Teagasc Annual Report 2004 – Directors Review

Research

Food research was restructured in 2004 into a single directorate with Dr Liam Donnelly as head. Substantial development of the facilities at our two food centres at Ashtown, Dublin and Moorepark in Cork were undertaken to equip them to service the research and training needs of the food industry.

In 2004, our research programme continued its focus on the development and dissemination of critical technologies for the development of an internationally competitive agri-food sector. The organisation also started a process of reorganising agriculture research, under the direction of Dr Seamus Crosse, into four programme areas - Animal Science, Crop Science, Environment and Land Use and Rural Research. The aim is to establish centres of excellence based around research teams of critical mass.

Advisory Services

The rapidly changing environment facing the agri-food industry prompted Teagasc to re-examine its advisory service in order to better meet the needs of its farmer clients and the agri-food industry in general. The service has been re-organised into a national structure, with Mr Pat Boyle as head. It was decided to reduce the 28 county units to 18 management units to facilitate the creation of critical mass for the delivery of the service, to promote specialisation and improve office facilities. A new Programme Management structure was established with the appointment of programme leaders in Dairying, Drystock, Tillage, Rural Development, Farm Management and Technology, and Environment.

Training and Development

The Education and Development Directorate, setup under Mr Donal Carey, began a process of change which is required if Teagasc is to meet the needs of a rapidly changing sector. A review of our Education and Training Programmes was commissioned from the Education and Training Forum under the Chairmanship of Prof. John Coolahan.

Its recommendations will be published by mid- 2005. The Education and Development Directorate includes development units on Curriculum and Quality Assurance and three new integrated units for horticulture, forestry and pigs, in which the research, advisory and training activities are managed.

Capital Investment

Teagasc continued a programme of capital investment to support some of its key future objectives. The main projects were the refurbishment of Oak Park House and facilities at Kinsealy, the completion of the Animal and Food Bio-Sciences Centre at Moorepark and IT investment throughout the organisation.

Outlook

With the new structures now largely in place, development in the next couple of years will focus on implementing programmes to meet the development needs of the rapidly changing agriculture and food industries.

Research

We initiated a new research strategy, the principal aim of which is to invest in centres of excellence that will equip those involved in the business of agriculture and food with the knowledge to improve efficiency, competitiveness and responsiveness to the market and to develop policies that respect the physical environment, promote biodiversity and guarantee the maintenance of a healthy population and health-giving countryside.

Teagasc aims to underpin applied research with basic research and continually seeks to upgrade its knowledge base in new areas of science. In animal science, this will mean concentrating basic science in one centre with a major focus on genetics and animal breeding and new areas such as genomics, which have the potential to identify genes with specific traits. Nutrition and the development and refinement of production systems will continue to form a large part of the research programme. The organisation also plans to strengthen its rural research centre and broaden its focus to include research on the wider rural population. The food research programme will place increased emphasis on foods for health.

Advice

Based on a review of our advisory services, it has been decided to strengthen the level of specialisation in the technology and business service to service a smaller number of more commercially orientated, specialised farmers. Significant resources will be required to service part-time farmers, some of whom will be very commercial, while others will farm in an extensive, environmentally-friendly manner. The environmental services will be improved with e-REPS and on-line REPS planning systems being launched and developed further to facilitate nutrient management planning for non-REPS clients. The Options Analysis Programme will focus on giving advice to those who need to integrate farming and non-farming activities to generate a viable level of income.

I am confident that the re-organised advisory service will achieve critical mass in terms of numbers of staff and back-up support in the new Management Units. It will ensure enhanced clerical and IT support for advisers, which will give the organisation greater efficiency and efficacy, thus providing an improved service overall for farmers and rural dwellers.

Education and Training

There will be a strong focus on the implementation of the key recommendations of the Forum Review. The agricultural colleges of the future, while still meeting the needs of young entrants, will also need to integrate more with the provision of training for adults and part-time farmers and with research programmes. Teagasc will continue to provide third-level training, accredited by HETAC, up to ordinary degree level in conjunction with the Institutes of Technology. Colleges will also provide the Vocational Certificate in Agriculture for part-time farmers in their own catchment area in conjunction with the Advisory Service. To meet the education and training needs of the growing number of part-time farmers, the Vocational Certificate in Agriculture will be provided at local level at night and weekends in all Management Units. Following the completion of a pilot 180 hour e-learning programme, an e-college has been established and it is planned to expand the range and scope of e-learning programmes. We are committed to an expansion of life-long learning programmes, which currently provide training to over 8,000 adult farmers each year.

Jim Flanagan

Director