AT LEAST 5,000 young farmers and their supporters will be in Cork this weekend at the Macra na Feirme annual conference, which will be officially opened tonight by Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.
The October 28-31st rally is taking place against the background of a major upturn in the fortunes of agriculture, deemed a “sunset” industry during the Celtic Tiger years. Now, agriculture and food and drinks exports are leading the country’s economic recovery as demand for Irish products increases on a monthly basis.
The agricultural colleges and universities were inundated with applications for agricultural courses this year as young people looked to the sector for employment when they graduated.
At farm level, prices for farm produce have been increasing steadily with beef farmers receiving more than €4kg, a record price for the product.
The young farmers will be focusing on a key proposal from the European Commission in its reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which would see young farmers getting higher direct payments than established farmers. The proposal is aimed at addressing the age imbalance in farming, not just here but across the European Union, where most farmers are aged over 50 years.
The theme of the conference is “Agriculture: moving Ireland’s economy forward” and the young farmers have decided to move their conference venues to a number of farms in the Cork area.
The delegates will first take part in farm walks on dairy and beef and tillage farms and papers will be delivered by the conference speakers at farm locations.
The finals of a range of national competitions such as the AIB Club of the Year, will be held over the weekend.