Agriculture, animal and plant resources

There are many career opportunities for graduates in Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture industry, which employs over 150,000 people and accounts for around 9 per cent of total direct employment.

In the Republic of Ireland, farmers make up almost 7 per cent of the workforce and the agri-food sector accounts for almost 10 per cent of employment.

In traditional farming, self employment is common. However, there are a host of careers in agricultural-related services and businesses. These include:

• Animal and plant research
• Agribusiness management and sales
• Commodity broking
• Agricultural journalists
• Agriscience research
• Parks, recreation and tourism
• Wildlife
• Lecturing.

Other areas of work that graduates should consider include aquaculture, horticulture and forestry.