Farmers consulted on Teagasc Advisory and Research

Teagasc held a consultation day with farmers and industry personnel to assist the organisation in planning its programmes for the Advisory and Research Directorates.

Members of the seven commodity teams met with Teagasc Programme Managers to review the business plans for 2006 and plan the activities for next year. The teams will be meeting individually during September to facilitate further discussion and provide additional feedback.

Director of the Advisory Services Pat Boyle and Director of Agriculture Research Dr Seamus Crosse outlined the achievements to date of the advisory and research directorates before addressing the challenges facing Teagasc in these two areas.

A discussion forum under the chairmanship of Teagasc Director Jim Flanagan, provided useful and constructive feedback from the farmer and industry members of the commodity teams, which will be taken into consideration when drawing up the 2007 business plans for Teagasc.

Speaking on the future direction of the advisory services Pat Boyle Outlined plans for a new specialised REPS planning service in light of the enhanced requirements in REPS 4 and a new support service for farmers applying for derogation under the Nitrates directive.

He said that 800 dairy profit monitors were completed in 2005 and these showed a 6.5% increase in profits over the previous year. He said that the emphasis would be on assisting farmers in assessing their options, financial planning, budgeting and on managing scale in the future.

Teagasc has assisted 2,500 farmers, so far in 2006, in evaluating their existing situation and planning for the future under the options programme.