Longford agricultural scientist to deliver talk on future of farming

Aoife Feeney from Lisduff, Longford presents the findings of her Nuffield Ireland Scholarship at the annual Nuffield Ireland Conference taking place in the Mount Wolseley Hotel, Tullow, Carlow.

The presentation is the culmination of a year of study that brought her across the globe in the name of agricultural advancement.

The Nuffield bursary stems from a UK scholarship established in 1947 by industrialist and philanthropist William Morris. Morris made his fortune building bicycles and later launching Morris Motor Company.

Ireland joined seven other countries awarding the bursary in 1996 as part of a global network of Nuffield organisations.
The leadership development programme affords scholars a bursary to travel, research and present a report on their chosen topic.

Aoife is the very embodiment of the potential the chosen scholars should display: “I was raised in Lisduff on the outskirts of Longford Town, I'm most definitely a proud Longford woman,” she told the Leader.

It's been a hectic week for Aoife: “Next Friday I present my Nuffield Scholarship. I received the bursary in 2022. I'm now in the middle of interviews for radio and the Irish Farmers Journal which will be in the Irish Country Life magazine.”

That's on top of her role as Senior Policy Officer for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality for the Netherlands Embassy in Dublin.

Aoife’s research explored one of the most pressing concerns for global agriculture: “My report will focus on identifying ways to encourage farmers to prioritise action for water quality. It's the summation of travelling to eight countries over the last two years to conduct my studies.”

The agriculture scientist uses words many older farmers fear; 'sustainability' and 'carbon emissions', but stresses that they present opportunities.

“This study aims to encourage change in Irish farmers' behaviour in terms of prioritising water quality on the farm and identifying the support required to achieve this.

This research compared Irish water quality programmes on pasture based systems to similar systems in eight different countries across the globe,” she says.

Aoife's work with four West Cork co-ops for over seven years provided a framework for her Nuffield Scholarship study: “I was looking at things like water quality, milk quality and farmer welfare. We had 1,200 milk suppliers. My role was to work with those farmers on improving water, biodiversity, carbon emissions and Farm Zero C.”

Farm Zero C is a collaboration between global nutritional ingredients company Carbery, bioeconomy research centre BiOrbic and others to create a climate neutral, economically viable dairy farm. Aoifa was employed by Carbery up to taking on her Nuffield Scholarship.

The scholarship brought her to Canada, Italy, The Netherlands, the UK, New Zealand and Australia: “It's really about finding out what farmers, companies or governments are doing in the area you are researching. Then those learnings are brought back to Ireland.”

From banana farm plantations in northern Queensland to the farmer-led Taranaki Catchment Groups in New Zealand the scope of Aoifa's research was very broad.

The key finding of that research is that water quality is a global issue, but water scarcity is a major concern: “The things I have learned are as long as my arm. It should encourage us, as a nation with a plentiful supply of fresh water, to enhance and protect its quality for future generations.

“The study also highlighted that the existing catchment-based approach used in Ireland is highly effective, but in order to expand this and achieve better results farmers need to take ownership of local projects and show leadership.”

Friday's gathering is a high profile affair. The Nuffield Ireland conference, will be officially opened by Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture, Food, Pippa Hackett and will hear presentations from four returning Nuffield Ireland Scholars, including Aoife.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Finding Common Ground” between consumers and the farming community which will be discussed by agri-communicator and keynote speakers.