A recruitment campaign to appoint five new members to the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) advisory group has been launched by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

The college advisory group (CAG), currently chaired by Maynard Mawhinney, provides advice on strategic and operational issues to CAFRE management team and contains expertise from across all sectors of the agri-food industry.

The vacancies for five members of the CAG are required to be filled from 1 January 2026. 

These positions are in the areas of equine, international relations, production horticulture, secondary education and sustainability in the supply chain.

Acting CAFRE director, Paul McHenry said: “At CAFRE we aim to develop and deliver programmes of education and knowledge transfer which provide the local agri-food industry with a skilled workforce.

The CAG has been providing advice for over 15 years on a wide range of issues which have aided the CAFRE management team in making strategic decisions on programme delivery and capital investment projects at each campus.

“I would like to thank the outgoing members for their valuable contribution to the group and I look forward to welcoming the new members in 2026 who will help the college respond to the current and future needs of the industry," McHenry added.

The group meets up to five times per year across CAFRE’s campuses which are situated in Co. Antrim, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, and Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. 

Applicants must have recent experience and knowledge of the sector they wish to represent.

The closing date for applications is 4:00pm on Friday, October 17, 2025.

Separately, last week (September 11) DAERA published data on farm performance in Northern Ireland.

'Northern Ireland Farm Performance Indicators 2023/24’ is the 22nd edition of the annual publication.

The booklet is designed to provide farmers with data to assess the performance of their farm business.

Data in the booklet are extracted from farm account information, collected as part of the 2023/2024 Northern Ireland Farm Business Survey, which is undertaken by DAERA.

The survey is composed of a representative sample of farm businesses and the data reflect performance levels achieved on Northern Ireland farms.