According to Teagasc enrolment figures for further education, courses in Agriculture will be up 42 per cent to date this year on the back of a 47 per cent increase in 2007.
So it can be said that confidence is high among young farmers who seem to believe that prospects are good for the Irish agricultural industry.
In a recent statement the Macra na Feirme president Catherine Buckley said that agriculture is at a turning point in terms of recent increases in the number of students attending agricultural colleges. She also said that it has become apparent to Macra ne Feirme that the decline of new entrants to farming over the past few years is about to change and this is due to the year-on-year increase in the number of students that are attending agricultural colleges.
A recent survey conducted by Macra na Feirme of 109 young farmers indicated that 67 per cent of these surveyed were optimistic about the future of farming in Ireland. When these young farmers were asked about the areas of most concern to them, they highlighted rising production costs as the number one issue of concern to them. Given the time that the survey was conducted with the disastrous summer, it is no surprise that climate change was regarded as the second area of grave concern.
