‘It felt silly to say I wanted to be a farmer living in the city’

In 2022, Teagasc developed five land-based apprenticeships, providing another pathway for people to enter the sector. The four apprenticeships available in the land-based sector that require a Leaving Certificate for entry are;

• Sportsturf technician (Higher Certificate Level 6) two years

• Horticulturist (Higher Certificate Level 6) two years

• Assistant stud manager (Ordinary Level 7 Bachelor Degree) three years

• Farm technician (Higher Certificate Level 6) two years

The farm manager apprenticeship (Ordinary Level 7 Bachelor Degree) requires an advanced level 6 certification in agriculture or completion of the farm technician apprenticeship.

The apprenticeship programmes are not just aimed at students, anyone can apply once they meet the eligibility criteria including people currently working in the industry who want to gain a formal qualification.

Farmers or business owners can also register to have an apprentice and become a SOLAS-approved employer. For many farmers this could provide a solution to labour shortages currently facing the sector.

There are currently 19 farm technician apprentices and 72 SOLAS approved employers. The farm manager apprenticeship has 18 apprentices and 98 registered employers. There are a large number of host farmers looking to take on employees.

Sinéad O’Donnell – farm technician apprenticeship

Sinéad O’Donnell is participating in a farm technician apprenticeship in Clonakilty, while working on a dairy farm in Carrigrohane Co Cork.

Coming from Cork city, Sinéad isn’t from a farming background and doesn’t know where her interest in agriculture came from but her mum worked in science within the food sector which made her aware of food production and agriculture from a young age.

“I wanted to do something physical after school because college wasn’t the way to go for me. I wouldn’t be able to sit down for 20 hours a week and study. I wanted something to do with animals in the fresh air.

“It was always in the back of my mind that maybe something with agriculture or animals, but it felt silly to say I wanted to be a farmer as I had no family connection to a farm. I thought there would never be an opportunity for me to pursue it,” says Sinéad.

While in fifth year at Coláiste an Chroí Naofa, Carraig na bhFear, Teagasc visited the school and spoke about the imminent development of the land-based apprenticeships. Interested in this pathway, Sinéad later got a job after school on Dave Mullins’s farm close to home in Ballincrokig.

After a year working on the farm, she started her apprenticeship in September of 2023 with Colm O’Leary, a dairy farmer on the list of employers on solas.ie. based at Woodside, Carrigrohane.

During the Leaving Cert, I was worried about what people were going to say and do. But no one should impact your decision bar yourself, as it’s your life

Now in her fourth block release of the apprenticeship, Sinéad is enjoying the practical aspect along with the three days or a week every month in Clonakilty College, which she gets paid for. The rest of her time is spent working on the farm with Colm.

“My mum made me fill out my CAO, I didn’t want to fill it out as I couldn’t have cared less.

“I had sports science as my first choice followed by agricultural science at University College Cork. I’m not an academic.

“Once I got the offer after my Leaving Cert, I immediately declined it as I knew the apprenticeships were being developed,” says Sinéad.

Learning in a real-life practical environment has made it so much easier for Sinéad to expand her knowledge and understanding of agriculture. Her favourite time of the year on the farm is the calving season.

“I always say I’m a doer, not a thinker. I wouldn’t be able to figure out, how to input what I know, into the real world and real-life situations,” she says.

For anyone currently looking at courses and career options Sinéad has the following advice;

“During the Leaving Cert, I was worried about what people were going to say and do. But no one should impact your decision bar yourself, as it’s your life.”

Application process

To be eligible for the farm technician apprenticeship, an applicant must have the following;

• Be directly employed by a SOLAS approved employer.

• Have achieved a pass in the Leaving Certificate Established (NFQ Level 5) or Vocational Programme (NFQ Level 5), obtaining a minimum grade P6/H7 in Maths or a F2 in Foundation Maths, and O6/H7 in four other subjects or

• A Major QQI Level 5 (or higher

Award or

• Level 6 Specific Purpose in Farming

programme or

• Anyone working in the agricultural sector, 18 years old/older with two full-time years of work experience in a land-based sector deemed acceptable by the employer and consortium. It would be subject to the validation of supporting evidence and/or assessment process.