The tillage sector in Ireland includes the production of cereals, potatoes, beet, maize, protein crops and oilseeds. Cereals account for the bulk of our cropped area, but oversupply on a global level has resulted in prices being supressed following three consecutive record-high global harvests.

Three big harvests in a row are quite rare, and it is inevitable that the oversupply situation will be corrected soon, but this is much more likely to be as a result of an intervention by nature rather than direct action by farmers around the world.

Challenges

The situation in Europe and in Ireland is broadly similar, as depressed markets challenge both demand, price and producer incomes.

However, the sector here continues to evolve, and it is an advice-hungry enterprise which has to continuously respond to new regulations and obligations.

Because of this, the tillage sector is in continuous need of good new people to advise and guide farmers through the myriad of modern legislative and technical obligations.

New legislative requirements in pesticide legislation force all trading companies who sell pesticides to have a qualified and registered adviser in place to oversee the sale and advice relating to professional plant protection products. This requirement necessitates having qualified people working in the sector.

One chance to get it right

The tillage sector also requires regular crop walking, to provide up-to-date advice to growers who only get one opportunity to make the correct decision for each crop input.

This means the sector requires sharp and energetic people who must be prepared to continuously keep themselves updated with regard to evolving circumstances.

This is most obvious and relevant with regard to pesticide resistance, which is continuously evolving.

We already have herbicide resistance in some of our broad-leaved weeds and we have ongoing fears of resistance in plant diseases, such as septoria, and insect pests.

The tillage sector is in continuous need of good people to work and advise within it.

And the need for good advice is more likely to increase than decrease as the sector moves towards increasing niche production for niche markets, where the authenticity of the product and the traceability of raw materials are increasingly important.

If you are interested in a career in the agri-industry, come along to the Irish Farmers Journal and open eir Agri Careers Fair, which takes place in the RDS on 3 March 2016. For more information, click here.