Life on the land

IN order to secure a living in the increasingly competitive world of Irish farming, a sound basic training is imperative. Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, offers full time residential and non residential training courses in 11 agricultural and four horticultural colleges around the country.

"Training is essential," says Father Bernard Frawley, principal of Rockwell Agricultural College, Cashel, Co Tipperary. "Most of our students would be going home to the farm at the end of the course. There is no way that they will get any EU grants or aid from the Government without the course." For the purposes of inheritance, students are also required to have taken an agricultural course before the age of 33.

The courses, which operate Teagasc approved syllabuses, cover a variety of farming disciplines: general agriculture horse production, pig production, poultry production, forestry, farm machinery commercial horticulture, amenity horticulture and basic horticultural skills. The majority of the courses are of three years duration, although certificates in agriculture are awarded after one year and the certificate in farming follows after two years of successful work experience on a farm.

Students studying for the certificate in farming general agriculture, the main training programme for those entering farming, may take a college option, in which they spend one year in an agricultural college before undertaking two years of work on the home farm or another farm under the super vision of a local education officer.

"The training has changed in recent years," says James Moloney, vice principal of the Agricultural College, Clonakilty, Co Cork. "It's now modular based and students can choose the options they want to pursue." There is a number of compulsory modules which students must take: introduction to education and training; health and safety; farming and the environment; basic calculations; soil and its management; pesticide operations; basic tractor operations; and, crucially, records and accounts.

Virtually all students who apply for full time courses receive an offer of a place, the only requirements being that they should be 17 years or older on October 1st or should have completed secondary school. For those who do not wish to attend a full time training course the certificate in farming can be acquired by attending part time at the local Teagasc training centre over a three year period.

Fees at agricultural and horticultural colleges are about £2000 for residential students and £600 for non residential students. Students are also required to pay £100 for books and additional fees for college registration and the like. Teagasc offers grants of 75 per cent of fees, paid by the European Social Fund, to those who have obtained a place in college.

Each year, though, a number of students join the Farm Apprenticeship Scheme or Trainee Farmer Scheme after completing the initial one year course in an agricultural college in order to train as a farm manager. The schemes, run by the Farm Apprenticeship Board, produce what Board chief executive Liam Myles describes as an "elite group" of farm managers,

Under the FAS, trainees take up a three year apprenticeship programme, each year of which is spent working on a different farm under a "master farmer".

At the end of their second year they receive a Certificate in Farm Husbandry before being awarded their Certificate in Farm Management at the end of third year. Out of the 130 trainees who start the programme, about 60 graduate at the end of third year. Many of the rest choose to take their skills into the agribusiness or farming areas before completing the programme.

For those who are unable to spend three years away from the family farm because of financial or management constraints, there is the Trainee Farmer Scheme, under which they spend only one year with a master farmer and the final two years at work on the home farm.