Airports must be very familiar places for Macra na Feirme president Seán Finan. He has travelled through them at least 18 times since he took up the role of president of the young farmer organisation in May 2015.

Macra presidents have a shorter term than IFA presidents, a two-year term rather than the original four-year term (now two two-year terms) of their farmer organisation counterparts. But although it's shorter, it doesn't seem any less intense.

Since he was elected, Finan has been to a number of European cities, stopping over in those ubiquitous airports. But naturally he has travelled most frequently to Brussels, the political capital of Europe.

The organisation continues to go from strength to strength and I'm looking forward to the year ahead

The role has also taken him throughout Ireland, where has attended any number of meetings and functions. Finan seems to enjoy the busy side of the role, however, and says he is "honoured" to serve as the 35th president of the organisation.

"It's a two-year role so you haven't much time to adjust and you have to make the most of it," he told the Irish Farmers Journal. "But I'm delighted to say that it has gone relatively well. The organisation continues to go from strength to strength and I'm looking forward to the year ahead."

Agricultural policy

Although Macra is well-known for its social side, Finan, a former regional vice-president of Macra and a beef farmer from Castlerea, Co Rosommon, has been working hard to promote the agricultural policy side of Macra since he took up office.

Overseeing the successful roll-out of the Young Farmer Skillnet programme, a further training programme for young farmers, was one of his main priorities when he was elected.

"It is great to see that developing and huge work has gone into it," he said.

This training programme, also called 'Farm Cert', provides young farmers with various business, technical and personal skills to make the most of their work on the farm.

Just a few days before our interview, Finan learned that the funding for Skillnet, which is mainly through the Department of Education, has been extended until the end of this year.

We need consistency with the young farmers schemes

As well as continuing to fight on behalf of those farmers who entered dairy partnerships between 2008 and 2010 and were not classified as young farmers either in the old or new CAP, Macra will be calling on the new Agriculture Minister to facilitate a National Reserve in 2016. "We need consistency with the young farmers schemes," he said.

Land mobility and YFS

Macra's Land Mobility scheme was praised by a recent EU Commission report on the problems facing Ireland's young farmers, the most prominent of which is access to renting land.

This programme, the first three-year pilot phase of which will be completed in 2016, facilitates young farmers' entries into collaborative farming arrangements in three main pilot areas across the country.

There are over 500 clients of the service at the moment with approximately 200 arrangements in place, and Macra is currently working on plans for the next few years to extend the service beyond the initial phase and pilot areas.

Finan is also working on the delays in payments to young farmers and, most recently, the president has highlighted the problems caused by the last-minute change in the educational requirement of the Young Farmer Scheme in 2016.

Issues

However, it has not been all plain sailing for the 35th president of the organisation. November 2015 was something of a mensis horribilis for both Macra and the organisation it established - the IFA.

Mistake were made with regard to the calendar

Much of Finan's time in that month was taken up with the angry reaction of Macra members to the revelation that proceeds from sales of the organisation's mental health calendar had not been fully donated to the Walk In My Shoes initiative of St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation. Members said it had not been made clear to them that the proceeds of Macra's sales of the calendar went solely to Macra, while the proceeds of calendars sold by Walk in My Shoes were shared equally between the two organisations.

Following much outcry from members, Macra decided to recall all the unsold copies of its mental health calendar and split all proceeds evenly with St Patrick’s.

"Mistake were made with regard to the calendar," Finan admitted. "We addressed the issues at the time and proceeds of all calendars were split evenly with Walk in my Shoes. We have apologised as an organisation for the issues associated with it."

Meanwhile, the IFA was embroiled in a pay scandal of unanticipated proportions which threw the spotlight on the financial levies it collects from farmers. This in turn focused media attention onto other organisations that collect levies, including Macra, which receives 20% of the dairy levy collected by the IFA.

The levy stream is a significant portion of our funding so any discussion in the IFA about levies is obviously a worry to us

Although newly-elected IFA president Joe Healy announced at last week's AGM that he will be initiating a review of the IFA's levy system, Finan is in favour of the system as it currently works for Macra, saying it is "an important income stream" for the organisation.

"The levy stream is a significant portion of our funding so any discussion in the IFA about levies is obviously a worry to us. We are an organisation with limited financial resources and we are dependent on that levy so when dairy farmers pay their levy they are supporting both Macra and the IFA."

Priorities

As for his priorities during his second year as president, Finan firstly wants to ensure a suitable replacement for current chief executive Edmond Connolly, who will be leaving the role at Macra's AGM this Saturday after serving eight years with the organisation.

Finan has nothing but praise for Connolly: "Macra today is a different organisation to the one before he came in," he said.

Finan expects to have a replacement for Connolly by the middle of June.

Listen to our interview with Sean Finan in the podcast below:

He also wants to continue working on young farmers issues, especially income and access to finance for young farmers, further develop the Land Mobility and Skillnet programmes and work with the rural youth committee to promote positive mental health.

There is also the task of continuing to work on membership numbers which are increasing year-on-year, with approximately 8,000 members in 2016.

So it is a long to-do list for the current president of Macra but he looks up for the challenge. And no doubt he will continue clocking up those air miles.