Bord Bia to expand Farmer Forum engagement with 'roadshows'
Bord Bia has said it will expand engagement in its Farmer Forum initiative due to "strong interest".
The Farmer Forum was set up in the wake of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) protests over the Bord Bia chairperson Larry Murrin earlier in the year.
Bord Bia said the Farmer Forum has received a significant number of applications from farmers and growers wishing to participate in the new initiative.
In response to the level of interest, the Irish food board said it is revising its approach to "ensure that all members who applied to participate in the Farmer Forum can do so".
To accommodate all eligible applicants, the state body is set to run a Farmer Forum "regional roadshow" this autumn. These events will take place in addition to Bord Bia Farmer Forum assemblies.
The first Bord Bia Farmer Forum assembly will comprise 100 farmers and growers, who will meet in June, with further assemblies taking place later in the year.
An open call was issued by Bord Bia to all Quality Assured farmers and growers earlier this month, with over 600 applications received.
The Farmer Forum was established to "give farmers and growers a stronger voice in the organisation’s work and create structured, two-way engagement with Bord Bia scheme members".
Jim O’Toole, Bord Bia CEO, commented: “We appreciate the strong willingness among members to engage with Bord Bia. To allow for constructive discussion and feedback, the number of participants in the first assembly has been capped at 100.
"However, we are eager to accommodate the hundreds of farmers and growers who expressed an interest in being part of the forum.
"The roadshow events across the country will give all applicants the opportunity to participate and allow for the broadest possible representation of farmers and growers," O'Toole added.
The Irish food board said its Farmer Forum roadshow will complement and enhance the Farmer Forum assembly discussions.
All Quality Assured members who applied before the May 20 deadline can attend the roadshow events.
The 100 who have been invited to attend the first assembly were chosen by a lottery system, weighted to ensure a balanced and representative group of farm types, sizes, region, and gender.
Schemes with the largest numbers of members, e.g. beef, will have the largest number of members. A minimum of five representatives per enterprise was set for the smaller enterprises.
All applicants will be contacted from today (Thursday, May 28) with further information on the Bord Bia Farmer Forum and next steps.
