An expert on agricultural legal matters has said conditions faced by women in farming are changing.
However the main worry for farm families is a spouse, particularly a woman, can often have no visibility on the farm, Aisling Meehan told RTÉ's Countrywide.
Their name is not name on a herd number, they have no farm partnership involvement and in many cases their name is not on the legal title of the farm, she said.
This is not always the intention and it ties in to the tax code set up for the land to be put in the husband's name, Ms Meehan said.
At the moment there are additional costs, time and effort required to change the name, but since 2015 the agri-taxation review has been looking to change that.
Speaking ahead of the National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture conference on 1 February in Portlaoise, Ms Meehan said the idea behind the conference is to give women the recognition they deserve on Irish farms at a time when there is an appetite there on a policy level.
She said that the policy has an unintended barrier to female participation, as well as the existing culture and human aspects of women on farms.
She spoke about the carrot-and-stick approach, in terms of encouraging the younger generation into farming also, but up to now land hand to be transferred over before the adult child turned 35.
There are strong initiatives in legislative reform looking at increased incentives for female farmers such as those age 40 years or over, she said.
"By having a woman in her 40s recognised in a registered farm partnership it qualifies extra incentives from a grant point of view," she said, adding that it gives more involvement and gives the partner - usually a woman - a joint bank account with access to funds.
The culture of farms going to a son is changing but it will take time, she added.
There are also some fantastic female role models out there, adding that there is a woman-only discussion group to network and discuss farming issues.
She said that having a safe space to share is key, but more visibility is needed to be stronger on the playing field of agriculture.
