Last week’s Agri Careers Fair saw thousands of people descend upon the RDS to vie for the 1,122 jobs available from more than 60 exhibitors. Agri Careers 2017 saw the Irish Farmers Journal take over the Main Hall of the RDS – doubling the capacity of last year.

The jobs on offer ranged from lambing shepherd to finance manager, from herdsperson to accountant, from lead software developer to assistant dairy farm manager, from health and safety manager to fitter, marketing communications manager to welder and everything in between. There were graduate and apprentice roles on offer too. And event partners open eir were recruiting for 50 apprentices to work on the rollout of high-speed broadband around the country.

There were opportunities for graduates to vacancies for mid-career professionals to positions for people who completed their formal education at Leaving Cert level – or before that. The good news for readers who didn’t make it to the fair is that you can find details of all 1,122 of those roles in this very issue of Irish Country Living.

Launches

There were two launches in the field of agricultural education and careers at the fair. GMIT launched a new three- and four-year degree in agricultural engineering – students who take a place on these courses will split their time between GMIT and Mountbellew Agricultural College.

Course lecturer PJ McAllen said the course has been established on the back of strong demand. “We surveyed 30 or 40 companies and what they told us is that the demand for this type of course is there,” he said.

PJ added that companies he and his team spoke to, such as “McHale and Major and others in the Galway, Clare and Roscommon areas, told us that they are looking for a graduate with a good, solid background in engineering, as well as the practical knowledge of farming. We know that this course can deliver that,” he added. Initially the course will be open to 20 students with plans to expand it further.

Fyffes also launched its 2017 graduate programme at the fair. Fyffes found eight of the 12 graduates recruited on to its 2016 graduate programme at last year’s Agri Careers Fair.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed spoke at the opening of the fair. He noted that human capital was one of the five themes highlighted in the Food Wise 2025 report. The report identifies a number of skills gaps including lack of advanced financial and business development capabilities, foreign language skills, capacity to absorb new technologies and processes at producer and processing levels.

Main stage

The main stage was a hive of activity. One of the most fascinating slots was when the Whytes told their story. They are 15 members of the same family, farming 3,000 acres in the Naul in north Co Dublin. The farm has six enterprises. They Whytes own 1,000 acres and rent the other 2,000.

“When you have a farm our size, it’s about making sure that you are doing enough to cover 14 families,” said Ollie Whyte.“We also make sure that the communications are good. You don’t plough your own field – you plough everyone’s field,” said Ollie.

One sector that took advantage of the main stage platform to discuss the issues it’s facing was the ag machinery sector. “We absolutely have a shortage,” confirmed Trevor Tyrrell of CLASS on the matter of the shortage of staff available to the ag machinery sector and CLAAS’s difficulty in sourcing people for apprenticeships.

“If you want to come to work in sunny Suffolk … or in Kerry, Louth or Galway, we have a job. There is a shortage for sure. We have 28 coming on the programme this year – we could do with 50.

Other topics that were up for discussion on the main stage included the Beefing up your Potential session, which looked at whether the suckler cow sector in Ireland is under pressure. Ciarán Lenehan said: “There is room for a suckler brand for beef where consumers know it is cow-reared.”

He was joined on the panel by Westmeath footballer John Heslin, who is a researcher with Teagasc. John said social media has a role to play, and it’s not emphasised enough. “Suckler farming is very consumer friendly and consumers should see that and the benefit of the beef from the herd,” he said.

Another slot on the main stage looked into how the Irish byproducts sector has grown and expanded across Europe. Paul Daly, managing director of Irish Casings Company, formed part of the panel discussing this topic. His company produces casings, which are soft cylindrical containers used to hold sausage mixes together and can be made from animal intestines.

“It’s very much on-the-job education and you have to make your own destiny,” said Paul.

Meanwhile, Rory Fanning from Slaney Foods, who completed an arts degree in UCD and studied French, stressed that people need to focus more on language and advised that Spanish is one of the most important.

Schools & Ag tech

This year’s fair included several new elements, such as the Schools Zone and the Ag Tech summit, which brought together technology leaders, entrepreneurs from successful startups and the investor community. Drone technology was put under the spotlight, Enterprise Ireland detailed the funding and programmes available to people with good ideas, while Edmond Harty, CEO of Dairymaster, and Robert Walker, CEO of Keenan Alltech, discussed the future technology in livestock. The highlight of the summit was the Ag Tech 2017 startup showcase, where eight businesses pitched their company to judges, which included Enterprise Ireland and open eir. Two companies – Moocall and Microgen Biotech – were named the ones to watch in 2017.

Another new element at this year’s Agri Careers Fair was the Schools Zone. There was plenty of buzz, thanks mainly to some boisterous students who helped bring a lot of craic to the Are You Smarter Than Your Ag Science Teacher? quiz. Participants included teachers George Dennis, IASTA chair, and Jacinta Walsh from Athenry, and a number of students from Coláiste An Chraoibhín in Fermoy, Co Cork. The pictures round involved having to identify different breeds of sheep and cattle and different brands of tractors. There were a few awkward moments, like when the ag science teachers didn’t know what BDGP stood for, or when the students got creative in their answers for what an AI insemination was.

Trish McGrath from Hewitt College grinds school in Cork gave extremely interesting insights into other options available to students who would like to study veterinary but fear they won’t get the points for the programme in UCD. She drew from a 22-page document she has put together on the matter and talked about the many colleges in the UK, as well as the possibility of studying it in places like Romania and Bulgaria, where rent is sometimes only €50 a month (meaning even in countries where there are high fees, sometimes the price of rent offsets this). The Institute of Guidance Counsellors, via Eddie McGrath and Brian Mooney, had some stellar advice for students and parents alike.

Looking forward to next year

The Agri Careers Fair was an entertaining, social, informative and extremely useful day out. There were 1,122 jobs at the fair and we mustn’t lose sight that these roles are supported by the 130,000 farmers in Ireland who purchase goods and services from the industry. If their incomes are affected due to a decrease in exports to the UK as a result of Brexit, it may have a direct impact on the employment potential in the industry, thus further highlighting the importance to our agir-food sector in getting the Brexit negotiations just right.

The other point to note is it’s an industry for everyone, regardless of educational status or background, something which was encapsulated by Irish Farmers Journal editor and CEO Justin McCarthy on the day. “Some of the CEOs of these companies now employing over 5,000 people started on the floor and have worked their way up to the top and I think that’s the great opportunity that agriculture actually offers.” CL