Teagasc has announced the appointment of Dr. Grainne Hurley as regional advisory manager in the west Cork region today (Wednesday, December 7).
Dr. Hurley will lead the Teagasc team delivering advisory services to farmers and educational courses in the regional offices in west Cork.
She currently works as a business and technology dairy advisor, and has been the co-ordinator of the Teagasc and Dairygold joint programme for the last four years.
Working closely with the 10 monitor farmers she has led the dissemination of technical information to milk suppliers in the catchment area.
Speaking following her appointment and looking forward to working with the team as the organisation develops new support services for farmers to meet the environmental challenges, Dr. Hurley said:
“We have a dynamic group of farmers in the region that produce high-quality food from grass-based production systems, and they are already embracing these challenges and adopting new technologies.”
From a dairy farm in Dunmanway in west Cork, she graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) with a degree in agricultural science, and completed her PhD in Queens University Belfast as a Teagasc Walsh Scholar.
New Teagasc appointment
Earlier in her career, she joined the organisation’s advisory service in Kerry, based in Killarney as a dairy advisor, before working as a business and technology dairy advisor based in Clonakilty in west Cork.
She has also completed a Teagasc certificate in business management from the UCD Michael Smurfit Business School.
Congratulating Dr. Hurley on her appointment, the head of Teagasc advisory service, Thomas Curran said she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the leadership group in the organisation’s advisory service.
“She has developed new and innovative farmer discussion groups, incorporating all the technologies and adopting the available IT systems to aid their farming enterprises.
“She has an excellent network built up with stakeholder organisations which will drive the collaborative approach to sectoral improvement in west Cork,” Curran said.