Conference to hail ‘time of opportunity’ for young farmers

Retention of farm supports will be a key topic in this weekend’s Macra na Feirme annual conference, which takes place in the Tower Hotel, Waterford.

Macra president Alan Jagoe said: “We know that Budget 2012 will not be a savoury dish and will leave a very bitter taste in many mouths, but we must look at what is driving the recovery of our economy and that, as [Agriculture Minister Simon] Coveney is aware, is agriculture and the agri-food sector. We need to retain the current reliefs to aid land transfer as well as reliefs targeting farm consolidation.

“The theme of this weekend’s conference is ‘Young Farmers — The Opportunity of a Lifetime’. I believe, due international demand for food, the ambitions of Food Harvest 2020, CAP reform, and milk quota abolition, that it certainly is a time of opportunity.”

Speakers include Waterford native Jim Power, an economist with Friends First; Jim McCarthy, a progressive tillage farmer based in Castledermot, Co Carlow; Sean Molloy, director of strategy and supplier relations with event sponsors Glanbia; and Mr Jagoe.

The conference will be preceded by a choice of farm walks focusing on dairy enterprises or beef, tillage, and sheep enterprises on the farm of Bill, Sean, and Val Cummins in Newtown. The Cummins family milks 215 cows but aims to increase the herd to 300 in 2015.

The highlight of Macra’s annual events calendar, the weekend-long conference will feature the AIB club of the year competition and the best new member competition interview process on Saturday afternoon, followed by Saturday’s night festivities in the Tower Hotel.

The Sunday brunch will continue until 1pm, while those participating in the Bord Bia beef and sheep stockjudging competition will head to Kildalton Agricultural College by bus for competition sign-in between 10am and 10.30am.