In the fourth instalment of Agriland's 'Groundbreakers' series, we meet sisters who are both as passionate about education as they are agriculture.

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.

Miriam and Rachel Hastings are farming with their parents on the Galway/Roscommon border.

They have a suckler beef farm, as well as sheep, mainly calving and lambing in the spring.

Reflecting on growing up and working on the family farm, Miriam said: "As Irish people we're very attached to the land, most farms are generational farms".

She highlighted the "bond" that people have to the farm they grew up on.

According to Miriam, the sisters "were out in the farm from when we could fit into a pair of wellies".

The sisters said that growing up they never felt disadvantaged due to being women in the sector.

"We have always been out on the farm when the contractors came, when we had to go to the agri store, we always went with our parents," Rachel added.

Social media

Continually learning, implementing new technologies and breeding quality animals are among their key focuses on the farm.

Both working in education, the sisters balance off-farm work with farm work, along with sharing insights into their life on the farm through their social media page, 'Keeping up with the Hastings'.

"Around 2018/2019 there was a rise of farming getting a bit more presence on social media," Miriam said.

The sisters' own social page started in 2020 during calving and lambing and they had plenty of content as a result.

They set themselves a goal to post frequently, to highlight for them "what was important, what made us happy that day" with as much positivity as they could.

Given their work in education, it is no surprise the sisters are always striving to learn new ways of doing things on the farm, and have found social media a way to seeing what works well on other farms and adapting to their own.

It works both ways, as Miriam explained: "We got so many messages of 'why are you doing this?, things that we wouldn't even second guess - things that we would just do naturally every day".

Women in agriculture

Miriam said that it is only in "very recent times" that the importance of women on the farm has been highlighted, referencing the women-specific supports now available under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3).

"They're not just there to feed the contractors and stand in the gap when needed," she said.

"They're that hidden presence that was always there. We all remember our grannies being out on the farm as well as our granddads.

"It's nice that it's being finally highlighted."

The growth in women-only knowledge transfer groups is also important to "build the confidence of women around each other and sharing their thoughts and experiences".

"There [are] supports there but they're only as good as those that use them and avail of them," Miriam added.

She said it is important that the supports out there are "easily accessible".

International Year of the Woman Farmer

Miriam said she is aware that the UN has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

"Unfortunately, there hasn't been much presence of it in Ireland," she said.

"There hasn't been many innovations even in the west of Ireland, or things to highlight and to promote it which I think is a bit disappointing.

Rachel added that women are "the backbone of many farms".

"Women are the people on the farm that are often balancing a lot," she said.

"They're farming, they may have work off-farm, and also they're caregivers in the home.

"It's not just young women - it's women of all ages. It's important that there is more advertising or more promotion in relation to women in agriculture."

International Year of the Woman Farmer aims to spotlight 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.