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The number of Leaving Cert students selecting agriculture as their first preference for Level 8 courses is down by 16%.
Round one offers for agriculture courses are also down 11%, according to the Central Applications Office (CAO).
The CAO points required to study agricultural science for Level 8 courses have dropped across the board, with the entry requirement for University College Cork (UCC) set at 446 points this year compared with 496 in 2023.
University of Galway (NUIG) has dropped to 409, University College Dublin (UCD) stayed the same at 400 and South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford has dropped to 379.
For the Level 6/7 courses, agriculture was down 15% in first round offers and 19% as a first-choice preference from last year.
Veterinary
There was a decline in the number of students selecting veterinary as their first preference this year by 11%, while the round one offers also declined by 11%.
However, the CAO points required for undergraduate entry to veterinary medicine in UCD still remains high for 2024 at 589, with not everyone achieving these results being offered a place.
The points for veterinary nursing in UCD went down to 499 points required this year, compared with 518 in 2023.
Veterinary Level 6/7 remained the same for round one offers, but declined by 6% as a first preference.
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