It seems somewhat ironic that as Tom Keane, marketing administrator of Agri Aware, extols the delights of a life in farming, the farmers themselves are marching in Dublin in a bid to highlight their problems.

There has been a 20 per cent drop in the numbers employed in farming in the past seven years with a lot of small farms being subsumed into larger holdings. Over half of all farmers are 50 years of age or older.

Sons of farmers are no longer automatically stepping into their fathers' wellies as the booming economy lures them away from the land. Meanwhile, the numbers of first-year entrants to agricultural colleges has dropped by about 50 per cent, according to Agri Aware.

Der Spiegel suggests Ireland might be better served by a team of landscape gardeners, who would look after the landscape in place of costly farmers.

Meanwhile, the price of land and increasing rationalisation means that buying a farm is well beyond the means of most young people. So, why would any young person, in particular those from a non-farming background, seriously consider a career as a farmer?

Keane says that, although there will be less opportunity to own farms, larger farms require highly skilled and motivated farmers. So, people from no-farming backgrounds have the same opportunity as those from farming backgrounds. Increasingly, farm managers need business skills, computer skills and good human resource management skills.

"Last year, the demand for farm managers was double the supply available," he says. And these people can command starting salaries in the region of £18,000 plus. This is more than most third-level graduates will earn in their first year after college.

However, there is a downside. The number of hours worked may be extremely long, according to Keane. On the plus side, he mentions the fact that you can be your own boss.

There are opportunities for farm management graduates in areas outside the traditional role on the land as food companies, machinery suppliers, plant and animal health companies, fertiliser suppliers and even banks, sell services to farmers.

Traditionally, the sons of farmers became farmers. This excluded not only the daughters of farmers but the sons and daughters of non-farmers. Today, more than 50 per cent of those pursuing agriculture courses are still the sons of farmers but Tom Keane says the situation is changing.

An increasing number of students are coming from urban or non-farming backgrounds while about 15 per cent of students are women.