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Bord Bia
Farmer con traas in green field
green tractor icon

Con Traas

Con Traas is a fruit grower, and owner and manager of The Apple Farm, Tipperary.

The Traas family has been growing fruit in Tipperary since the late sixties, but their heritage as fruit growers goes back to the 1800s in their native Holland. Con’s parents, Willem and Ali, moved to Ireland in 1967 in search of a suitable farm to grow fruit when it became difficult to find new land in the Netherlands. They found a farm in Moorstown, between Cahir and Clonmel, which already had an old orchard. There, they established new apple and plum orchards and in the early years also grew tulips. By the 1970s they had opened a farm shop, which is still operated from the same barn.

Today, the farm, which is managed by Con and employs up to 25 staff, produces 60 varieties of apples, as well as strawberries, raspberries, cherries, plums and pears. Of the 68 acres on the farm, 40 acres is dedicated to apple growing with 40,000 trees producing around four million apples per year. 

All electricity used on the farm is either wind-generated, or produced using the solar electrical panels installed in 2019, while water is heated using solar panels installed on the roof of one of the farm buildings. The boxes used by farm shop customers are returnable, with a refund to the customer each time they come back. “My ambition is to make the farm as environmentally friendly as possible, within the constraints of what’s financially viable”, explains Con, who is also a lecturer at the University of Limerick.

In addition to fresh fruit, the farm shop boasts an array of produce from apple crisps to cider vinegar, jams, jellies, apple cider and juices. The Apple Farm’s Irish Cider Vinegar, which comes corked and in a weighty glass bottle, has something of a cult following among Irish chefs, foodies and proponents of natural remedies.

Con continues: “I really love just being outside in the orchard growing good crops. Occasionally people come up to you and say “Oh look, I got some lovely apples and your name was on them”, and that’s just the biggest thrill of all, that’s just so rewarding.”