Longford woman's love of animals inspired her to forge successful agri-food sector career

Embracing being a practical learner and having a strong work ethic has been key for Aoife Feeney, a Sustainability Manager at Bord Bia, who has forged a successful career.

The 32-year-old, from Lisduff, Longford, did not live on a farm for long while growing up, but she immersed herself in animals and agriculture from a young age.

Dad Alec, who was 'not a fan of farming', had a small beef farm when she was very young but while struggling with a shoulder problem and with a desire to move closer to his native Moydow he sold the farm when she was two.

Aoife, the youngest of five children, believes her passion for the sector comes from time spent on her grandparents' suckler farm in county Roscommon.

"My mum Kathleen is from Keadue and her folks had a suckler farm, and my cousins' still run that and I'm very close to them, but my love of animals and my interest in agriculture probably came from there," she said. "Since I was five I wanted to be a vet and it was more a love of animals than farming at the beginning and I wanted to do veterinary science."

Aoife was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was just three years old.

It did not have a significant adverse impact on her until she was 16 and she suffered flare ups, which affected her during her Leaving Cert year.

However, that impacted her decision to study animal science instead of veterinary, which she is now thankful for.

Aoife obtained a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science majoring in Animal Science in 2015 and later a master’s degree in Agricultural Extension, both from University College Dublin.

Her first job was as a Farm Sustainability Lead with Farm Relief Services (FRS) and later the Carbery Group in West Cork for over seven years in total with a focus on water quality, milk quality, farmer welfare and with 1,200 milk suppliers.

"It was absolutely brilliant, I learnt more in that job I'd say than I would have in another four years in college."

Aoife was one of only four Irish people awarded the Nuffield Scholarship in 2022 and she travelled around the world identifying key methods to improve water quality.

She also worked as an Agricultural Policy Officer for the Netherlands Embassy in Dublin from 2022 to 2024, where she analysed European policies that both countries had to abide by.

Asked about the key moments that led her to her current role, Aoife said she was not a natural academic but when she 'got into the working world, everything clicked' for her.

"I realised then 'I'm a practical learner', I learn on the job rather than just reading books."

"That realisation came during the first few months working, I knew I could do better than I'd done in the previous few months and I said, you know, I'm going to work hard.

"And dad once said, you know, the harder you work, the luckier you get and he wasn't wrong.

"So that was probably the first turning point of that realisation of, you know, that college isn't the be all and end all.

"And your results don't really matter, but your work ethic does and being willing to learn, being adaptable, being resilient in your career is far more important."

Aoife has enjoyed working as a Sustainability Manager at Bord Bia since the beginning of this year and she is focused on developing the quality assurance schemes at farm level to meet market requirements.

"It's all trying to underpin the good work that farmers are already doing and ensuring high quality standards for our food, and an assurance that production systems have been checked right through the supply chain."

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