Baden steps down, Liam steps up

When Baden Powell stepped up to become IFA chairperson four years ago, he knew he had big boots to fill. His immediate predecessor in the role, Imelda Walsh, had shattered all sorts of glass ceilings during her four year tenure, trailblazing her way to become the first woman to lead the organisation before shrewdly navigating a series of existential challenges which included Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ongoing saga that is CAP reform.

On the one hand Baden was seeking to build on Imelda’s good work, but like any new leader the Templederry man - an industrious beef farmer with an entrepreneurial streak and a passion for breeding horses - also wanted to stamp his own imprint on the role. Candid and unassuming, he says he had no real experience at the outset. He hadn’t been building up to it, nor did he have any explicit objectives in mind, but what he did have was a general competence honed by decades in the agricultural, equine, and energy sectors.

“I had absolutely no goals personally to champion anything, so I just dealt with things as they came up,” he says. “And with that approach, I kind of grew into the role then. I developed my own style, because I didn’t really have any method. And in the end I was glad about that.”

At a packed AGM last Thursday night in the Abbey Court - which stretched for over three hours and included an address by IFA National President Francie Gorman - Baden closed the curtain on his chapter as chairperson. It was a rewarding four years, he says, a period of time marked by various shifts in the agricultural landscape but none so profound that they could not be overcome. In some instances he feels he was fortunate. He remarks that there was never really a “bad price” within his four years, although he notes that milk prices have now dropped.

“When people aren’t getting good prices, they then start to get disgruntled. I didn’t have the constant grief from people over, say, beef prices or anything like that,” he says.

That may be so, but being a regional chief of an organisation as vast and intricate as the IFA brings with it its pitfalls and pressures.

“There are times when it gets pressurised,” he notes. ”And there are times when people give you grief and then you really feel the pressure. That’s part of the job. But I learned to deal with that a bit better as time went on.”

'Letting their characters grow'

He started out in the role with little professional help and while that was at times a hindrance, it also allowed him to develop that personalised style of which he speaks.

The most fulfilling aspect of the job, in his experience, was cultivating the team around him and allowing those figures to blossom.

“I enjoyed developing the officers that we had within the organisation, the officers that were around me - be it the chair of beef, or the chair of sheep, or the chair of dairy. What I loved doing was letting their characters grow,” he says.

Because of that process, he thinks there are “four or five potential future chairs of the organisation” in the pipeline, which provides the association with a degree of future security. Against that, Baden openly acknowledges that attracting more young people was challenging, although he notes that the incoming president, Toomevara’s Liam Coffey, has promised to tackle that issue head-on as well.

Asked whether there was an element of his tenure that he was particularly proud of, he highlights the splash-plate campaign, a movement spearheaded by North Tipp IFA to permit farmers to utilise a certain piece of equipment known as a “splash plate” when spreading slurry on hilly ground. Fundamentally, the issue revolved around safety, and Baden brought the matter directly to the then Taoiseach and Tánaiste prior to the 2024 general election.

A solution was ultimately put forward, and Baden was proud of the collective efforts of those involved.

“We got that across the line, as a small community really - based in the hills from Templederry to Borrisoleigh up to Upperchurch,” he says.

He speaks effusively of Francie Gorman, whom he describes as “humble and knowledgeable”, and highlights one of the core messages which the IFA national president delivered last Thursday night - the importance of “intergenerational renewal.” In other words, ensuring the farm is “profitable for the next generation.” That, Baden agrees, is the core philosophy which should drive both farmers and agricultural policy-makers.

Bord Bia issue

The man who has just assumed Baden’s mantle, the aforementioned Liam Coffey, is good-natured but ambitious. Speaking the morning after his election, he has a relaxed, cheerful tone, but he is under no illusions in terms of the scale of the job he is now facing. The Bord Bia issue is the priority at the moment, he emphasises, but getting farmers on board to join the protest in Dublin is difficult, primarily because this is an exceptionally busy time of year for farmers. But he says that “persistence pays off” and they have to remain steadfast.

On the subject of young people in farming, Liam believes that “they are out there, and it’s just about tapping into them.

” He was also heartened, and indeed touched, by the display of solidarity shown by farmers at the tractor-run some weeks ago for 18 year-old Drom man and Kildalton Agricultural College student Liam Brereton, who suffered severe injuries in a road accident and is currently in recovery. The support reflected the spirit of the farming community, he says.

Like Baden in 2022, Liam too has big boots to fill, but he is well-equipped to fill them.

Liam Brereton GoFundMe Appeal

You can support Liam Brereton’s recovery at his GoFundMe page online. www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-liam-brereton-facing-lifechanging-injuries