A recently published Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) report defines the true scale of the farm machinery sector in Ireland.

The publication is important for a number of reasons. At that very fundamental level, it confirms a truly staggering €5 billion annual contribution to the Irish economy for the farm machinery sector as a whole.

But more than this, the report also identifies the job creation role of the industry across the entire island of Ireland.

Current employment levels within the farm machinery sector total 25,000 people. But this figure is only scratching the surface, when one considers what’s coming down the track.

The need for both machinery manufacturers and distributors to secure the very best of Ireland’s young people into the future is truly significant.

Add in the fact that machinery exports from Ireland currently total some €700 million on an annual basis.

All of this adds up to a tremendously positive story for the economy. The €5 billion figure puts farm machinery almost on a par with tourism as a driver for national growth.

FTMTA data

Let’s hope that government has taken note of all this and is planning to respond accordingly.

The role for Enterprise Ireland within this unfolding scenario is pivotal. However, it was disappointing to note that the agency was not represented at the recent launch of the FTMTA report.

The fact that the publication breaks new ground is undeniable. It’s vital now that it is not simply allowed to gather dust on a bookshelf.

There is an obvious role for FTMTA in making sure this does not happen. But there is also an equal onus on government to formally accept the recommendations of the report in a very comprehensive manner.

And part of this process will include the formal recognition by all political parties of the key role that FTMTA plays as a stakeholder organisation working to represent Ireland’s farm machinery sector as a whole.

The period ahead will see production agriculture in Ireland help deliver food security as a whole.

Given what is happening in Ukraine right now, there is little doubt that the issue of indigenous food production across Europe will become a central theme of the overall debate that is now ramping up where the ‘not insignificant’ matter of security for society as a whole is concerned.

Delivering the technology that will drive food production systems into the future is the responsibility of the farm machinery sector.

Moreover, new thinking in this regard will be brought through at an exponential rate.

Irish farm machinery manufacturers and dealerships will be at the very heart of this process. It’s crucially important for the Irish government to fully recognise this very salient point.