Stephen Cadogan: It’s jobs away from the land that keep many farms going

The importance of the Government’s aim to increase sustainable employment across all sectors of the economy and in every town and village is self-evident.

Jobs will be needed to cater for an increase of around 25% in student numbers until approximately 2028, through demographic growth.

A less obvious but significant priority in provision of jobs is to provide jobs to generate the off-farm income which is critical for safe-guarding the economic well-being of a large proportion of farm households.