Women must be put in farming 'spotlight' Minister to tell big Laois conference

More women must be at the forefront of farming to meet the challenges facing agriculture according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Minister Charlie McConalogue was dut to deliver the message at the National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture in Portlaoise on February 1. 

A statement said the dialogue is being led by former Tánaiste and Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan, and features panel discussions and workshops, as well as speakers including the former German Minister for Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, Glanbia plc CEO, Siobhán Talbot.

Minister McConalogue will attend with his colleagues Ministers of State Pippa Hackett and Martin Heydon, who both represent Laois voters from their bases in Laois, Offaly and Kildare. The Department of Agriculture says the objective of the dialogue is to gather views to feed into future national policy on the issue of greater gender equality in agriculture.

Minister McConalogue outlined the current situation and called for change.

“Of the nearly 280,000 people working on farms in Ireland, some 27% (75,113) are female. However, of the over 130,000 farm holders, just 13% (16,900) are female. Fewer than half of farm holders have a succession plan in place and 83% of identified successors are male. 

 “We have included several measures in the Ireland’s new CAP Strategic Plan which will support greater gender equality. However, to meet our Food Vision 2030 goals of greater environmental, economic and social sustainability, greater women’s participation is crucial. We cannot meet the challenges and grasp the opportunities ahead if we continue to have an under-representation of women, both within farming and across the sector.

 “It’s time to take the role of women farmers out of the shadows and put them firmly in the spotlight. I believe this National Women’s Dialogue will do that,” he said.

Green Party Minister of State and farmer Pippa Hackett said also wants change to bring diversity into farming.

“I am passionate about finding collaborative solutions to advancing the gender equality agenda within the agriculture sector in Ireland. Today, we have taken an important step in coming together and discussing the issues. We must now continue to make progress so that agri-food can benefit from greater female participation in the future and we can continue to advance our journey towards greater sustainability, including considering options for farm diversification such as organics and forestry,” she said. 

Minister of State Heydon said there are clear benefits to getting more women into farming.

“It is fitting that we are gathered on St Brigid’s Day to discuss the participation and visibility of women in agriculture. Improving the social sustainability of agriculture is a priority under Food Vision 2030 and gender equality forms an important part of that. From the perspective of farm safety, this will also bring improvements to the health, wellbeing, and safety of all those who live and work on farms as a greater influence of women in the management of farms can lead to the adoption of safer farm practices,” he said. 

The Department says the outcome of the discussions will be compiled into a report that will inform policy in this regard in the coming years. It says this will be strengthened by a specific research project on women’s participation in agriculture, and ongoing engagement with stakeholders. 

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The meeting takes place at the Midlands Park Hotel Portlaoise.