Robbie is married to Annmarie and they have 4 young children, James, Áine, Conor & Harry.

Sheep, Tillage & Cover Crops are the main enterprises on the family farm in Irishtown. After qualifying with a M.Agr.Sc in Soil & Crop Nutrition from UCD, he worked as an agronomist for 9 years before setting up his own company Precision Nutrition.  Precision Nutrition provides a nutrition & biological farming service to Merchant Advisers & Farmers.

He feels the adoption of biological farming systems can help Irish tillage & livestock farmers work better within cur-rent & future EU legislation & make themselves more resilient to extreme weather events while also providing more sustainable cleaner, greener farming products that will appeal to global consumer trends. Robbie will study some of the best practices currently in use around the world with farmers & research organisa-tions. For his research he intends to visit USA, Switzerland, UK and New Zealand.

‘Regenerative Agriculture – Is this the way forward for Irish farmers?’

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Aside from farming, Alison graduated from UCD with a BSc in Physiotherapy in 2008 and an MSc Re-search (Physiotherapy) in 2010. She worked in the HSE and Sports Private Practice part time until 2016. Since this time she has been working as a clinical tutor in the School of Allied Health at the University of Limerick. She regularly presents to farming organisations as part of health promotion initiatives and is a strong advocate for activity participation and healthy living.

Alison’s Nuffield study is entitled, “Are we Fit to Farm? Investigating Irish Farmer Health Status and Sustainability.” She plans to use her relevant previous experience to explore the role of continuing professional development and education in farming and how it can be utilised to progress practice and improve farmer health and wellbeing and the perception of farming as an attractive profession.

Alison intends to travel to Denmark, New Zealand and Canada during the course of her Nuffield scholarship.

Alison was elected to the Nuffield Ireland board in 2023.

Are we Fit to Farm? Investigating Irish Farmer Health Status and Sustainability

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After Patrick completed his Agricultural Degree in 1999, he joined AIB and worked in their Strategic Development unit on Business and Agricultural Policy / initiatives. In 2005, Patrick took up the role of Agricultural Advisor, dealing directly with farming customer and is based in AIB Nenagh.
Patrick study will investigate ‘How can Irish farmers be encouraged to meet GHG emission targets? – The Role of the CAP’. While there is a large variation between individual sectors, markets supports make up a large portion of farm income in Ireland. “Recent CAP reforms have made some adjustment, but I believe that there is a missed opportunity to better support active farmers in Ireland.”

Patrick intends to travel to the USA, Europe, Japan, and Africa and will look at a range of concepts to try to overall increase the impact of the CAP budget for Irish farmers.

Pat was elected to the Nuffield Ireland board in 2023 and is currently Treasurer.

How can Irish farmers be encouraged to meet GHG emission targets? - The Role of the CAP

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Ciara is the managing director of the Redbank Food Co.

Ciara grew up around her father’s seafood export business, working with Lobsters, Crabs, Mussels, Clams Oysters, however by her own admittance grew up eating the shellfish more so than working with them. She went on to study Outdoor Education and Leisure in Gmit before working in Youth and Community development for a number of years both in Ireland and overseas. During this time she worked in the areas of Youth leadership and mentoring. She left life in Zambia, where she had been volunteering with an Irish NGO to come home and restart her father’s seafood business along with her brother.

She started the Redbank food co in 2015, working with a number of local oyster farmers and fishermen.  The brand Flaggy shore oyster was created. In 2017/2018 they expanded in the area of oyster tours and workshops. Teaching people at their premises all about oysters, how to open them as well as the biology of the local marine habitat.

With people wishing to know more of where their food comes from, the demand for new food experiences and the development of experience based platforms, Ciara believes this is an area that will expand greatly over the coming years but an emphasis has to be on developing them sustainably.

She is the currently involved in the Burren Eco Tourism network, secretary of the Burren food trail, involved with Leave No Trace Ireland and was awarded Clare’s best young entrepreneur in 2017.

Ciara was a member of the Nuffield Ireland board 2022 – 2023.

Food Tourism - It’s potential use as an Educational Tool to shorten the gap between the Consumer and Producer

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Ailish works as a Milk Quality Manager for Kerry Agribusiness and has over 16 years’ experience working in the food industry. She qualified with a B.SC. Food Technology from UCC and later went on to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Ailish comes from a farming background, works on the family farm and is extremely passionate about the farming industry. Through her interaction with farmers over the last few years she has identified that a need exists to further look at the whole area of animal health and how this is managed.

Ailish objective is to work with farmers & industry to examine how best utilise the surveillance schemes which exist, question if further testing is necessary and address how to overcome barriers to resistance. She plans to travel to Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, UK and USA to investigate further.

Promote Adoption of Milk Surveillance Schemes & Identify Decision Support Tools to Enable Farmers to Become More Proactive in Managing Herd

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Karina grew up on a sheep and suckler farm in Co. Wicklow. Married to Denis, they have two children, Niamh and Conor. Karina graduated with a BAgrSc in 2001 and completed her PhD in animal nutrition in 2005, both from UCD. She is currently Associate Professor of dairy production in UCD and coordinates the UCD/Teagasc degree programmes in Dairy Business and the Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management. She worked as an animal nutritionist with Brett Brothers in Kilkenny for two years before returning to UCD. Karina was a member of the Teagasc Authority 2013-2018 and was also President of the Agricultural Science Association in 2011/12.

She passionately believes that research, and investment in research, is critically important for the continued growth of the agri-food sector in Ireland. Research is important, not only a driver of innovation, but to ensure that we can be proactive, rather than reactive, with evidence-based responses for consumers of Irish produce on important issues as required. Topical issues at present include the impact of agriculture on the environment, animal welfare, human health concerns etc. However, there may be other issues that are not receiving sufficient attention currently and may become key issues for consumers in the coming years.

It is of interest to know where research funds are being focussed in other significant agri-food countries and major food companies, to learn more about contributions of private industry internationally to research and development and how private industry interacts with public funding bodies in other countries to ensure the best independent research is available to farmers and the wider industry. During her Nuffield, Karina plans to travel to China, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand to address her study topic.

Karina was on the Nuffield Board of Directors from 2020-2022 as New Scholar Director.

Future-proofing the Irish agri-food sector through robust research

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