Thousands of people turned out at the Tullamore Show, the biggest one-day agricultural event in the country.
The event took place on the outskirts of Tullamore, at the Butterfield Estate in Blueball, and was officially opened by Tánaiste Simon Harris.
He described the show as the heartbeat of rural Ireland and said that there are now 130 agricultural shows in Ireland.
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"What an incredible statistic to be able to say, and it's really showing the heartbeat and the lifeblood of rural and regional Ireland right across the country," he said.
Organisers expected in excess of 50,000 people to pass through the gates by the end of yesterday.
They also said the show surpassed all expectations with the number of entries to the event's competitions across the various sections exceeding 5,000.
The national livestock show is a chance to display pedigree cattle considered to be amongst the best in Europe as well as the best in horses, poultry and farm produce.
Emphasis of role of young farmers
This year, there was a strong emphasis on the role of young farmers in delivering sustainable change, with young farmers highlighting generational renewal, succession and youth-led innovation.
Christopher Cahill, a dairy farmer from Cavan, is in a shared farming partnership in Co Westmeath.
"In 2022 I started a dairy farm partnership with the landowner, so he owns the land and the facilities, and I own the stock, and we're in a share farming partnership," he explained.
"We're in our fourth year of that now and that has opened the door to me. It has given me a pathway into farming.
"I'm not directly from a farming background, so I suppose the idea of succession and pathways for young farmers to get into agriculture and get into farming, that don't come from directly from a farming background, is also something that we face in today's world."
The Farm Safety Live event which has been developed by FRS Co-Op, the Health and Safety Authority and FBD Insurance, in conjunction with the Tullamore Show, focused on chainsaw safety this year.
It follows a notable increase in requests for chainsaw training following the severe storm damage caused by Storm Éowyn earlier this year.
"You see, a farmer might be tempted to go and cut a tree that has fallen, but a tree that has fallen can be equally as dangerous as felling, because you don't know what it's like inside," said Jim Dockery, Health and Safety manager with FRS Co-Op.
"Some of them could be quite large, and with ash dieback," he said.
"So when you cut inside an inch or so, you may find that the centre is rotten, so I suppose the message I would have for farmers is not to attempt to cut large trees or fell large tree, that's a really specialised business," he added.
Concerns remain among farmers
The show took place against a backdrop of proposed CAP reforms which were announced by the EU Commission last month.
IFA President Francie Gorman said while the people are upbeat, there are still concerns among farmers.
"People are good form, the weather is good and there's 100,000 livestock farmers in this country and and most of them are here today but concerns around CAP proposals from the European Commission are real," he said.
"We need a CAP deal that's going to support that industry, and the concerns around Mercosur are absolutely huge as well," he said.
"We need our government to honour that commitment in the Programme for Government to work with like minded countries to ensure that that deal does not go ahead" he said.
Speaking in Tullamore, Mr Harris acknowledged the significant contribution agriculture makes to life in Ireland and said there are three big pieces of work to be done at European level.
"There's CAP, there's Mercosur and, of course, there's a nitrates derogation and we represent a country that is now the largest single contributor for head of capital to the EU budget, and that needs to be recognised," he said.
"In the weeks ahead, we will be continuing to build alliances at a European level to make sure that any future EU budget has a well funded and ring fenced Common Agricultural Policy.
"We cannot lose sight of the fact that agriculture is not a nice to have, it's not a nice to do, it is an essential part of the Irish economy and its essential part of the European economy.
"If the last number of of months in terms of turbulence, trade and tariffs have taught us anything, it's the fact that we now more than ever be supporting indigenous industry."
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers also attended the event and met farming organisations.
Those attending the event were urged to be patient as they left, as traffic was due to be heavy.
