The sustainable future of farming is at the heart of Bank of Ireland’s Ploughing Talks in Ratheniska says the head of Agriculture Sector at Bank of Ireland Eoin Lowry.
All eyes of the agriculture community in Ireland will be on the Ploughing Championships in Co Laois in the week ahead as 700 acres of fields in Ratheniska play centre stage to celebrating and empowering rural Irish life.
Some 297,000 visitors are expected to visit the site between 19 and 21 September and more than 1,700 exhibitors will display their wares from finance to fashion, machinery to energy and much, much more.
“Farming is going to have to change. The way we farm today is not going to be the way we will farm in the future”
The Ploughing Championships have been taking place every year – except during the pandemic – in Ireland since 1931 when two lifelong friends – Denis Allen of Gorey, Wexford, and JJ Bergin of Athy, Kildare, argued that their respective counties have the best ploughmen.
Banking on tradition
Bank of Ireland has been a long-time supporter of the Ploughing Championships and this year at stand 299, the bank will host a range of Ploughing Talks entitled ‘Farming in a Climate of Change – supporting your farm’s future’.
The talks will tackle the sustainability agenda, the transition to green, financial wellbeing, farm diversification, renewable energy and the future of dairy farming.
Bank of Ireland’s head of Agriculture Sector Eoin Lowry said the purpose of the talks is to equip today’s farmers with the knowledge they will need to navigate the changes that are coming.
“There’s huge disruption facing the agri sectors and farmers, given the financial and climate challenges that are coming. We can see that reducing green house gas emissions by 25% by 2030 is a huge task in itself. We also have to reverse or improve the level of biodiversity in farms.
“Farming is going to have to change. The way we farm today is not going to be the way we will farm in the future.
“For Bank of Ireland it is about demonstrating that we understand the challenges that the sector and farmers face and ensuring we can enable that transition as a key partner to the sector. We bank with 82,000 farmers and have more than €1bn lent to farmers across the country.
“We have 55% of all new lending to farmers in the country and that means every second farmer that takes out a loan today is doing so with Bank of Ireland.”
- Join us at stand 299 for the Bank of Ireland Ploughing talks – proudly supporting farmers and agri businesses for generations
Bank of Ireland Ploughing Talks: Farming in a Climate of change- supporting your farm’s future
| Day | Time | Title | Panellists |
| Tuesday 19th | 11am | Setting the Sustainable Agenda- the evolving Policy environment and farmer response | Tadgh Buckley- IFA
Anne Finnegan- Consultant |
| 1pm | Sustainable loans – financing the transition to green
|
Sean Farrell – SBCI
David Taylor – BOI Mark Glennon – BOI |
|
| 3pm | Sustaining Beef farmers – Managing Risk & investing for the future | Darren Carty – Farmers Journal
Tim Meagher – Beef Farmer Pat Byrnes- BOI |
|
| Wednesday 20th | 11am | Managing your financial wellbeing
& planning for the future |
Martina Gormely- Teagasc
Aisling Meehan – Agri solicitor Pat Byrnes- BOI |
| 1pm | Financing Renewable Energy -farm diversification opportunities | Eoin Walsh PV Gen
Mark Glennon- BOI |
|
| 3pm | Sustaining Dairy farmers – Managing Risk & investing for the future | Patrick Gowing – Teagasc
William Kingston John Fitzgerald |
|
| Thursday 21st | 11am | Sustaining Tillage farmers- Managing Risk & investing for the future | Siobhan Walsh – Farmers Journal
James O’Reilly Tillage Farmer Susan Maher- BOI |
| 1pm | Food and the future consumer and how farmers are reacting | Lucy Ryan – BOI
Kevin Honan- Tirlan Enterprise Ireland |
