The Agricultural Science Association Annual Conference once again attracted a huge attendance in Naas, County Kildare. ‘The Science of Sustainable Food Systems’ was the theme of this year’s conference and focussed on the solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing farming and food production.

Leading figures from the Irish and international agricultural industry took part in a range of panel discussions and presentations in front of over 300 attendees at the Killashee House Hotel.

ICOS EU Affairs and Communications Manager Damien O’Reilly moderated a panel discussion with Tirlan CEO Jim Bergin, Tara McCarthy Global Vice President of ESG with Alltech and Professor Doloros O’Riordan UCD Vice President for Global Engagement.

The panel debated the scale of the challenge facing the industry along with the developments taking place in terms of education, innovation and integration of initiatives to support sustainability across the industry.

The conference was held 24 hours after the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced that the EU Commission had made the decision to reduce the nitrates derogation from 250kg/N/ha.  The concerns of farmers was highlighted by attendees and addressed also by Jim Bergin. Following their session, Damien O’Reilly of ICOS spoke to Jim Bergin about the EU Commission cut to the Nitrates Derogation.