She may be in the red zone of Rome at present but Connemara woman Eimear Wallace (25) has her home place very much in mind as she runs for vice-chair of Galway Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
Speaking to Agriland, the Galway woman said:
“There are 78 IFA branches in Galway and with just 10 out west; it will be a tough contest for vice-chair as I am running against Bertie Roche from the Abbey IFA branch, the former county dairy and environment representative.
“It’s a postal election with counting of votes expected on April 1.”
“My time in Rome has me researching animal models so I’m being trained in animal handling while also learning how to deal with ethical committees and ministries of health.
“Currently travelling is not allowed but I’m hoping that after Easter I will be on a flight home as the main flock will be lambing then and some calves arriving,” Eimear said.
‘Balance The Top Table’
“The current chairperson of Galway IFA is from Menlough, east Galway, so I decided to run for the position of vice-chair to balance the top table and have farmers from each end of Galway represented.”
Scenic Tiernakill, Maam, is home. The majority of their flock is Blackface. “My first pet lamb was a Blackface when I was just shy of three years of age, so I was always obsessed with farming,” said Eimear.
Around 2007, we bought our first Texel ram as we wanted to branch into having some crossbreds to make more money off the lambs, and never looked back.
“The Hiltex are a great breed, being prolific, good mothers, easy to flesh and hardy,” she said.
In 2011, Eimear introduced the Canadian Speckle Park breed on the advice of their AI man at the time, Joe McCann.
“From this point on, my go-to choice for AI was Speckle Park as they are hardy, fertile, easy calving, flesh well, docile and are brilliant mothers and come polled,” said Eimear.
Our Speckle Park herd stands at cows which are 50-75% Speckle Park so some are having calves that are 87.5% Speckle Park.
“Two more generations of calves will allow me test for 100% Speckle Park and to register them as pedigree, all going well.”
Eimear is currently helping set up a branch of Macra na Feirme in Connemara.
“With no Macra club in Connemara, I thought joining Macra was pointless seeing as I was already a member of the An Mham IFA branch. But once I signed up for Macra, I realised there was much more to it than a discount on car insurance.
“There are many training courses but more importantly social opportunities which are needed in rural Ireland.
“Last week the Facebook page was up and running so hopefully the next meeting will see the election of a committee and the official start of the Connemara Macra group,” said Eimear.
There is a lack of youth actively involved in IFA and I feel Macra will help bridge that gap. If you have young farmers actively participating in Macra, they will be more likely to join and be active in IFA.
It’s a varied lifestyle and one that she relishes. “Splitting my time between the family farm and working is second nature. Lambing was always timed for my Easter holidays and study week.
“Granted this year is up in the air, but you can send a lot of orders home to the parents and brother with WhatsApp and emails,” said Eimear.
“I think organisation and forward planning are key to managing a full-time job and a farm. I took a year out in 2018 when my dad was ill.
“It was a great chance to put things in order, between fencing, planting hedgerow, and sorting animals. So now, it is a case of keeping things ticking over and making small improvements here and there.”
‘Lack of Representation’
While she is just 25, she is adamant that she is not inexperienced in farming. “I don’t think there is a lack of young women in farming but there is a lack of representation and fair play.
“Too many times, the opinion of women is overlooked and when looking at farm organisations, how many female chairpersons or presidents are there? Too few.
Go to a mart and you will have many auctioneers asking if your dad knows you are there or if you want to call your brother to see what price to put the weanling on the market for.
“It is condescending but it will eventually be a thing of the past. We just have to continue to stand up for ourselves as just a small minority remain with the old-fashioned view of women not being able to farm.”
The IFA vice-chair contender blazed a trail from her early teens. She won a heifer and hogget competition in 2010.
“I was the first to bring the award to Galway, having just turned 14. I won the 14-18 age category in sheep so brought home a pair of Vendeen/Suffolk cross ewe hoggets.”
Right now her focus is on the IFA vice-chair election. “My first priority as vice-chair would be CAP reform and TAMS to try encourage more young people to farm,” said Eimear.
Less than 7% of farmers in Ireland are under the age of 35. Simply reducing inheritance tax, stamp duty, and the cost of the Green Certificate would give young farmers a head start.
“CAP’s green deal seems to be heavily focused on reducing what farmers are allowed do – but I think it should begin by encouraging the use of solar panels and wind turbines on farms to source their electricity.
“Farmers could then sell the excess renewable electricity back to the national grid and see that ‘green farming’ can help make money and give an incentive to further adopt their farms to a more sustainable manner,” Eimear said.
“A follow-on scheme from GLAS is essential as many farmers have designated land for biodiversity for instance but are now earning nothing from this land.
“Something needs to be done with the infamous ‘arm-chair’ farmers who take full advantage of subsidies without actively farming or putting subsidies towards improving their farm and subsequently give farmers a bad reputation,” Eimear contended.
Brexit has caused farmers serious uncertainty and Ireland needs to establish direct markets to European countries for their exports. This, along with an effective suckler scheme, will really strengthen the sector.
Flooding, Eimear said, is a serious issue all over the county of Galway. “A proposed plan for south Galway to revert water to Kinvara Bay has been drafted but IFA needs to ensure farmers receive adequate compensation for any land that will be inherited by the Office of Public Works to create these channels.”