In the third instalment of Agriland's 'Groundbreakers' series, we meet a farmer who found a gap in the market for a product grown on her family's farm in Co. Offaly.

Groundbreakers, proudly supported by FBD, is highlighting the important role of women in farming.

The series, which includes articles, videos and podcasts, is showcasing a number of diverse experiences in light of 2026 being International Year of the Woman Farmer.

Issues being examined include innovation and diversification, generational renewal, and the evolving identity of Irish farming.

Anne Marie Feighery is the founder of Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice.

She grew up on the family farm, and is one of six children.

"My dad started farming in 1957," Anne Marie said.

"He would have started as a tillage farmer and had sheep at the time as well.

"In the 1980s he started growing vegetables."

Helping out with the farm was rewarding, Anne Marie said, and after picking the vegetables, she enjoyed taking a weekly trip to Tullamore making deliveries and dealing with customers.

Her father started a farmers' market in Kilcormac in the 1990s.

She said this came as a result of shops that the farm was supplying with vegetables shutting down and needing a route to market for selling and ensuring there was no waste.

"I actually loved it from day one and I had seen the potential [of] selling directly to the customers," Anne Marie said.

"They really valued what they were picking up each week at the market. They really valued the fresh vegetables and then you form this relationship with your customers."

Nutrition

Growing up, Anne Marie was interested in science, and got her degree in this area.

"In hindsight, I didn't know it would stand to me setting up my own business," she said.

It was in 2019 that Anne Marie started producing an Irish beetroot juice using beetroot grown pesticide-free on the family farm.

The inspiration came from her father Billy, who "always had a big interest in nutrition" and had asked Anne Marie to pick up the juice for him at the shops.

According to Feighery's Farm, beetroots can contribute positively to heart health, along with levels of iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, protein and more.

"Beetroot juice was very new to me, I hadn't really heard of it as a drink before," Anne Marie said.

She said she ended up making a phone call after this realisation to Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork to develop the idea for her business, "and it all basically steamrolled from there".

The farm increased the beetroot being grown and the business developed.

She said she hoped something would come of it, and seven years on, "it's going good".

Support

Anne Marie said she has "felt huge support" from both her family and the local community, which "really got behind me".

She said she hopes by sharing her story, "I feel like it could encourage somebody else to do similar in innovating with some respect of the farm".

"It doesn't often need to go back to the traditional methods, there's so many ways you can innovate on a farm," she said.

International Year of the Woman Farmer

Anne Marie believes it is important to recognise the important roles of women on farms across the country.

The United Nations (UN) has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

This year spotlights the essential roles women play across agri-food systems.

Women are under-represented in the agriculture sector.

The Central Statistics Office Farm Structure Survey 2023 showed that women account for 13.2% of farm holders in Ireland and 34% of total farm workers.