Irish Examiner view: The changing face of farming

Women are now breeding herds of cattle, sheep, and goats and managing large tracts of woodland

In the context of the growing influence of Irish women not just across the wider agricultural sector, but as farmers in their own right, it is appropriate that the United Nations has designated next year as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. File picture: Danny Lawson

As some 300,000 people get set to attend the annual three-day extravaganza that is the National Ploughing Championships at Screggan, Co Laois, from today, there is an opportunity to recognise a change in Irish farms — not so much in the way they are operated, but who is operating them.

As in so many other professions and walks of life, the role of women in farming is evolving rapidly and the dominance of men across agricultural life is beginning to wane.