An agri-finance seminar being run by Ulster Bank today (Friday, December 15) aims to provide meaningful help to farmers in the south, both on and off the farm, who are planning for 2018 and beyond.

The seminar – which is taking place in the Innishannon House Hotel, Innishannon, Co. Cork – is entitled ‘Building Capabilities in Agriculture’.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, addressed the Ulster Bank farming seminar earlier this morning.

Joining Minister Creed is a panel of local farmers and senior industry leaders. Issues that are set to be discussed at the event include Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, Brexit, Foodwise 2025, pricing volatility as well as strategies to build capabilities and manage change on farms.

Speakers at the event include:
  • Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed;
  • Dr. Ailish Byrne, senior agriculture manager, Ulster Bank;
  • Professor Thia Hennessy, chair of Agri-food Business, Department of Food Business and Development, Cork University Business School;
  • Ann Moore, dairy farmer, Midleton, Co. Cork;
  • Pat Smyth, dairy farmer, Mallow, Co. Cork.

The event was scheduled to get underway earlier this morning and is set to run until 2:00pm.

In a tweet, Minister Creed outlined that Brexit is “very much to the forefront of farmers’ thoughts”.

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The minister was also quoted as saying that “CAP is worth defending” and that “it has delivered many positive outcomes including biodiversity and water quality”.