Young farmers needed for milk sector
Jim Dwyer, who runs an intensive dairy business at Moneymore, Borris-in-Ossory, told a national conference in UCD that just 8% of farmers are under 35-years-old. This, combined with reduced numbers of young people pursuing agricultural training courses, will result in a major deficit in skilled people to drive an internationally competitive dairy industry.
“There are great opportunities to grow the size of the dairy sector. But without a pathway for young people to make a decent income from dairying, the long-term future of the industry is in doubt. Countries like New Zealand have operated methods such as ‘share farming’ that have given young people an entry platform. In Ireland, our record over the past two decades in ensuring a stream of dairy farmer successors has been abysmal,” said Jim Dwyer.
Addressing the conference on A New Roadmap for Education, Research and Innovation, run by the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc and UCD, Jim Dwyer said our scientists must turn global warming to our advantage, “Under global warming, longer growing seasons are predicted. We need to develop innovative new methods to enhance the value of grass, including the development of new varieties that will grow better in the autumn and winter periods. This would further increase our advantage as a grass-based food producer,” he said.
He said the dairy cow of the future will be a Jersey cross — a smaller cow with much fewer fertility problems than the Friesian, and producing milk of higher value.
He was highly critical of dairy processors, saying that the boards of management of co-ops have not the capacity to service the current needs of the industry. “They are selected on the basis of politics not on ability,” he said.
“At the other end of the scale, I see three positives. The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) has revolutionised dairy breeding. Moorepark Research Centre is the ‘jewel in the crown’, and dairy farmers should invest more money to finance research at Moorepark. And thirdly, there are still a lot of good people in the Department of Agriculture who are prepared to listen,” he said.
nJim McCarthy, Castledermot, Co Kildare, one of the country’s largest tillage farmers, told the conference that Europe has become a ‘third world’ as far as research on tillage farming is concerned.
Mr McCarthy, who also manages a 30,000 hectare farm in Argentina, said biotechnology is the most exciting development in tillage farming worldwide. “But the word is effectively banned in Europe and we cannot even have field trials.”
