The Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland held its Prepare for the Future conference at Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown on Monday. Two sessions, with nine speakers in total, were held in the morning. The first session was chaired by Michael Sheenan, PAC chair, and the second by Tom Murphy of PAC, both of whom added to the information provided by the guest speakers.

The event was attended by a considerable number of contractors, who travelled from all over the country to the PAC conference venue at Kildalton, Piltown Co Kilkenny. PAC had organised a total of nine guest speakers to give useful advice and information on the majority of topics that affect the agricultural contracting industry.

Paul Hennessy, principal at Kildalton Agricultural College, opened proceedings by welcoming everyone to the PAC event.

The first speaker at the conference was Prof Gerry Boyle, who said: “Contractors provide an invaluable service to Irish agriculture and an indispensable role in its development.”

Prof Boyle added that as modern farming requires more and more specialised services and machinery, this “makes contracting a more important feature on the farming landscape”.

Other guest speakers from Teagasc included Dermot Forrestal and Tom Ryan. Dermot spoke about the role and cost perspectives of agricultural contracting, while Tom briefed the audience on the sustainable use of pesticides.

Ciaran Roche from FBD and Deirdre Sinnott of Work-Related Vehicle Safety at the Health and Safety (HSA), both discussed safety and safety initiatives on the farm and roads. Ciaran introduced guests to the FBD Champions For Change campaign and what it can do to help reduce farm accidents. For more on this campaign, see www.championsforchange.ie.

HSA Inspector Helen Hourihane launched the HSA’s agribusiness version of its online safety statement production facility. Through besmart.ie, agricultural users can register for free and produce their own safety statement for their farm or contracting business.

Helen reiterated: “It is a legal requirement to produce a safety statement.” She added that besmart.ie is a free facility, developed by the HSA to encourage and assist users, farmers and contractors to produce a safety statement. Helen pointed out that the HSA does not have access to your statement through the facility; it is just a free tool for producing a safety statement.

Justin Martin from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) highlighted the latest trailer regulations that will come into effect in the new year. He also encouraged people to check out videos produced on these changes and general trailer regulation, to assist in understanding them. These can be accessed through the RSA’s YouTube page.

The Irish Farmers Journal’s machinery editor James Maloney outlined what’s happening in the tractor markets and the new developments in the agricultural machinery industry.

Stuart Goodwin finished up the conference section by inviting guests outside to Kildalton College’s workshop area for PAC’s machinery and innovations demonstrations. This area was set up by Stuart, his students plus local exhibitors, who supply Teagasc Kildalton.