A HARD-WORKING Limerick man is set to retire from his role as managing director of a well-known animal nutrition and fertiliser business.
Liam Woulfe is set to retire from Grassland Agro, where he served as managing director since 2002.
The Adare native took the helm at the company when his business, Freshgrass Group, acquired Grassland Fertilisers from Greencore 22 years ago.
Mr Woulfe is now set to stand down from the role from the end of December to facilitate the evolution of leadership at the company.
Enda McDonald, who currently serves as group sales manager at Grassland Agro, will take over as GM of Grassland Agro from January 2025, having first joined the business more than a decade ago in 2010 as a regional sales manager.
As part of the transition, Mr Woulfe will stay on hand to support Mr McDonald and the rest of the company until March 2025, when he will assume a senior advisor role and continue as a director of the company.
During his 22 years at the helm, Mr Woulfe negotiated a “game changer” joint venture in 2013 between Grassland Fertiliser and Timac Agro Ireland, a subsidiary of the French agri supplies, research and technology business Groupe Roullier, to form Grassland Agro.
Grassland Agro’s staff has increased from 54 in 2012 to over 150 people today.
Mr Woulfe said that his time leading the company has been “hugely satisfying” and wished his successor the best of luck in the role.
“The past 22 years managing Grassland Agro and overseeing its growth and success has been hugely satisfying. Over that time, Grassland Agro has evolved from a traditional fertiliser provider into a multifaceted agribusiness that provides crucial sustainability and agronomy services to the Irish farming industry,” he said.
“But now the time has come for me to hand over the baton. I want to wish Enda McDonald, his management team, and all the staff at Grassland Agro every success for the future.
“I will continue to remain involved in the Irish agribusiness sector through a number of board directorships that I hold, and I look forward to seeing the industry continue to adapt and evolve to meet the sustainability challenge,” Mr Woulfe concluded.
