We include our Agri Careers supplement in this week’s paper ahead of our annual Agri Careers Fair, which takes place next Thursday 30 March in the RDS.

The companies exhibiting at the Agri Careers Fair this year have over 1,000 jobs available – ranging from businesses seeking to recruit farm workers to those offering senior management positions requiring expertise across a range of disciplines.

Once again, we see the potential of the agriculture sector to generate employment throughout the length and breadth of the country – not just in city centre locations where housing pressures have the potential to see monthly rental bills absorb over 50% of take-home salaries.

It is this agribusiness sector – which is ultimately underpinned by farmers – that is the backbone of employment and economic activity in towns and villages throughout rural Ireland.

The town of Ballinrobe in Co Mayo is just one example, with McHale, Martin Jennings meats and Aurivo Marts all creating vital jobs on the back of demand from farmers – not only in the town itself but throughout the region.

The roles of these businesses in providing employment and safeguarding economic activity in rural Ireland is undoubtedly one of the strongest defences of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – in particular the importance of protecting productive farmers that generate the upstream activity.

Furthermore, the ability of the sector to generate local jobs reinforces just how critical it is to the rural economy that the interests of the agri food sector are protected in the fallout from Brexit. It is more than just unfortunate that despite being only days away from the UK officially notifying the EU of its intention to leave the union that our Government appears more focused on internal leadership issues. In the real world, it is irrelevant who leads Ireland into the EU leaders’ summit in April – the real work will be carried out over the next two years.

Unfortunately, outside of agricultural circles, the sector is not selling itself well enough as a great industry in which to work. Not only are our jobs not falling under the radar of the talented individuals that are needed to continue to develop the sector, but the value of agriculture to the national economy is not being recognised. We should not be afraid of competing with other sectors in the economy and should take great pride in the role agriculture plays in protecting the future of rural Ireland.

As our education editor Mary Phelan outlines this week, the agri food sector provides an excellent career path for more than just those with an agricultural science qualification, or indeed those with third-level education. The sector is unique in that it provides excellent opportunities for those from a wide range of academic backgrounds. It is an industry that has a long tradition of recognising and rewarding those with a strong work ethic, initiative, commitment and a practical mind-set. We have seen time and time again how these types of individuals, regardless of the level of their formal education, have become leaders within their respective businesses.

While the upward trend in CAO points for agricultural science courses over recent years is a positive development, there is no room for complacency – especially as the battle to attract the best talent intensifies in what is a much more competitive jobs market. The industry must not only be active in putting forward the range of career opportunities that exists but also actively engage with the various institutions to ensure that the courses on offer deliver graduates with the necessary range of skill sets.