The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘A good and honest reputation stands to us...’
HAVING a quality product that is sourced and distributed in a fashion that earns you a solid reputation is something Iveragh Mart can be proud of as it celebrates thirty-years. One of the mart’s key strengths is the attention to detail local farmers and breeders pay to producing quality livestock.
This is essential given the mart is disadvantaged to some extent due to its location. It is in one of the most remote marts of the county but this hasn’t prevented Mike Kissane from broadening the mart’s appeal. Mike has worked hard to build relationships with feedlots and big farmers in the midlands and southeast for both store lambs, weanlings and store cattle.
Iveragh Mart has built a solid relationship of trust over the past 30-years and these same people are dealing with the mart to the present day. The mart believes in doing ‘straight business’ with people and it provides stock directly to places in Offaly, Kildare and Westmeath where it sells around 2,000 lambs a week in peak season. A measure of this trust is borne out by the fact Mike may never have met the buyers face-to-face which is somewhat unusual in this trade.
“These men trust me to give them 300 store lambs in a week even though I’ve never met them. I trust them to pay me and that’s the way the relationship works,” Mike said.
“If they want a particular product - 30kilo store lamb, a Suffolk or a Charolais– they get exactly what they want at an agreed price. We also do a good bit of the weighing too for cattle as they’re too busy at tillage and harvesting. They haven’t time to come 5 hours down to Cahersiveen. A good reputation stands to us long-term and it takes time to build up trust. There was a lot of leg work involved at the beginning and today some of their families and neighbours deal with us.”
Mike also adds how the mart is bolstered by the quality of the cattle bred locally. This is a big asset as small herds have maintained a good quality line for generations.
“It’s of super quality and even though most of the farmers here have marginal land, they are breeding great continental cattle. The farmers have to pay attention to their herds to be able to get those weanlings into a €1000, or to get store lambs into €70 or €80. I’ve had customers from up the country say to me that the quality of cattle at Iveragh Mart is something they haven’t seen anywhere else in the country,” Mike added.