Ireland’s largest dairy processor, Tirlán, is concerned about farmer numbers in the future.
“In the next number of years, our biggest concern is actually having farmers to farm,” Tirlán CEO Seán Molloy has said.
“We’re going to do a lot of great work over the next number of years in terms of what we need to do on our emissions, rightly so. But we need to be very careful that we have farmers who want to actually farm the land,” he said.
Describing attracting young people into farming as an “emerging crisis internationally”, Molloy said it is important that agriculture sends out a message that it is a great industry.
“Over the last decade we took in about 500 new entrants into Tirlán. Our colleagues in the industry did a similar proportion. But now we’re at a point where the exits are much higher than the folk that want to go into it and that’s despite the fact that right now, in beef and dairy, farming is very good. They [farmers] might even admit it, it’s actually very good,” he told those in attendance at the Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Climate Change Science into Action conference.
Food security
He warned that the sector runs a serious danger of, after a period of time making great progress on the environment, having endangered food security in the world.
“We have a responsibility to do the right thing by the environment, but we equally have the responsibility to do the right thing by producing food for a nation and world that is growing rapidly.
“I have a fear that in two or three decades, we’ll be sitting here having a conversation about why did we get it so wrong. My challenge up here today to science in action is that we need to solve two challenges.
“One, yes we need to get the environmental piece absolutely right but secondly – and this is the hard challenge – we need to do that while growing our food production.
“Not cutting it, not taking it away. The world needs our food, our rural society in Ireland needs the income stream that derives and our farmers need to see a progressive industry that’s growing, challenging and developing. Not being curtailed,” Molloy said.
'We have a responsibility to do the right thing by the environment but we equally have the responsibility to do the right thing by producing food,' Tirlán CEO said. \ Philip Doyle
Ireland’s largest dairy processor, Tirlán, is concerned about farmer numbers in the future.
“In the next number of years, our biggest concern is actually having farmers to farm,” Tirlán CEO Seán Molloy has said.
“We’re going to do a lot of great work over the next number of years in terms of what we need to do on our emissions, rightly so. But we need to be very careful that we have farmers who want to actually farm the land,” he said.
Describing attracting young people into farming as an “emerging crisis internationally”, Molloy said it is important that agriculture sends out a message that it is a great industry.
“Over the last decade we took in about 500 new entrants into Tirlán. Our colleagues in the industry did a similar proportion. But now we’re at a point where the exits are much higher than the folk that want to go into it and that’s despite the fact that right now, in beef and dairy, farming is very good. They [farmers] might even admit it, it’s actually very good,” he told those in attendance at the Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Climate Change Science into Action conference.
Food security
He warned that the sector runs a serious danger of, after a period of time making great progress on the environment, having endangered food security in the world.
“We have a responsibility to do the right thing by the environment, but we equally have the responsibility to do the right thing by producing food for a nation and world that is growing rapidly.
“I have a fear that in two or three decades, we’ll be sitting here having a conversation about why did we get it so wrong. My challenge up here today to science in action is that we need to solve two challenges.
“One, yes we need to get the environmental piece absolutely right but secondly – and this is the hard challenge – we need to do that while growing our food production.
“Not cutting it, not taking it away. The world needs our food, our rural society in Ireland needs the income stream that derives and our farmers need to see a progressive industry that’s growing, challenging and developing. Not being curtailed,” Molloy said.
'We have a responsibility to do the right thing by the environment but we equally have the responsibility to do the right thing by producing food,' Tirlán CEO said. \ Philip Doyle
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