Newly appointed director rises to Teagasc task
The new advisory programme promises a fast and efficient response to farmer problems, backed by up-to-the-minute research.
In his first six weeks as the freshly appointed Teagasc director, Professor Gerry Boyle has already cemented a new relationship with farmers, showing a down-to-earth understanding of their problems and proving a very effective communicator. The new director, internationally acclaimed as an agricultural economist, has chosen to live in a rural community in a difficult farming area in North Tipperary, not far from his birthplace on a farm near Borrisoleigh. He can see the practicalities of farming life at first hand, in an area which hosted one of the first farm schools in Co Tipperary. It was run by Dr Tom Walsh, in his first appointment as a young agricultural instructor. When the Agricultural Institute was established in 1958, the government appointed Dr Walsh as its first director, and he was appointed the first director of ACOT in 1980 when it took over agricultural education and training.
At the Macra na Feirme Rally at Clonmel, Professor Boyle said he had great confidence in the future of Irish farming, but that it would be very different, with more part-time farmers. He said farmers are entitled to a decent standard of living, nothing less than other sectors of the economy, a standard of living that reflects the capital which they have invested in their business. Achieving that was a challenge for farmers and Teagasc working together.
Last week, he told beef farmers at Portlaoise it was an absolute scandal producers of good quality cattle are not being rewarded by the processors, and this must be addressed.
“Farmers will respond if the rewards are there at the end of the line,” he said.
We wish him well in the challenging years ahead.
