Teagasc has published a new series of “Enterprise Roadmaps” looking forward to 2030 across seven agricultural enterprise areas; dairy, beef, sheep, pigs, tillage, horticulture, and forestry. These documents provide an update to the previous version (published in 2020) and are a “best estimate projection” of where each sector is headed based on the current known mix of economic, social and policy drivers, according to Paul Maher, Head of International Relations and Corporate Strategy in Teagasc who co-ordinated the roadmaps update. Each document sets out some key sectoral statistics, trends, and key performance indicators, as well as the main social, economic, and environmental challenges ahead along with the key actions required to support each sector through these challenges.
The roadmaps will be published though Teagasc Daily and each one will feature as part of a series of upcoming enterprise podcasts. The dairy roadmap will feature in the Dairy Edge Podcast, today, Monday, 23 February, followed by the Beef Edge, Ovicast, Tillage Edge, Pigs Edge, and Environment Edge Podcasts over the next number of weeks.
John Spink, Head of the Teagasc programme with responsibility for Environment, Forestry, Horticulture and Tillage stated, “the challenge continues to reduce; emissions to air and water, as well as pesticide and fertiliser use, whilst enhancing biodiversity and maintaining financially viable businesses across all sectors. While 2025 has been a difficult year for the crops sector, the recent increase in forestry plantings is welcome and we also look forward to new opportunities in plant breeding following the recent EU agreement on new genomic techniques”.
Laurence Shalloo, Head of the Teagasc Programme with responsibility for Dairy, Beef, Sheep and Pigs set out “how the animal production system has consolidated and evolved over recent years and will continue to engage in new technologies such as sexed semen, precision breeding and grassland management, improved fertiliser efficiency and use of protected urea as well as low emissions slurry spreading to grow value as well as reduce the overall impact of the systems on the environment”.
Teagasc has also published a “Food industry Roadmap” from which Mark Fenelon, Head of the Teagasc Food Programme highlighted; “the constant need to ensure food safety and traceability is of the highest standards to support the consistent growth in value and exports (€19 billion in 2025, Bord Bia) He also noted the “steady improvement in sustainability metrics due to the continued investment in people as well as digitalisation, valorisation of waste streams and the support for the emerging bio-economy”.
In a supporting “Overview” document Kevin Hanrahan, Head of the Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme commented that “the agri-food sector continues to be well positioned to supply high quality food to adjacent and global markets from a strong environmental platform. While price and income volatility as well as an ageing workforce are significant concerns, producers have shown that they are resilient and can be responsive to market and policy signals where they are timely and consistent.”
In summary, Teagasc Director, Professor Frank OMara acknowledged the challenge in developing roadmaps during a time of uncertainty, volatility, and rapid policy change. He looked forward to Teagasc providing a meaningful role in supporting the sector to meet the challenges set out from now to 2030 and highlighted the importance of collaboration and industry support for major initiatives including the SignPost programme, AgNav and the Better Farming for Water: 8-Actions for Change campaign.
The link to the full set of Roadmaps is available to view at https://teagasc.ie/publications/teagasc-road-map-series-2030-overview-of-irish-agriculture-and-food/
To listen to the Dairy Edge Podcast visit: https://teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/