“Oats Produced from Ballard Organic Farm Owned and operated by the Lalor family since 1844” is the proud proclamation on the Kilbeggan Organic Foods website and it says a lot about the principles of stewardship that Pat Lalor and his forebears have always valued so highly.
Oats have always been an important crop on this Co Westmeath farm, initially for animal feed and then for supply to Ireland’s biggest porridge oats company Flahavans, whose organic sales have increased dramatically in recent years. Then in 2011, Pat took the leap and - while still also supplying Flahavans - he started producing porridge from his own oats and Kilbeggan Organic Porridge was born.
The timing was good and this quality product - which is available as jumbo (whole) oats and oatlets (finer) - has been a huge success, already winning awards including the Best Organic Grocery category at Bord Bia’s National Organic Awards in 2012. It’s distributed to speciality stores all over Ireland and in demand for its special texture and flavour as well as the ‘free from’ advantages.
The health benefits of oats are now well understood and, while the slow release energy of porridge is especially welcome in the colder months, it’s an all year product.
Agri-tourism is another important element of life on Ballard Farm, which is also an open farm (March- October) with facilities for visiting groups of up to 45 people, with or without an agricultural background.
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