‘Never doubt the ability of farmers to adapt’

It has been 10 months (at time of interview) since Susan took over as ASA president from Niamh Bambrick – described by Susan as a trailblazer and inspiration. It has been a busy time. The good kind of busy, though. “It has been fabulous,” Susan says. “It has absolutely flown by. We’ve had 10 events over 10 months, in addition to other initiatives for young graduates, leadership programmes, and international trips,” she adds. And, of course, there is the day-to-day running of the association, which prides itself on being the representative body for graduates of agricultural science courses from across all colleges and universities. As such, it is important, she says, to make events accessible to members – events that allow them to connect and engage, and to unite from all areas of the agri-food industry. As president, she has tried to ensure that this happened on her watch.

Highlight

One standout moment of the year for Susan, was an event she organised at University College Cork (UCC), which facilitated an evening of debate on the vision for agriculture in 2050 – a weighty but important topic. It featured presentations and discussions from guest speakers including Prof. Rogier Schulte from Wageningen University and Thia Hennessey, professor of agri-food economics at UCC, among others. It was an informative occasion, and a hugely important topic to contemplate, particularly now.
Susan shares her thoughts on what agriculture in 2050 will look like. “It is about having a sustainable food system that can navigate the challenges around sustainability and producing enough food with fewer resources. It’s about maintaining our competitiveness as an industry, and it’s about being able to support our farmers, so they’re at the heart of this entire discussion,” she says.
Of course, with challenge comes opportunity, and Susan says to never doubt the ability of the sector, particularly farmers, to adapt, and to innovate. She highlights the equal importance that should be placed on sustainability in all its forms – social, economic and environmental – because without them, there is no farming future.

The future of farming

In her professional career, Susan is an agricultural development manager with Bank of Ireland. She meets the farmers of the future all the time and notes the level of professionalism they are bringing to the sector. It bodes well for the future we mentioned above. “The number of agricultural science graduates is phenomenal. For many of them, their primary role is farming, but they’re doing it in a way that backs into the science. And a lot of them are early adopters of these technologies that are going to solve the problems in the sector,” says Susan. Formal agri-education is beneficial in other ways: “It also means that they have a network of friends in the Department or in Teagasc, for example, so while they may be farming full-time, they are very engaged in industry and what the future direction is, and that helps them make the right decisions for their farms.”
The future farmer theme comes to mind with the recent announcement from the EU Commission in relation to the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its funding parameters. For all its controversial aspects, there are some positives to be found, particularly around additional funding supports for young farmers, according to Susan.
“That intergenerational piece is a positive,” says Susan. “Ireland will be at the table with regards to negotiating the best position for the country and whatever that is, farmers will adapt. I do think there are some positives in the current proposal, there are huge question marks as to how funds will be allocated and it does pose questions for parts of the sector that are heavily reliant on it [CAP]. But I do like the idea of it focusing on that future farmer and making the sector as attractive as we can to encourage young people into farming.”
Susan sees intergenerational renewal at work every day in her capacity as an agricultural development manager. She feels very lucky to be in the position she is: “I am out with farmers every day, I am looking at their farm systems, I am looking at their finances, sitting at the kitchen table with them, and having that conversation with them about whatever investment is required.”
Susan says there are wonderful farm-succession stories out there, and they happen when the older, established, parent farmer accepts their son or daughter into the fold early in the process. From there, these partnerships can thrive.
She continues: “There is a generation of farmers that were in a quota regime so for a lot of their farming life there was no ability to expand, but for the last 10 years, there has been great expansion, and great investment in innovation, genetics, soil health, automation around the day-to-day processes, and so on. You can see the corresponding impact that has on farm profitability. You can see the corresponding impact that has on work-life balance. It is really important that the future farmer can see that it is a job with a beginning and an end, and they can have family time at the weekend. Younger farmers are not prepared to, nor should they, work 12-hour days, seven days a week,” says Susan.

Influencing strategy

When it comes to backing younger farmers and devising a strategy that helps such farmers’ ambitions become reality, Susan says having that personal interaction is key. “When I go out onto farms, I hear first-hand what the challenges are, and what they are doing to navigate them. That enables me, as an agri-manager, to come back into the bank and look at what we are doing to support farmers. We use the learnings from our customers to devise our future strategy and look at how we can support them, from an environmental perspective, for example, to take on new initiatives with sustainability linked funding.
“Equally, with the more short-term challenges around weather and fodder, we need to be agile as a bank to move quickly to put supports in place for farmers who need cashflow quickly. Being out on the farm and being connected to farmers gives me a real link into what is happening at ground level.”
The ASA presidential role also links in here, she explains: “The ASA, particularly in the last 12 months, has given me a really good connection to the industry so I can see what the industry is doing and what that impact is on a day-to-day level for farmers.”

ASA annual conference

Next month, September, the ASA hosts its annual conference at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork. It will conclude what Susan describes as ‘the highlight’ of her career, as her 12-month tenure comes to an end, and ASA vice-president, Dale Crammond, takes over. The theme of the conference, which is sponsored by FBD, is around Ireland’s role in global food security; it boasts an impressive line-up of speakers and panelists, and will be moderated by former RTÉ broadcaster, Damien O’Reilly, who is currently EU affairs and communications manager with ICOS.
Ireland, as we know is a significant exporter of agri-food products. According to recent statistics published by the Central Statistics Office, Irish agri-food exports reached a record value of €19.2bn in 2024. But we are a small country, so what role do we play in global food security? Susan shares her thoughts: “We are mass exporters of agri-food and drink products. Irish farmers produce sustainable premium proteins that are in huge demand around the world, and that’s backed into our sustainable programmes like Origin Green. Industry and farmers play a huge role in that. That makes me very proud, and as a country, we should be very proud. But [global food security] is a complex issue, so we are bringing in some interesting speakers to look at competitiveness, food waste, and the environmental challenges.”
Among the national and international speakers are: Dr Kevin Deegan, who is vice president of innovation at Valeo, the largest co-operative in Finland; Prof. Thia Hennessy from UCC; and Brendan Gleeson, secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Also in attendance will be: Jim O'Toole, CEO of Bord Bia; Roberta McDonald from Agreena; and Pat Whelan, CEO of James Whelan Butchers – he has collaborated with Munster Technical University in the launch of a butchery and gastronomy degree – who will look at sustainable food systems of the future.

"The event will include a discussion on trade and will also feature a number of farmers and industry leaders who will discuss what is needed at farm level to support sustainability and generational renewal," Susan adds.

"And it all leads into our black-tie banquet, which is the networking event of the year, attended by 500 industry leaders. It is a wonderful event.”
The conference will be extra special for Susan, as her father, Philip, who served as ASA president in 1997-1998 will also be present. “This is a legacy that is really nice to have and one that I am very proud of,” she says.