Extensions role in a global world

Abstract

The rural countryside is changing pushed by the impacts of the EU and World policies. The big wheel of agricultural competitiveness grinds on, concentrating resources in the hands of fewer and fewer people, crushing small farmers and small businesses, threatening the environment and changing the countryside and a food production system that has made a useful contribution to society over decades. There is almost universal acceptance of this model of development and it has strong supporters among farming organisations, agribusinesses and the multinational firms creating technology and supplies for the agricultural industry. Extension services have made a significant contribution in supporting this model. Current moves towards extensification and concerns about the environment, animal welfare and food safety, are beginning to raise issues which challenge the above model. This paper outlines trends in farming and in farm household incomes in Ireland and examines those changes in the context of future competitiveness. It also highlights the dilemma for extension services in trying on the one hand to deliver a commercial service for which it gets paid and on the other a development service relying on public good moneys.