From treating herds of 30 animals in 1989 to now treating herds of up to 30,000 animals, GH Agri now offers its services to farms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

GH Agri is an award-winning family run business that develops, manufactures, and retails veterinary healthcare products to maximise agricultural productivity and help reduce on-farm disease.

Despite the environmental challenges, agriculture is a growing enterprise in the UAE. Like Irish farmers, farm managers in the UAE are intrigued by alternative medicines and their advantages for their herds.

Providing an alternative form of medication is a service that GH Agri – situated in Tuam, Co. Galway – can provide to the UAE market. 

GH Agri was set up as Galway Homeopathics in 1989 by Kevin and Bridget McHugh and has sold animal healthcare products in Ireland and overseas for over 30 years.

The use of homeopathic treatments aid in reducing the use of antibiotics which gives clients a better return.

Homeopathic treatments have advantages, in that they are cost effective; there are no withdrawal periods for meat and milk; and they are easy to administer as minimal animal-handling is required.

The company produces its products in its Good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant facility which is licensed by Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine to manufacture veterinary medicine.

GH Agri has sold products in Ireland, the UK and Canada and is now expanding into the UAE market.

GH Agri currently has 11 animal health products available. These products are utilised for the prevention and treatment of various on-farm diseases.

These include:

Thousands of customers have utilised the products due to their effectiveness and due to the technical support offered throughout the programmes. This high-quality service has resulted in high customer retention rates.

For example, mastitis is the most economically significant infectious disease in dairy cows. GH Agri’s Ridomast is a fast and effective remedy for the prevention and treatment of mastitis which aids in the reduction and stabilisation of somatic cell counts.  

Alone, over 20,000 customers have used this programme in Ireland and the UK, and now this programme is of great interest to farm managers in the UAE.

The UAE has a large dairy herd of around 42,000 cows and GH Agri has visited and secured orders from some of the largest dairy farms in the UAE for their Ridomast product.

Other homeopathic products have also sparked the interest of farm managers in the UAE such as the Bovi.BLS/BLI programme and Ridoscour. Both programmes have been successful in GH Agri's existing markets.

Bovi.BLS and Bovi.BLI programmes provide a disease specific herd immunisation which will promote BVD-free status in addition to tackling leptospirosis and IBR or salmonella.

Aside from the UAE market expansion, GH Agri will also be expanding and diversifying its product portfolio later this year.

The Local Enterprise Office awarded GH Agri a business expansion grant, which allowed the company to research and develop a range of boluses to cater for both cattle and sheep for their Irish, UK, and UAE clients.

The boluses are aimed at aiding the nutritional and healthcare requirements of farm animals. The bolus range will contain trace elements and vitamins that will help promote health and reduce the risk of disease.

The expansion of GH Agri’s business throughout the years has been aided by the Local Enterprise Office. Breda Fox, Valerie Kelly, and Eoin Connaire, along with others in the local enterprise, have been a great help to GH Agri during their business' expansion.

Enterprise Ireland has also been a great resource for GH Agri by connecting the company with the right people in the UAE. Daniel Cunningham, in particular, was a major help in broadening the company's knowledge on the market that they plan to infiltrate.

GH Agri will be attending the National Ploughing Championships 2022 and looks forward to meeting new customers for consultation and offering advice on using their products. The company can be found in the Local Enterprise Village.

For further information on GH Agri and its products, click here.

To view GH Agri's product catalogue, click here.