Agriland Media team continues to expand with new editorial appointments
Agriland Media continues to expand and has recently appointed a number of key staff.
Bernie Commins has joined the Agriland team as a senior news journalist.
She holds a BSc. Communications – Journalism from Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
Bernie has worked extensively in the world of agri-media for more than 15 years, having edited and reported for several industry publications.
In her career to date, she has already accumulated several awards and nominations for her work, which covered areas such as farm safety, rural life and veterinary medicine.
She is a native of south Tipperary and is acutely aware of the issues affecting rural life having spent her formative years on her uncle’s dairy farm.
Bernie’s diverse range of skills comes from her experience with newspapers and magazines and she will join a rapidly growing newsteam at a time when major developments are affecting the future of farming in Ireland.
Digital sub-editor
Meanwhile, the team at Agriland Media is continuing to grow and expand its online offering and has appointed Michelle Martin as digital sub-editor.
Michelle is a native of Co. Meath and joins the Agriland Media team having spent time in New York working at a commercial start-up.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Dublin City University (DCU) and has also worked for some of Ireland’s well-known media brands.
Michelle is also completing a diploma in digital marketing and has worked as a local news reporter. A fun fact about Michelle is that she is also a dab hand at playing piano.
Her digital expertise and keen editorial eye will contribute to developing the Agriland platform even further.
Welcoming the appointments, managing director of Agriland Media, Cormac Farrelly, said: “We are delighted to bring someone of Bernie’s experience on board to enhance the exceptional team of editorial staff already working at Agriland Media.
“Equally Michelle’s contemporary and digitally-forward experience will be an asset to Agriland aiding us to continue to expand our offering of agricultural news, technical content and commentary to Irish farmers.”
AgriLand appoints new dairy specialist
AgriLand has appointed Brian McDonnell as its new dairy specialist.
Brian is from Raheny, Co. Dublin. He is a graduate of Dundalk IT, having completed an honours degree in Sustainable Agriculture.
He has worked on dairy and beef farms in both Ireland and the UK, including Teagasc Grange and a large-scale 650-cow dairy farm which also had a 1,200 animal youngstock-rearing farm in Scotland.
He has a keen interest in agriculture and particularly the dairy sector and in his spare time is active in local rugby and golf.
Brian joins the AgriLand team as the average net margin on dairy farms in 2021 is forecasted to decrease by 23% per hectare, according to Teagasc.Last week, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue told the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) that the UK is the single-most valuable market to Ireland accounting for 20% of the value of the country’s dairy exports.
Brian commented: “Brexit is a major challenge facing the Irish dairy sector. I look forward to reporting on the changing situation while ensuring that dairy farmers are kept up-to-date with relevant information.”
‘Latest Technical Developments’
Commenting on the appointment, managing director Cormac Farrelly said: “I’m delighted to welcome Brian to the expanding AgriLand team.
“He joins us at a time of great uncertainty for agriculture with Brexit just around the corner and he will add to the already extensive and relevant specialist technical information that AgriLand provides.”
Agriland Media appoints Justin Roberts as machinery specialist
Agriland Media is continuing its growth and expansion plans with another appointment to its editorial team. Justin Roberts has taken up the role of technical machinery specialist.
Justin studied at Welsh Agricultural College, Aberystwyth having first worked in both the feed and seed sectors of the industry.
He has two decades of experience in writing about farm machinery, both vintage and contemporary across several publications. As an author he has written two books, including the history of the Nordic tractor and now resides in Co. Tipperary.
Agriland Media continues to grow
The appointment of Justin Roberts to the technical specialist team at Agriland Media is continuing on the company’s plan to innovate and expand to meet the demand of the agricultural audience.
Managing director of Agriland Media, Cormac Farrelly said: “It’s fantastic to have someone of Justin’s experience and calibre join our fast-growing editorial team.
“He brings years of technical expertise to the role and has already established himself among the top commentators in the industry, having developed strong relationships with the movers and shakers in the machinery industry.”
AgriLand journalist nominated for awards for article on farming and painkillers
AgriLand news journalist Kathleen O’Sullivan has been nominated for two national awards for her work on mental health in the agriculture sector.
The Kerry native has been nominated in the ‘Special Interest’ category in the Headline Mental Health Media Awards (MHMA) 2020 for her article which appeared in several publications.
It was entitled: ‘Hooked on painkillers: farming’s hidden addiction’ and focused on the growing trend of farmers becoming dependent on pain medicine, particularly after farm accidents.
Kathleen has also received a nomination for the ‘Student Journalism Award’ which recognises work, undertaken by a student as part of a course at a third-level institution, which relates to mental ill health.
