Liam Woulfe will step down from his position of managing director of Grassland Agro at the end of the year after leading the business for the past 22 years.

The Limerick-native informed staff at Grassland Agro last week that he will step down from his position at the end of December to facilitate the evolution of the leadership at the company.

Enda McDonald, who currently serves as group sales manager for the company, will take over as general manager of Grassland Agro from January 2025. He first joined the business more than a decade ago in 2010 as a regional sales manager.

As part of the leadership transition, Woulfe will continue to support McDonald and the wider Grassland Agro team on a full-time basis until the end of March 2025, after which he will assume a senior advisor role and continue as a director of the company.

Agri career

Woulfe started his career in the agribusiness industry more than four decades ago working for dairy companies such as Aurivo, Golden Vale and Kerry Group until he opted to lead Grassland Fertilisers.

In 2013, he negotiated a joint venture between Grassland Fertiliser and Timac Agro Ireland, a subsidiary of the French agri supplies, research and technology business Groupe Roullier, to form Grassland Agro.

Woulfe will remain active in the agri-food industry, continuing in his role as executive chair of his Freshgrass Holdings Group, which holds a 50% stake in Drummonds Agribusiness as part of a joint venture partnership with Fane Valley Co-op.

Alongside this, Woulfe will continue to hold a number of other non-executive director roles such as director and chair of the Agricultural Trust, the publisher of the Irish Farmers Journal, non-executive director at Teagasc, the state agricultural research body, and chair of Drummonds Agribusiness, in addition to a number of others board positions.

Commenting on his retirement he said the past 22 years managing Grassland Agro and overseeing its growth and success has been “hugely satisfying”.