The Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) provide farm advice to 55,000 Irish farmer clients.  They
have 270 professional advisors including 11 forestry consultants with a network of 161 offices throughout
Ireland.  The ACA will hold a members roadshow to help the private agricultural advisory community
prepare for the next Common Agricultural Policy reform that is underway at present.  The CAP reform
contains a specific objective to promote employment, growth, social inclusion and local development in
rural areas, including bio-economy and sustainable forestry.  It also contains a cross-cutting objective of
modernising the agri-food sector by the fostering and sharing of knowledge, innovation and digitalisation
in agriculture and rural areas and encouraging their uptake.  At the ACA roadshow during Bioeconomy
Ireland Week 2020 Patrick Barrett, Agricultural Inspector, Department of Agriculture, Food and the
Marine with responsibilities in relation to bioeconomy, AKIS & Agri-Digitalisation will present an overview
on Agri-digitalisation, the circular bioeconomy and the role of Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation
Systems (AKIS) in a modern farming era to ACA members.