Studies at University of Limerick
Kathleen studied a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with Law at University of Limerick (UL), finishing her four-year degree during the Covid-19 lockdown.
She did her first internship at 18, after her first year in college, in a national newspaper – covering breaking news, crime, business and human-interest stories.
She also did a stint with her local newspaper – The Kerryman – working as a news and features writer.
As part of her final year project, which was the production of the Limerick Voice newspaper with her colleagues in UL, Kathleen established the first business and agriculture sections in the paper in several years, and was editor and the main writer of both, having identified the significant need to cover more rural areas and issues.
It was her research/investigative project on painkiller addictions being a hidden but significant factor in farm accidents that has resulted in her nomination in the MHMAs.
She also investigated the effect that the reporting of traumatic stories can have on journalists’ own mental health.
Kathleen joined the every-growing team at AgriLand earlier this year.
Mental Health Media Awards
Established over a decade ago and relaunched in 2019, the MHMAs recognise excellence in media coverage of mental health issues.
They reflect the challenges, lived experience and realities of people living with mental ill health.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on December 2, 2020.
New technical beef specialist joins Agriland Media team
Practical ‘hands-on’ experience
In addition to his knowledge and passion for Irish agriculture, Breifne also gained extensive international experience through time spent working on a 4,500-cow dairy farm in South Dakota in the US.
He has previously worked in the agri-news sector and more recently worked in cattle procurement in the Irish beef sector.
Managing director of Agriland Media, Cormac Farrelly, said: “We’re excited to have Breifne O’Brien join our team as a beef spcialist.
“He brings a significant amount of practical experience from the beef procurement sector to the role and will ensure that Agriland’s beef content remains the most relevant and up-to-date for farmers and those working in agribusiness.”
Expansion of Agriland Media
Breifne joins the beef team within Agriland Media at a time of significant expansion for the digital media company.
In recent weeks, the company has announced the creation of new jobs across a host of divisions.
The creation of new jobs follows a €1 million investment in the recent rebrand and major upgrade of the Agriland platform and commercial offering.
The latest recruitment drive by Ireland’s largest agricultural news publisher, will bring the staff headcount to more than 40.
With in excess of 3.5 million articles read each month, Agriland’s timely and relevant news and information is sourced by an experienced and dedicated team of journalists and specialist writers.
Agriland Media Group announces major investment
Agriland Media Group is continuing its ambitious expansion plans with the creation of new jobs within the digital media group.
The creation of new jobs follows a €1 million investment in the recent rebrand and major upgrade of the Agriland platform and commercial offering.
The latest recruitment drive by Ireland’s largest agricultural news publisher, will bring the staff headcount to more than 40.
With in excess of 3.5 million articles read each month, our timely and relevant news and information is sourced by an experienced and dedicated team of journalists and specialist writers.
Jobs on offer
The current vacancies within Agriland Media Group cover all areas, across several departments.
There are a number of roles available in the commercial division including an account manager based at the company’s head office in Dublin and a sales development representative covering Northern Ireland.
In order to keep pace with the fast-growing nature of digital media, Agriland Media is also recruiting for a social media specialist, based at its headquarters in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
There are also a number of editorial roles to be filled for experienced or aspiring journalists across news, beef, tillage and other areas, as these sectors grow.
Agriland Media Group also runs an invaluable internship programme, which will resume from June 2021. It provides an opportunity for interns to garner field experience in the digital / journalism / agricultural industry with positive prospects thereafter.
Anyone interested in applying for an editorial role or an internship position can send a cover letter and CV to [email protected].
Covid-19 impact
While Covid-19 has certainly proved challenging throughout 2020 and into 2021 for many sectors of the economy, agriculture has kept the food supply chain going and Agriland has stayed on top of agri-news.
The shift towards remote working and an increased emphasis on online platforms has resulted in an exceptionally positive year for the company and has resulted in the progression of its growth plans.
Managing director of Agriland Media, Cormac Farrelly said: “We’re delighted to be in the position we are in, after a challenging year for many. Agriland Media has experienced a phenomenal 12 months in terms of growth and evolution.
“As a result of this growth, we are now in a position to expand the team even further across a range of functions within the business, bringing the full-time staff number to more than 40.
“Agriland prides itself on providing up-to-date, relevant information to farmers and the agri-business sector in an easy, accessible way, simply with the touch of a finger and our ambition is to continue to grow our offering over the short to long-term.”
Agriland Media Group
Agriland Media Group, which was established in 2013, is Ireland’s largest and fastest-growing digital publisher in the agricultural sector.
The media group incorporates the following:
This latest recruitment drive follows several recent high-profile appointments to the company, including Justin Roberts as machinery specialist and Bernie Commins as senior news journalist.