Tipperary plays host to Macra's annual conference this weekend

Macra's Annual Conference, better known as “The Rally”, will be held in the Ballykisteen Golf Hotel and will take place from October 29th-30th.

The Rally has always attracted thousands of Macra members from all over the country, and although there has been a two-year hiatus, they are back with a bang this year. With people participating in farm walks, various competitions, and this year’s Macra’s first-ever Pride Colour Run, it is a jam-packed weekend with people also enjoying live music and entertainment and, of course, attending the annual young farmer's conference.

Special guests William Ryan, Chair of Tipperary Co-Operative and John Daly, CEO of Tipperary Co-Operative, were among those in attendance at the recent launch as they were delighted to announce them as the main sponsors of this year’s event.

The Rally offers a fantastic opportunity for North Tipperary Macra to showcase the diverse activities on offer and for members nationwide to reunite. There will be many activities over the weekend, including Macra’s Club of the Year and Best New Member competition, which is sponsored by National Broadband Ireland, as well as Macra’s first-ever Pride Colour Run which will be happening on Sunday, October 30th on the Racecourse in front of the hotel.

A dairy farm tour on John Crowe’s farm in Tipperary and a calf to beef farm tour on JP Hammersly’s farm in Tipperary will be offered on Saturday October 29th. These tours are free for macra members, but pre-registration is required and can be done on the Macra Skillnet website (macraskillnet.ie).

Macra’s young farmer’s conference will also be held with discussions surrounding the headline topic “Food Supply and Securing Our Future”. The conference will have key speakers in the agricultural industry including, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, Colm Markey MEP, Amy Forde from the Irish Farmers Journal, Stan Lalor from Teagasc, Gillian Willis from Bord Bia, along with many more.

Other weekend events will include a Traffic Light themed fancy dress party, the Irish Farmers Journal Know Your Ag Quiz and a banquet dinner on Sunday night to round off the weekend.

For more information, on the event, check out the Macra-Annual-Conference-Rally on Facebook or Instagram along with all official Macra social media - @macranafeirme.