Grainne steps into top Teagasc advisory position in West Cork

DUNMANWAY woman Dr Grainne Hurley has been appointed Teagasc regional advisory manager in the West Cork Region. 

Dr Hurley will lead the Teagasc team delivering advisory services to farmers and educational courses in the regional offices in West Cork.

From a dairy farm, Grainne graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in agricultural science and went on to complete her PhD in Queens University Belfast as a Teagasc Walsh scholar. More recently she has completed a Teagasc certificate in business management from the UCD Michael Smurfit Business School.

She is currently working as a business and technology dairy advisor and is the co-ordinator of the Teagasc/Dairygold joint programme for the last four years. 

Working closely with the 10 monitor farmers, she has led the dissemination of technical information to milk suppliers in the catchment area. 

More recently, she has incorporated the new Signpost programme – Farmers for Climate Action – into the joint programme with Dairygold, to encourage farmers in the area to reduce their emissions, capture carbon, improve water quality and improve biodiversity.  

Earlier in her career, she joined the Teagasc advisory service in Kerry, based in Killarney as a dairy advisor. She then moved to work very successfully as a business and technology dairy advisor based in Clonakilty in West Cork. 

Dr Hurley said she was really looking forward to taking on the role. 

‘I will be working closely, both with the excellent team in West Cork, but also nationally, as the organisation develops new support services for farmers to meet the environmental challenges. 

‘We have a dynamic group of farmers in the region that produce high quality food from grass-based production systems and they are already embracing these challenges and adopting new technologies.’ 

Head of the Teagasc advisory service Thomas Curran congratulated Grainne Hurley on the position, previously held by him.

‘Grainne brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the leadership group in the Teagasc advisory service,’ he said. 

‘She has developed new and innovative farmer discussion groups, incorporating all the technologies and adopting the available IT systems to aid their farming enterprises. She has an excellent network built up with stakeholder organisations which will drive the collaborative approach to sectoral improvement in West Cork.’