Teagasc appoints new manager for Offaly region
Agriculture and food development authority Teagasc has announced the appointment of Sandra Hayes as Regional Advisory Manager in its Offaly, Laois and Kildare advisory region.
The appointment was approved at a Teagasc Authority meeting earlier today (Wednesday).
Sandra Hayes will lead the Teagasc team delivering advisory services to farmers and educational courses in the regional offices in counties Laois, Kildare and Offaly.
She graduated from University College Dublin with a Degree in Agricultural Science, with a major in animal and crop production, and currently co-ordinates the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Joint Programme based in the Kilkenny/Waterford advisory region.
Sandra is working closely with 11 dairy farmers in that programme, demonstrating best practices to a cohort of over 4,500 Tirlán suppliers across 12 counties.
Previously, she worked as a Business and Technology Dairy Advisor in county Tipperary, where she facilitated five dairy discussion groups. Before that she worked as Business and Technology Drystock advisor in the same region.
In her early career, Sandra was a REPS planner with Teagasc based in Laois, where she worked with farmers to develop environmental plans for their farms. Before joining Teagasc, she was manager of Mid Tipperary FRS, Ltd.
Head of the Teagasc Advisory Service, Thomas Curran congratulated Sandra on her appointment, saying: "I look forward to working with Sandra as part of the management team in the Advisory programme.
"She has a strong track record working for Teagasc over 24 years and will lead the delivery of both a strong technical and scheme support service in Laois, Kildare and Offaly, helping farmers to develop their farm businesses into the future."
Speaking following her appointment, Sandra Hayes said: "I want to work with the farmers in this region to produce quality food in an economic and environmentally sustainable way.
"I am really looking forward to taking on this management role in Teagasc and working closely with all the staff in the region to deliver an excellent service to farmers."