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Next month I will enter my 25th year working with RTÉ. Where have the years gone? I have to say that being catapulted almost by accident into working on the farming beat has been a lucky break. It has taken me to every county in Ireland to interview farmers.
There is one sure thing you will get when you visit an Irish farm and that is an invite in for tea.
As I have remarked before, there are three sure things on most Irish farms: a welcome, a faith and an emphasis on education. It is not exclusive to just farms to be warmly welcomed but it is a nice old-fashioned tradition to be asked in for a cuppa.
The micro picture is changing but the macro picture still has a long way to go
In most cases there is some emblem of faith hanging in the kitchen or the hallway. Farmers must know that they need all the luck and help they can get, even banking on some divine inspiration.
It is also remarkable how the offspring on so many farms have gone on to be successful in other walks of life. Again, a strong work ethic and commitment to education is not confined to farming families but it is a trend whereby those who grow up on farms, but don’t stay farming tend to do well in other occupations.
I can’t back that up with facts or figures but it is more an observation from my years of visiting farms across the country.
Frustration
One thing that is changing is the acceptance by farmers that they need to change their ways in order to meet the critical climate change targets. It’s a mandatory question now to ask a farmer what they are doing in order to reduce emissions and protect biodiversity and I don’t recall being on any farm recently that is not making some adjustments in order to play their part.
The micro picture is changing but the macro picture still has a long way to go. You can see why farmers are frustrated at the abuse they get with regards to climate change when at an individual level they are making changes and operating within the EU rules.
It is just that there are so many of them in this country that when added up, it paints a picture of a combined sector which is most responsible for emissions.
Time will tell if these individual changes will make a dent in those statistics but we soon need to see those on-farm adjustments making an impact for all our sakes, not least for farmers under pressure themselves.
A recent Irish national Eurobarometer survey found that 65% of respondents said that radio was the most trusted medium
There are sure to be some rogues who don’t care but in the main there is a general acceptance that food production must become more sustainable with immediate effect and that is the vibe I get interviewing farmers and hearing them speak at various conferences.
When I first walked into RTÉ as a staffer back in 1998, Gay Byrne, Marian Finucane, Jimmy Magee, Gerry Ryan, Donncha O’Dulaing and Val Joyce were among the household names in broadcasting. Alas all have gone on to their eternal reward.
The media landscape has changed dramatically in that time, what with social media, podcasting and streaming all competing for our leisure time.
However, radio continues to withstand those healthy challenges. A recent Irish national Eurobarometer survey found that 65% of respondents said that radio was the most trusted medium, with only 17% trusting online social networks.
So there is life in the old dog yet and I look forward to hearing more farming stories for many more years to come.
Handy saving
My dishwasher broke down last week. Now I wash dishes as I go. With energy prices going through the roof, the dishwasher will remain broken. A handy saving.
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