hundred years, Liam was struggling to make a living.
With a young family at home he was in need of new ideas, ways to make his business more profitable.
The idea which would ultimately lead to the creation of Macamore Buffalo came courtesy of wife Sinead.
‘We started off just trying to do something different on the farm, away from what everyone else was doing,’ Liam explains. ‘Sinead had watched a celebrity chef cooking programme and the chef, I can’t remember his name, was visiting a buffalo farm in scotland. And Sinead said “I wonder would buffalo work here?”’
After a little research they found that buffalo would work here and there were already two farmers who could attest to that. In Macroom, Cork, there was John Lynch and in Derry there was Michael O’Brien, both of whom had buffalo farms.
After purchasing four calves from John and then being put in touch with a Welsh farmer selling a herd of 16 cows and two bulls, Liam added himself to this exclusive list.
And he admits he went into his new venture a little blind.
‘We’d never even seen the animals, we were a bit naive in some ways, we bought them without seeing them.’
Nonetheless the animals arrived as promised and in calf, and shortly thereafter Liam’s small herd almost doubled in size. During these early weeks it was a matter of farmer and animal getting to know one another.
‘When they first came we were all a little bit afraid of them, because they have the horns and they’re about 1015% bigger than normal cows. They’re strong too. When they came out of the trailer they went ballistic and broke through fences and ditches,’ Liam recalls.
Yet these early teething problems soon gave way to a harmonious, even affectionate, relationship.
‘ They’re very docile, very friendly, very curious, and they like human company. When they want to lie down they’ll often come up to the garden and rest there.’
Such is their curiosity Liam has had to erect signs on the road outside his house, warning drivers and cyclists that there may, on occasion, be buffalo wandering in their vicinity. And this has attracted the attention of some passers by.
‘We get a lot of people here in the summer time, people going by on bikes, “What? Buffalo? Stop, stop. Back up!” They come in for a look. We don’t mind them coming in.’
Once Liam had familiarised himself with his new stock he had to figure out how to make money from it.
‘By September of ‘16 we had 37 buffalo and we still had no market. We hadn’t as much as one person to say we’ll take your stock. So we got in touch with Neil Murphy of the Food Family and he introduced us to Richie Doyle the butcher.’
I WANT THAT KIND OF BUSINESS WHERE YOU DEAL DIRECTLYWITH THE CUSTOMER, PEOPLE LIKE THE IDEA OF BUYING STRAIGHT FROM THE FARMER
Thus began a relationship which endures to this day, one which sees the Wexford town butcher stock and sell Liam’s meat to a customer-base which continues to grow.
Added to this are the relationships which Liam has developed with local restaurants and chefs.
‘We literally went cold calling, We went to Seafield Hotel, got an introduction there, they were our first customer, and they’re still a loyal customer.
‘We went into Katie Dalys, in Gorey, they were supportive too; everyone was excited, they loved the flavour, the taste, and the fact it was local.’
But what makes Macamore Buffalo special is the one-to-one connections Liam has nurtured with individual customers, the unique interactions which hark back to the old days of farming.
‘I’m very interested in creating a real farm to fork industry,’ he says. ‘ That term gets bandied about a lot but we’ve started to do meat drops; once a month we’ll do a drop to Wicklow. So I’ll put it on Facebook, people reply with their order, I’ll arrive at the point and they come and meet me. I want that kind of business where you deal directly with the customer, people like the idea of buying straight from the farmer.
‘You meet your customer face to face and you have a chit chat. You get to know them, get to know their family. It’s almost like the old days. Lots of times we get people who call directly to the house to buy some meat.’
People also like the idea of meeting the man who produced the food they’re eating, even if it means being introduced to him in the middle of their meal.
‘I’ve often dropped stuff down to Seafield and walked out through the bistro to see what’s on the plates. Now and again a restaurant owner or chef will introduce you to someone who’s dining and say, “This is the farmer who produced the buffalo,” and people love that.’
With a business still ‘very much in its infancy’ Liam is reluctant to plan too far into the future. For now the focus is on bringing Macamore Buffalo into the consciousness of as many people in Wexford as possible. However, should it continue to grow, should he need to expand, he will strive to maintain the relationships he has fostered with his loyal customer base.
‘I want to get the farm up and running, offer a unique product to a local market who appreciate it, not just the food but the effort that goes into producing it.
‘If the business grows I will try and get someone to help with the farming side of things so that I can be front of house. I enjoy the relationships I build up with customers, whether its chefs, restuarants, people I deliver to, those relationships are important to me.’
And what of Liam and Sinead’s three children, is there another generation of Byrne farmers waiting in the wings?
‘Rebecca is currently in her first year at UCD studying Agriculture and Environmental Science. Matthew is 11 and starts in St Peter’s College in September. Peter is 9, in Ballygarrett National School.
‘ They help out. They feed the young calves, they enjoy that. I don’t know if they’ll want to take it over. The world’s there to be discovered. I wouldn’t ask them or expect them to do what I’m doing.
If the business continues to grow and prosper and one of them wants to come and give a hand and see where they can take it that’d be great, but if not that’s okay too. They’ll find their own direction.’