We have seen the two sides of Teagasc on display over the past week. On the positive side, the deep relationship that the organisation has with farmers on the ground was clearly evident at both Sheep 2015, held in Teagasc Athenry at the weekend, and the Crops & Spraying event held in Teagasc Oak Park on Wednesday.

Few countries could mirror the level of independent advice given to farmers at these successful and well-supported events.

Unfortunately, this positivity was in no way reflected last Monday at the launch of the Teagasc Advisory Strategy 2015-2020, aptly described by one member of Teagasc management as a “cry for help”.

Yes, Teagasc has been hit hard by the staff moratorium but its overall budget has largely been protected over the course of the recession, especially in the context of the cuts that we have seen taking place at farm level.

The board of Teagasc needs to give senior management the ability to target this budget at key areas and prioritise resources at delivering key services, with advisory clearly being one of them.