DEAR SIR: It is encouraging to hear Minister McConalogue recognise the role women play on farms around the country.

From the women who work outdoors, to those who support the farm by working outside the home or run the farm from the kitchen table, women have and do play a huge part.

In darker times, women were often not considered as successors to land. Indeed, women were often left in a very vulnerable state on family farms. Thankfully, all this has changed.

There is now great recognition of women in farming and farming organisations.

As we enter a new chapter in the book of farming, the most important of industries, it is time for the State to step forward and reward women for the great work they do as they play their part in producing some of the greatest food in the world.