Eric Donald, press spokesperson for Teagasc, confirmed the closure to the Irish Farmers Journal on Friday. John Kelly, principal of Ballyhaise College in Co Cavan, met Teagasc management this week, when the decision was announced.

Kelly said it was a “logical decision” given the lack of use of the unit in research and education of Teagasc students.

“Even the pig students could not go on to the unit because of biosecurity issues,” he said.

“Only the general ag students were using it and even then there had been no investment in the unit for over 20 years.”

Kelly added that pig students, of which nationally there are on average 25 per year, could in future work with local pig farms instead. “There is a huge choice of pig farms in the local area; around 40% of the country’s breeding sows are in the greater Cavan area and much more investment has gone into these than went into the unit.”

Eric Donald reiterated how the unit is not used for research and said it is “not critical to the delivery of the Level 5 pig production course due to industry biosecurity protocols. It’s in need of significant investment and Teagasc can’t justify that level of investment in the facility.”

Donald said the priority at the moment is to increase investment in the number of staff in the sector. To this end, Teagasc will be taking a number of initiatives that will address several of the concerns raised by pig farmers and other stakeholders, including advertising for a contract adviser to join the Teagasc Pig Development Department and the recruitment of an additional permanent pigs adviser as soon as the Government moratorium on recruitment in the civil service is lifted.

Teagasc also aims to establish a pig farm manager’s course, accredited at Level 7, to begin early next year and to appoint a course coordinator for the manager’s course, who would also work to promote pig production as a career.

There are also plans to offer a dedicated pig module in Level 6 for the graduates of the Level 5 operatives course and a plan to offer a dedicated pig production course Level 5 in 2016 (subject to demand).

Ballyhaise is located 8km north of Cavan town on an estate of 220ha. The college farm consists of a 120-cow dairy herd, a 50-cow suckler herd, a 200-ewe sheep flock and 200 cattle of various types, with 100 finished every year. The farm includes 50ha of diverse woodlands.