Does Irish farming need a women-led ‘revolution’?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman, on Newstalk, with Kiya.

Shane Colman (0:09)

Now, women farmers are changing, are challenging, I should say, an agri system that was built on growth and control, giving a more resilient future for Irish farming. So writes the former Green Party Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Dr. Pippa Hackett.

Pippa Hackett joins us now. Pippa, your piece in The Journal, you was headlined, Irish farming needs a revolution with more fearless women at the helm. I want to get to why women in particular can make a difference in the moment. But what is your issue with Irish farming as it stands at the moment?

Pippa Hackett (0:45)

Hi, Shane. Look, I think there's a lot of challenges facing agriculture. There are continued challenges, not only about the impacts agriculture has on climate change, biodiversity, water quality and so forth, but also, I suppose, the vulnerability that exists within the current system. Most farmers are incredibly vulnerable to change, increasing shocks from indeed climate change, from market volatility, from rising input costs. And year after year after year, we're seeing that.

Those issues are not going away. So from my perspective, we need to be developing an agricultural system that builds that resilience into it.

Shane Colman (1:26)

OK, you say farmers are trapped on a hamster wheel that keeps spinning faster and they're serving the economic growth of an agri business sector. What do you mean by that?

Pippa Hackett (1:36)

I think it's no real secret either that farmers are the bottom end of the supply chain. They're the primary producers. They are price takers. And while we have a very growthy agriculture sector as a whole, the elements of that that make the most money are further up the supply chain. They're not the farmers. They're the, you know, they're the processors, they're the retailers, they're the exporters and so forth. So I think what we need is a system that really values the primary producer there, that values the farmer.

And I suppose some of that is what I have seen from women across the country. And it has showcased to me that there are opportunities here.

Shane Colman (2:17)

Okay, get big or get out is the line you're using it. I presume you're particularly talking about the dairy sector there, are you?

Pippa Hackett (2:25)

Well, I mean, yes, I mean, that has been the prevailing direction of it. People, you know, have grown since the quotas lifted, you know, over 10 or 12 years ago.

And I think, yes, that worked quite well when we had a system where maybe our weather patterns were more predictable. We had cheap fertilizer. We had grass that responded to the predictable weather. That is not the case anymore. Fertilizer has gone through the roof in the last four to five years and continues to do so. The weather patterns are no longer predictable. We're seeing challenges around droughts. We're seeing challenges around late springs. That all impacts the traditional type of grass, for example, that many farmers grow, not just dairy farmers, but particularly dairy farmers relying on that. So again, this is about bringing resilience to the system, whatever type of enterprise farmers are doing. And we need to support policies that support that resilience.

Shane Colman (3:24)

Okay. Why do you think women in particular can make a difference?

Pippa Hackett (3:30)

I think what really triggered, look, I've been on my fair share of women panels over the years, you know, as a female farmer myself and as a minister. But what triggered this for me was 10 days ago, I was on a panel at the Burren Winteridge Festival. It was an all-women panel because this year is the UN's International Year of the Woman Farmer. This 2026 has been recognized by that. And just, it really struck me that the tone of the panel, it was positive, it was uplifting, it was filled with passionate women for their farms who have implemented changes to make their farms more resilient, to make their farming lives more enjoyable. And I just thought it really stood in such stark contrast to so many, I suppose, agri farming group, farming lobby group meetings I've been at over the years, which are typically male dominated, you know, lots of sort of, as I say, table thumping and finger pointing and almost helplessness.

Shane Colman (4:31)

Okay.

Pippa Hackett (4:31)

Somebody needs to do something about this problem and the government better do it, rather than what can we do, what can we do for ourselves? And I see that in women across the country. They are making those decisions themselves. All right.