PR - Dairy Farmer Clients’ Perceptions Of The Teagasc Advisory Service

The Teagasc advisory service plays a crucial role as change agent at farm level. One of the challenges facing the organisation is to define how it will best help commercial dairy farmers in the future. Reform of the milk quota system plus trade liberalisation is likely to result in fewer dairy farmers in the future; those that do remain will, on average, be farming on a larger scale. A telephone survey was conducted of a representative sample of Teagasc dairy farmer clients in the summer of 2006. The purpose of the survey was to investigate the perceptions regarding the Teagasc advisory service amongst its dairy farmer clients and to determine the nature of the relationship, if any, between the measured perceptions and the clients overall satisfaction rating for the advisory service. 52 per cent of respondents could be described as ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ towards the advisory service based on a composite index formed from the responses to the perceptions statements used. 72 per cent of respondents indicated that they were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the Teagasc advisory service. The results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the current advisory service amongst dairy farmers in general; but a lower level of satisfaction amongst larger dairy farmers and those in counties Kerry, Limerick, Cork and Tipperary (the key dairying areas in the Republic of Ireland).