Tom Moloney from Thurles, Co. Tipperary explains why education is the key to a sustainable career in the ag industry and why he has gone on to complete a master's.
"I knew the family farm would not be able to work in the future. It is not sustainable as a career, so it was important for me to get an education." SETU Graduate, Tom Moloney
Farming background
We have suckler cows at home – about 20 or so. We also buy dry stock as well so it’s a small farm. That’s one of the main reasons why I chose the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Agricultural Science at SETU because I knew the family farm would not be able to work in the future. It is not sustainable as a career, so it was important for me to get an education and go into a bigger industry. So, to make that happen I am currently doing a Master's in Wildlife Conservation and Management. In the future, I hope to work with something like the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) within agriculture.
Kildalton College
I chose to come to SETU because a friend of mine had come the year before me and he also studied Agricultural Science, luckily, I had the benefit of getting primary information about the course and not just online. He explained in detail the modules and the standard of the labs which is very good, also SETU has a great benefit in having Kildalton close by which adds to the practical side of the course.
Easily relatable
It was great craic! Lovely people inside and outside of the college in the city of Waterford itself. Another thing I loved about Ag Science is you could very easily relate to the people in the course as they all came from similar backgrounds as myself creating a very comfortable feeling throughout the class. The end goal was also very similar meaning we were all a great help to one another.
Do your research
First of all, do your research and make sure the course is the right decision for you. There is a broad field of work you can go into afterwards as well so put the work in and the options will be endless for you when you finish. I made the mistake of taking Environmental Science as my first choice but after realising it was not for me I changed to Ag Science and haven’t looked back since.
