From Cullahill to Kentucky – Meet the Laois man who is thriving in the US agricultural industry

“Farming is pretty much the same everywhere you go” – Brian Caldbeck, a Laois man working in Kentucky’s agricultural industry, running a business called Rubisco Seeds.

He established Rubisco Seeds in 2009 to identify and supply high yielding canola (00 rapeseed) hybrids to the US and Canadian production regions.

This is done through a network of focused retailers and support agronomists – experts in the science of soil management and crop production.

Speaking to LaoisToday, Brian said: “There are just differences in scale.

“Consolidations in the food industry and large food retailers have put downward pressure on the values of what farmers produce, resulting in lower margins and strains on profitability, said

“Government subsidies are designed to enable this by supplementing farmers’ incomes so food prices remain cheap,” the Laois native contended.

“To increase their income farmers have limited options; buy or rent more land, get a part-time job or sell out. These are individual choices depending on one’s circumstances.

“The trend is toward more part-time farmers and larger scale farmers as a means of retaining viability.”

Right now, prices are ‘in the tank’ with lots of stress in the farming communities in which Brian works.

He grew up on a predominantly dairy farm near Cullahill which is now taken care of by his brother Ted and their mother, Betty.

“After both national and secondary school I worked on the farm most evenings or on neighbouring farms.

“I was farming before I decided to emigrate, in addition to having  a job with Minch Norton working with farmers throughout the region on crop production,” he said.

“I had close contacts with American crop management companies for several years prior and eventually they succeeded in encouraging me to move over there to work on high protein spring wheat production in the northern plains of the US.

“Claire and I and our four young children, at the time, Rebecca, William, Sarah and Philip, made the move. Our youngest son, Benjamin, was born in the US.

“For myself, it was straight into work with farmers so no real period of settling took place.

“Farming communities are great wherever you go, they make you very welcome. For Claire, it took a while to adjust but again the community was very welcoming to her too.

“Dramatic thunderstorms which occur frequently in Kentucky, tornado alerts, poisonous snakes and spiders all served to add a little uncustomary drama to everyday life.

“Apart from that the children started attending the local school which again was very accommodating. No language barrier was definitely an advantage,” said Brian.

Primary activities revolve around research and evaluation of non-traditional crops in multiple regions of the U.S. for economic and agronomic viability.

“Canola or 00 rapeseed is one of the primary crops we work with, due to high demand for oil. Once the appropriate crop genetics are identified for a certain region, then we source seed from contact producers or multiply in-house, clean, process, bag and distribute to growers,” explained Brian.

“Detailed information on customised crop husbandry is provided to growers, especially ones new to these crops, as they work to integrate them into existing crop rotations with their current equipment and ag chemical constraints,” he said.

“The winter climate in the U.S. can be very harsh some years and considerable attention is focused on enhancing winter hardiness through genetic selections, cultural practices and refined use of crop inputs.”

Working in agriculture is dynamic and requires both mental and physical flexibility, he said. “The weather is king and dictates everything we do and we know how variable the weather can be.”

Wife Claire is heavily involved in day-to-day operations and management of the seed business the couple established in 2010.

Daughter Rebecca is in the UK at graduate school working on a doctorate in biotechnology.

William and Sarah are both engineers and work predominantly in the oil and gas industry.

Philip is at university and is also a qualified pipe welder. Ben is in secondary school and is very involved in the family business.

Brian tries to get home every year for a few days. “There is a lot of family in Ireland to visit.

“I miss the people mostly. Irish farmers are some of the best in the world and will give any place a run for their money on productivity, it is just at a different scale,” he contended.

Visiting every year and keeping up to speed with what is going on in Ireland in some ways makes the notion of returning home eventually somewhat redundant.

“The world is a smaller place now with connectivity between regions commonly occurring on an hourly and daily basis. I do not see myself leaving the agricultural industry any time soon.

“Hard work and a good word are the cornerstones of working anywhere in the agricultural industry. Everything else typically aligns positively with that.”

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