Liam Herlihy, chairman of
Glanbia, John Moloney,
group MD Glanbia, Minister
for the Environment Community and Local Government Phil Hogan and Jim
Bergin, CEO Glanbia Ingredients Ireland at the groundbreaking for the new Glanbia plant in south Kilkenny
Sustainability:
Samco Agricultural
Manufacturing Ltd
Theneedbackinthe1990sfora
newwaytogrowmaizein
Ireland’scoolclimatehasled
overtimetoasuccessfulcompany,SamcoAgriculturalManufacturingLtd.
Thecompanydevelopeda
uniquethree-in-onemaize
plantingmachinethatsetsthe
seed,appliesweedkillerand
coversthedrillwithafilmof
biodegradablematerialallat
once,explainscompanydirector
RobertShine.
Hisfather,Samuel,developed
themachinebackinthe
mid-1990ssohecouldproduce
forageforcattleonthefamily
farminAdare,CoLimerick.Butit
wasclearthemachinewouldbe
justasusefultootherfarmers
andsothecompanybegan.
Theystartedmanufacturing
andbeganresearchonasuitable
degradableagriculturalfilm.“It
actslikeaminigreenhousein
effect,heatistrappedunderthe
filmtohelpseedgermination.It
canbeusedforsoya,sweetcorn,
sorghumorsunflower,”hesays.
Theyhavedevelopeda
numberoffilmsandareexperimentingwithastarch-basedfilm
toreplaceolderversions.“We
haveabout10differentproducts
developedhereandmadehere
andinChina.”
Samconowemploys30
peopledirectlyandanother20
indirectlyinsupportservices,
Shinesays.Itexports80percent
ofwhatitproduceswithmachinesleavingAdareforJapan,
China,NewZealand,Chile,
CanadaandtheUS,withrecent
annualgrowthof15to20per
cent,hesays.
Researchanddevelopment
remainscentraltowhatthe
companydoes,Shinesays.
“ForefrontinourmindsisR&D.
Wedon’tacceptthenotionthatif
itisn’tbrokendon’tfixit,we
alwaystrytoimproveour
products.”
DICKAHLSTROM
THE IRISH TIMES | March 26, 2014 | 15