Macra: Odile Evans promises to bring ambition into Macra
On January 9, she declared her intention to contest the Macra presidency.
Odile studied Food and Agribusiness Management at University College Dublin.
Coming from a dairy farm in Co Wexford, she is well known in the Irish agri-sector, as a journalist with the Irish Farmers Journal.
Her club is Johnstown-Coolgreany Macra, which is affiliated to Wicklow Macra.
She says, “I don’t think that there are any challenges specifically facing Macra other than the funding of the overall organisation.
"I’m the national treasurer, and I believe that I have put the organisation on a good track or on a good course to bring in more funding and to be better structured in how we are funded”
Fun, community, farming.
When we won club of the year in 2012, the year I was club secretary, because it’s a great team win, the whole club was involved in that, and there’s no greater achievement than being part of a winning team.
Well, I have got a lot personally out of Macra over the last few years, and I want to make sure that that personal development opportunity is there for its members going forward, so I want to give back to Macra what I have got out of it.
It’s an absolutely fantastic organisation for rural youth and for developing people’s personal abilities, so I want to make sure that it maintains itself that way for future generations.
It’s amazing really, you have been to it at 17 or 18 years of age, and taking on an officer role is a big thing at that age, to be organising events in your community or taking minutes of meetings, all personal development skills that will stand to you later in life.
It gives you a great sense of initiative and enthusiasm for life in general.
It stands to you no matter what you do, whatever industry you work in or being self-employed, it gives you a sense of organisation, you are a more well-rounded person, and even taking part in competitions, that helps as well.
I am a really ambitious person. I will bring that ambition to Macra and make sure that Macra is an ambitious organisation. I have a very energetic, vibrant personality. I would say while nothing stops me if I get going on whatever path it is. I will bring a lot of energy to the table and new ideas, fresh ideas all the time and a perspective.
The average member in Macra is in their mid-twenties, and that is the age I am, so I can better reflect the needs of our members in that sense.
There are numerous challenges facing all of us, I suppose. First of all will be Brexit, it will define our generation, it really will. It’s something that is going to affect all of us in rural Ireland or as young farmers.
Over the next two years, Brexit negotiations will take place and we need a president that can be a strong advocate for rural youth and for young farmers. I believe I can be that person.
Also, the upcoming Common Agricultural Policy negotiations. Again, we need someone who is strong on agricultural policy, and as well as that, there are other issues facing society, for example, there will be different referendums coming up.
We [Macra] have always been there to educate rural young people, and it is important to continue to do that, so that we can make informed decisions about whatever is affecting society today.
Society changes, and quite often, the issues remain fairly similar, and we have always been at the forefront of educating people around these different issues, and we can continue to do that, be it mental health, sexual health, different things like that, it’s very important.
In your opinion, what are the main issues facing young farmers, and if elected president, what will you do to overcome them?
Brexit and CAP are the main ones for the young farmers, and maintaining current policy instruments in place such as stock relief, they are important for young farmers.
It’s an ever-changing, ever-developing organisation, that is well set to stand the test of time.
I don’t think that there are any challenges specifically facing Macra other than the funding of the overall organisation.
I’m the national treasurer and I believe that I have put the organisation on a good track or on a good course to bring in more funding, and to be better structured in how we are funded.
I have made the funding for the organisation more transparent, I would say, between reporting to council, and I also came up with a funding plan for the organisation, as chair for the finance committee, that will see us forward in the next couple of years where we will source our funding from.
It’s a difficult area, because there are so many “old-young farmers” and different categories of them everywhere. All we can really do is listen to their needs, their concerns, and actively lobby on those.
It is a far-ranging spectrum of people that are caught up with various different issues that way, but another thing that we can do is to try and prevent new “old-young farmers” coming on stream by continuously lobbying to keep the national reserve open, and areas like that to prevent further “old-young farmers” being created.
Stop-starting schemes, and things like that.
I suppose the unique opportunities it affords to each and every one of us, as in travel opportunities, competition opportunities, the ability to go from club to county, to national level, there’s numerous opportunities there.
It is simple enough, really, we can increase PR for the organisation.
I have worked in the media, I am a journalist and I have a lot of contacts in that area, that helps because you raise the profile of the organisation, and that makes recruitment on the ground a lot easier.
If you approach someone and ask them to become a member, if they have heard of the organisation, it’s a good start.
The image of the organisation is very important, as well as that, we can run information sessions and even promotional videos on YouTube or on Facebook, they are simple ways of just getting the main message about Macra out there.
Pit silage, because that’s what we have at home.
No, we have a Case and a New Holland here. We used to have a John Deere, a mix is important.
Draw silage, I love it.
It’s a great time of the year, there a great buzz around, loads of people involved, as I said, teamwork again, which is something I like to do.
