The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Dr Stan Lalor is to take over from Dr Tom Kelly as director of knowledge transfer at Teagasc. Up to now, Dr Lalor had been working with Grassland Agro as head of speciality business.

Prior to his appointment at Grassland Agro, Lalor was formerly a Teagasc researcher based at Johnstown Castle. He had taken up this role after completing his research studies at Johnstown Castle. In 2014, Lalor left Teagasc to take up the role as head of speciality business at Grassland Agro, the soil fertility and fertiliser company.

If confirmed, the new role as head of advisory at Teagasc is a big move for the Laois man and will definitely be a very challenging role.

Essentially, Lalor will be the top man on the advisory side of the house, with the Teagasc area managers from around the country reporting into him. Teagasc have gone with external candidates for a number of their recent senior appointments. No doubt there was tough competition within Teagasc for the position, as a number of very high profile internal candidates had been rumoured to be interested in the role.