On Monday, Angus Woods, Tim Cullinan and John Coughlan (reverse alphabetical order, just to be different) start a demanding run of 17 head-to-head debates as they contest the IFA presidency.

It’s an extraordinarily difficult job to take on. It’s hard to know whether to admire all three or question their sanity. Farmers have rarely been so angry and haven’t been as fractured for 50 years.

Social media is democratising in one sense, but it has also meant that voices that once would have been regarded as on the fringes have been catapulted front and centre. Some of these see the IFA as part of the establishment. The hustings could be tasty.

The old “pride-of-the-parish” dynamic, which saw local branch notables leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to ensure their preferred candidate was elected, no longer exists

The scenes outside Agriculture House on Monday can be blamed on Larry Goodman and ABP’s refusal to lift the last couple of injunctions, but they don’t serve farmers well. A coherent and rational argument must always be made to the watching public, who double as the consumer/taxpayer on whom farmers ultimately depend for their income.

So, how does anyone emerge from this cluttered conversation with a mandate to speak for all farmers? Each is taking a different road.

Outside track

Tim Cullinan is on the outside track, supporting the Beef Plan’s protest, publicly critical of the IFA’s livestock committee and reminding all of his role in opposing Pat Smith.

Angus Woods is highlighting his youth and energy, his delivery from Europe and the range of his farming experience from a traditional mixed farm. He is making a virtue of the fact that he has only been active for a decade.

John Coughlan is on a more conventional line, running on his experience within the IFA and his achievements in the variety of roles he has filled.

The great unknown is what voter turnout will be like next month. The biggest change is not membership levels, which have largely held up, but rather the new one-member, one-vote system. The old “pride-of-the-parish” dynamic, which saw local branch notables leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to ensure their preferred candidate was elected, no longer exists. Most members may not be directly canvassed this time.

That said, elections in Ireland have always been ground wars, the candidate that shakes the most hands usually wins.

Unless you’re Mick Wallace.