Press Room

Speaking today (Wednesday 29 August), at the launch of the Teagasc programme for Adult and Life Long Learning for 2007/08, Macra na Feirme's national president, Catherine Buckley, said that providing 'the best possible educational opportunities to farmers' would be the key to giving Irish agriculture a competitive advantage in the future.

The Macra president pointed out that her organisation had long been involved in campaigning for improvements in agricultural education standards and she welcomed the fact that the existing '180 hour course' will, in the coming year, be replaced with the new Advanced Certificate in Agriculture.

"While the new course will require a greater commitment from participants, it will leave them far better equipped to deal with the demands of modern farming. This new course will create a pathway for young farmers to acquire a broader and more life-long agricultural education," she said.

Ms Buckley pointed out that while it was vital that Teagasc continued to develop top-class specialised courses targeted at full-time farmers, she said that Macra also fully supported the provision of agricultural training courses to part-time farmers or those who could not attend agricultural college.

"The responsibilities and pressures on so called part-time farmers are just as onerous as those on farmers with no off-farm employment and is important for the future of the industry that this category of farmer has access to properly structured training," she said. The leader of the young farmers' organisation said that in addition to the formal courses offered by Teagasc, the importance of various discussion group sessions, also facilitated by the organisation, should not be under-estimated.

"In the last twelve months, Macra has established a number of specialised discussion groups for young farmers around the country which are facilitated by professional Teagasc advisers. The demand for this type of educational opportunity has been huge as it provides a chance for young like-minded farmers to meet and network with others in the industry, and in turn assists them in making better decisions in relation to the future growth of their business," she said.

In conclusion, Mr. Buckley commended Teagasc on their comprehensive range of adult training programmes provided across the country, and she said that it was important that there was a change in mindset towards agricultural education particularly from the senior farm organisations.

"It is important that a positive message is sent out about the benefits of agricultural education, rather than presenting it as something to be 'gotten out of the way' in order to qualify for certain supports. If we are to have a competitive sector with adequately trained people devoting their careers to farming, then it is time for all stakeholders to promote the value of training and continuous updating of skills," she concluded.

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