Northern Ireland agriculture minister Edwin Poots has celebrated the “vital role” women play in Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry.
He made these comments speaking at the official opening of the third Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) Women in Agriculture conference.
The theme of this year’s conference, which was held in the Glenavon House Hotel in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, was Breaking Ground.
Minister Poots said: “I am delighted to attend the UFU’s third Women in Agriculture conference.
“I am particularly pleased to see growing participation by young women in agriculture and firmly believe that increasing female representation within the leadership of the industry is important.
“I am pleased to see that the trend in females undertaking further and higher education qualifications at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise [CAFRE] continues to grow.
“The college now has 51% females studying on the full-time Higher Education agriculture courses and 37% females studying in full-time Further Education agriculture courses.”
David Brown, president of the UFU said:
“Women are critical to the sustainability and development of the industry and promoting women in agriculture is a key priority for the UFU.
“We are eager to do all we can to help create a more diverse agri-food industry that credits on merit alone, a key point that cropped up many times at the event.”
Brown added that It is also extremely important to the UFU to showcase the many wide-ranging jobs that are available in agriculture through the conference and that this is something which hasn’t always been highlighted in the past, particularly to girls.
“We were delighted to have students from local schools at the conference as they are the future of the industry," he said.
“Taking into consideration all the challenges coming down the track including climate change and a growing population, we need to be encouraging and nurturing the next generation of young agri enthusiasts, providing the support to enable them to progress in the industry and with opportunities to move into leadership roles.”
