Basic Function:

The appointed research officer will join the Agricultural Economics & Farm Surveys Department within Teagasc and will work on the AgNav project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.  Teagasc, Bord Bia and ICBF are collaborating to create AgNav, a farmer-centric sustainability platform which utilises the three agencies’ collective knowledge, data, support tools and other resources, to enable delivery against Climate Action Plan targets for the agri sector. Teagasc is seeking to recruit a contract research officer to work of the development of the economic modelling component of AgNav.  The successful candidate will be responsible for modelling economic returns to different agricultural systems by using data contained with the AgNav platform in conjunction with data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey.  This will then form the basis of cost-effectiveness assessment of a range of different greenhouse gas based mitigation measures.  This position offers a significant opportunity to support and accelerate the development of the AgNav platform working across the research and Knowledge Transfer directorate of Teagasc.

Background:

Teagasc is one of the key actors in facilitating the sustainable development of the Irish agricultural sector as set out in Food Vision 2030. The vision aims to position Ireland as a world leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade, delivering benefits for the Irish agri-food sector, society and environment. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act commits agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 25% by 2030 based on 2018 levels. In response to targets set in the Water Framework Directive the Irish government has also published a Water Action Plan to improve water quality and resort aquatic ecosystems. In that context there is a need to increase adoption of measures at farm level to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and nutrient loss, and increase carbon sequestration. Developing bespoke farm action plans will provide a pathway for the sustainable development of farming systems in Ireland which can be individually scaled to achieve national targets.

The AgNav platform utilises the collective knowledge of Teagasc, Bord Bia and ICBF to provide data, decision-making support tools, and guidance to farmers, on one consolidated online platform. Data integration allows the streamlining of data collection to conduct baseline assessments of individual farm. This structure will help reduce administrative burden on farmers, improve quality of assessments, while generating farm specific plans to improve their environmental and economic sustainability.

The successful candidate will deliver on Teagasc commitments to the programme of work funded by DAFM. They will contribute to the day-to-day research in particular the further development of the economic component of the AgNav platform, data analysis, dissemination to a range of audiences, and take responsibility for milestones and deliverables.

Duties & Responsibilities specific to this project:

• Literature review of methodologies that estimate economic returns to agricultural production by linking farm level activity data to farm level economic databases.
• Development of an econometric based model to estimate economic returns across a range of different farm systems and enterprises.
• Validation of the modelling approach by calibrating against farms contained within the Teagasc National Farm Survey.
• Development of modelling infrastructure that can estimate the cost of implementation of a suite of relevant greenhouse gas-based mitigation measures.  This will facilitate cost-effective assessment of relevant mitigation measures.

Additional Duties & Responsibilities:

• To interpret research findings and prepare scientific and popular press publications.
• To disseminate research findings to a variety of audiences as appropriate.
• To assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.
• To actively participate in the annual business planning and Performance Management Development System (PMDS) processes.
• Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of themselves, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations. This includes full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement.
• Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

* This job specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive.  It will be reviewed from time to time with the post holder.

 Note:  The ‘essential’ qualifications, knowledge, skills and behavioural competencies outlined above are ‘must-have’ which will be used in the selection process.

Note:  Alternative location(s) may be considered solely at the discretion of Teagasc management.