Cathal Somers has been appointed as manager of the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP).

The appointment was approved by the Teagasc Authority at its recent meeting. 

The ASSAP project is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and dairy and meat processors.

It is coordinated by Teagasc, dairy and meat processors and Local Authority Waters Programme; and supported by the main farming organisations.

The programme provides free, confidential advisory support to farmers to help them to improve water quality across Ireland with a view of attaining water framework directive water quality targets.

20 ASSAP advisors are employed in Teagasc with a further 40 advisors employed in the co-ops and meat sector. 

New ASSAP manager

Cathal Somers currently serves as a water quality specialist at Teagasc.

He has worked closely with research colleagues across a number of Teagasc centres and the Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) to develop and translate new research and best practice in relation to water quality with a focus on reducing nutrient losses from farms.

Somers also led the development of AgPlanner, a digital tool used by ASSAP advisors to track water quality actions on farms across the country.

It also includes a mapping feature, which will be launched later this year.

Congratulating Cathal Somers on his appointment, director of research in Teagasc, Prof. Pat Dillon said: “Cathal brings a wealth of experience in supporting advisors to accelerate the adoption of actions by farmers on farms to improve water bodies.

"I look forward to working with Cathal as he leads the ASSAP programme which will play a critical role in the Better Farming for Water campaign.”  

Head of the Water Quality Knowledge Transfer Department in Teagasc, Noel Meehan said: “With extensive experience in both technical and strategic roles within Teagasc, Cathal is uniquely positioned to lead ASSAP into its next phase of impact and innovation.

"He has successfully led the training of advisors and those working in the industry for the Better Farming for Water campaign.”

Cathal Somers holds a masters in environmental management from the University of Ulster.