The appointment of Professor Frank O’Mara as the new Teagasc director has been welcomed by the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) as a significant opportunity for an innovative collaborative era in the Irish farm advisory service.

ACA president Tom Canning said that O’Mara’s appointment could be a huge opportunity to embrace reform for the betterment of the majority of Irish farmers.

“Three out of every four farmers use either ACA or Teagasc for advisory services, which is a very positive position for Ireland, but, in many ways, our overall strategy for the dissemination of advice is not linked up and excludes ACA and our farmer clients,” said Canning.

He pointed to the need for a joined-up approach between the ACA and Teagasc to ensure the 55,000 ACA farmer clients receive State-funded research, tools and materials, similar to Teagasc clients.

Target

“Once we agree on ways to address this issue, then can we both target the remaining 35,000 farmers who do not engage with either of us and find ways to bring the latest research and advice to them,” Canning said.

“We are now very hopeful that with Frank’s appointment, we can explore and commence discussions on national and regional collaborative opportunities and bring world class research to more farmers,” he said.

“The sector requires full collaboration to ensure we not only meet our sectoral targets, but also find ways to improve sustainability, including farmers’ incomes, and other challenges by working together across many programmes including the ASSAP, Signpost farms and a future knowledge transfer,” the ACA president said.