Young Laois man wins top scholarship

David Fennelly, a full-time dairy farmer from Emo has been announced as one of the recipients of a Nuffield Ireland scholarship for 2023.

On Friday, November 18 he will attend the Nuffield Ireland annual conference in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin where he will formally commence his scholarship which is worth €16,000. 

A Nuffield Farming Scholarship is a travel and study bursary awarded by the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust Ireland Ltd. The objective of the award scheme is to encourage the advancement of agriculture and rural development through the promotion of awareness, education and leadership in the Irish agriculture and rural sectors. 
 
As part of his Scholarship, David will explore alternative, swards, inputs, and grazing strategies, which can provide solutions at the root cause of challenges facing pasture-based dairy farms.  
 
A statement said David’s farm has a strong focus on reducing environmental impact and it is also a demonstration farm for the Signpost programme, which aims to showcase science-based technologies to reduce Irish agricultural emissions.

David is a 2020 graduate of University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in Dairy Business. As a member of a discussion group, David also has an active role in local Macra na Feirme and GAA clubs. 

"While Irish dairy production is in an excellent position on the world stage from an environmental point of view. We are going to have to change some of our practices in order to keep ahead of challenges facing us such as GHGs, water quality, animal health, and importantly keeping family farms viable. 

"During my Nuffield travel and study, I hope to explore alternative methods of growing and grazing our animals forage which may reduce our reliance on expensive inputs but also have other positive impacts. Alternative methods of grazing may prove to be better for our animals' health, and the health of our soils. Maintaining output with reduced fertiliser will reduce costs and our greenhouse gases," said the Laois man.

 Nuffield Ireland’s mission is to discover, inspire and support people to develop their capacity, character and confidence to promote positive change and world class leadership in agriculture, food and farming.

The theme for this year’s Nuffield Ireland Conference is “Moving way beyond greenwashing: developing solutions for a ‘net positive’ agriculture”. It will feature a range of panel discussions and presentations.

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“With so much antagonistic and polarised debate on how agriculture can adequately address the enormous climate challenge, our farmers are experiencing huge amounts of additional stress and it is very difficult to see a way forward. Never before has leadership been more important in order to meet our country's climate ambitions in a realistic way.  
 
"I believe that Nuffield Ireland has a role to play in helping to encourage reconciliation on both sides of the debate in order to encourage all parties to work together in developing solutions. I believe that the almost hostile approach to the debate is adding more stress to farmers who are already feeling immense pressure. We need to encourage balanced dialogue in order to ensure the sustainability of our agricultural sector, both from an economic and mental wellbeing perspective,” he said.

Tickets can be purchased on www.nuffield.ie.