Careers in Farming, Horticulture & Forestry

Sectors

Farming, Horticulture & Forestry

About

Farming continues to play a big role in Irish life, with forests growing in size plus a thriving gardening and landscaping sector there are many opportunities for those who enjoy active jobs where you are doing practical work out in the open air. Whether you are working on farms as a farm owner or farmhand, caring for our forests or smaller scale work in horticulture, where you can design landscapes or tend gardens.

Skills

sales & marketing, communication, teamwork, leadership, time management, adaptability, active listening, attention to detail, negotiation, education & training, decision making, data analysis & statistics, one to one counselling, persuasion, developing relationships,

Key Facts

18,500

family dairy farms in Ireland

Enterprise Ireland, Dairy and Ingredients

11,000

involved in growing tillage crops in Ireland

Food Wise 2025

3,500

employed in mushroom growing

Teagasc, Mushrooms

12,000

directly employed in forestry

Forest Statistics - Ireland 2017

Labour Market Information

There were 111,700 working in agriculture at the end of 2017, 5.0% of national employment. The vast majority (95%) of this employment was in the core agriculture activities of crop and animal production. Forestry, fishing and other agriculture activities made up the remaining 5%. There was very little change in the number employed in Agriculture between 2016 and 2017.

In this Sector...

Agriculture

Our farms make up a major source of economic activity and are the focus of rural life. There are two primary types of farming in Ireland, tillage farming and dairy farming.

Horticulture

As a horticulturist you may work with the growing of food such as fruits, berries, nuts and vegetables, decorative features such as flowers and shrubs or practical features such as sporting grounds.

Forestry

Horticulturalists and forestry workers tend to complex woodland ecosystems. Hauliers, log buyers, and sawmill workers keep the timber supply chain moving.

Landscaping

Landscapers craft land, with a focus on how it looks. This can mean shaping the layout and appearance of the features in a park, garden or other green space and then maintaining the space.