Agriculture has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, but in recent years women have really risen to the top. Now top-level female executives are helping to drive the industry forward. Check out the profiles of these top five professionals, while further below we highlight the younger women in agriculture to watch out for.

Siobhán Talbot, group managing director of Glanbia

When it comes to influential women, Siobhán Talbot isn’t just appreciated within the Irish agricultural industry, she is one of the most influential business women in the country and the second woman ever to head up an Irish listed company.

Considering that the Kilkenny-based Glanbia group controls 13% of the world’s €10bn global sports nutritional market, it puts her role into perspective.

Having joined the organisation in 1992, she held a number of key positions, including group finance director with responsibility for group strategic planning.

She has been in the top position now for eight years and we expect to see her there for quite some time yet.

Siobhan Talbot, Glanbia.

Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia

After 12 years in the job, filling Aidan Cotter’s shoes as CEO of Bord Bia was no mean feat. However, Tara McCarthy is a natural-born public speaker who talks with such passion about Irish produce and its export opportunities across the world, so it was no wonder she stepped into the role with ease.

Tara is another lady who rose up the ranks. She joined Bord Bia after graduating from Smurfit Business School and NUIG.

For over 20 years, she held a number of senior roles, including director of the food and beverage division, before a short reprieve as chief executive of Bord Iasca Mhara (BIM), but is now back leading the way in Bord Bia.

Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia.

Zoe Kavanagh, chief executive of the NDC

When it comes to promoting Irish dairy, the National Dairy Council (NDC) knows it’s not the farmers of Ireland who need to be convinced, they already know the value of milk, but instead it’s the millennials.

Hence, we’ve seen some pretty different campaigns from the NDC recently, including pop-up dairy shops in Dublin’s city centre and Louis Walsh promoting milk at the Ploughing.

Behind all these initiatives is chief executive Zoe Kavanagh. A UCD Ag graduate, she worked with PepsiCo for 16 years promoting brand names such as 7Up and Pepsi but has been at one amongst the dairy farmers of Ireland since 2011.

Zoe Kavanagh, NDC.

Fiona Muldoon, FBD Insurance

When Fiona Muldoon joined FBD Insurance in 2015, the company had seen a serious round of profit warnings, which badly effected its share price.

In short, taking the top role in FBD Insurance hasn’t been without its challenges for Fiona Muldoon. However, as FBD Insurance goes into its 50th year in business and, having recently reported profits before tax of €49.7m for the year to the end of December, things are looking up, with Muldoon leading the organisation through this time.

Muldoon’s CV is more varied than others on our list, having held top roles within Bank of Ireland, the Central Bank and XL Insurance Group (where she spent a long stint in Bermuda), proving that rising internally isn’t the only route to the top roles.

Along with Siobhán Talbot, Fiona is one of the few women leading publicly listed companies on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Fiona Muldoon, CEO of FBD Insurance.

Mary Delaney, past president of the ASA

It’s not just women in agribusinesses who are leading the way. Mary Delaney is a woman with real on-the-ground experience as she manages a spring-calving dairy with her husband David in Co Kilkenny.

However, this isn’t her only commitment as she is head of equine and tillage sales at Glanbia Agribusiness and, oh yeah, in her spare time she is president of the Agricultural Science Association (ASA), representing over 2,000 agri-food sector professionals.

In the organisation’s 75-year history, she is the third woman to hold the title and we’re hopeful she is one of many more women to come.

A graduate of agri-business management from UCD, she has been in Glanbia since 2005 and we have a feeling there is a lot more to come from Mary Delaney.

Mary Delaney, Gain Feeds and past ASA president.

Future leaders of the agri industry

Deirdre O’Shea, Agri Aware

When Deirdre O’Shea first stepped into the Irish Farm Centre to begin working with the IFA, she was determined to make her mark.

Having gained experience as the IFA pig executive and, before that, as executive of the forestry committee, she seriously stepped things up when she took the role as executive director of Agri Aware in 2016.

From a pig farm in Co Laois, Deirdre is as comfortable in meetings with farmers and agribusiness professionals as she is running school initiatives and CAP campaigns.

A very varied role, Agri Aware is responsible for informing and educating members of the public about farming and the food sector.

Deirdre O'Shea, Agri Aware.

Dr Roberta McDonald, Aurivo

You know someone is good when a role is created specifically for them and Aurivo did just that for Roberta McDonald, who is now their sustainability manager.

From 2013 to 2017, Roberta launched and managed their sustainability programme and now she is implementing their new sustainability strategy, with ambitious targets set as part of the Bord Bia Origin Green programme.

Research has been Roberta’s key to progression. After graduating from UCD, she started a PhD with UCD and Teagasc, where she specialised in the development of new entrant dairy farms, and she is also a Nuffield scholar.

Roberta’s passion for agriculture comes from being raised on a dairy farm in Co Offally.

Although her family is originally from Wexford, her father was farm manager of a Dutch-owned farm throughout her childhood.

Roberta McDonald, Aurivo.

Vanessa Tierney, Abodoo

Vanessa Tierney was recently profiled on our careers pages and we can’t help but think this lady could really make a difference in rural Ireland.

She has set up an initiative called Abodoo, which is a digital platform matching employers up with those wishing to be employed remotely in rural Ireland, either from their home, a local hub or a combination of both.

It’s a novel idea with huge potential and could help farmers who want to work in a nine-to-five job while remaining close to the farm to facilitate the effective running of that also.

Unemployment rates are still high in rural areas. Vanessa’s initiative could be a game-changer.

Vanessa Tierney, Abodoo

Karen Elliffe, farmer

More and more women are farming in partnership or in their own right and Karen Elliffe is one woman dedicated to her home farm.

A drystock farmer in Co Westmeath, she farms with her father Larry but also has her own herd number.

She rents 40 acres from him, finishes her own weanlings and has aspirations to have her own suckler herd.

Formally crowned Queen of the Land, Karen studied equine science at UL, which counts as her Green Cert. Karen is making her voice heard and in 2017 appeared on The Late Late Show to raise the profile of female farmers.

Karen Elliffe, farmer.

Una Sinnott, UCD

Even in secondary school, Una Sinnott showed potential when she was part of a team that entered an ag science competition and won five Angus calves, raised them and sold them on for a profit.

Now she is in UCD and although she is just in second year, she has won top speaker for two years running as part of the UCD debating team in the Great Agri-Food Debate.

She has debated issues such as Brexit, the value of the CAP and Ireland’s environmental responsibilities.

The team is judged by top industry players such as Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia and Willie O’Byrme, managing director of Dawn Meats.

From a beef and sheep farm in Wexford, she also plays senior level camogie for her county and writes in the Irish Farmers Journal.

Una Sinnott, UCD.

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