The number of young, trained farmers applying for Stamp Duty Relief on agricultural land dropped by 37% between the years 2010 and 2016, according to the most recent Revenue figures.

However, the statistics suggest that the young farmers remaining or entering farming are keen to drive the production of their farm enterprises, with a 39% increase in young, trained farmers applying to Revenue for stock relief, which collectively saved them €1.4m in tax in 2015.

The two dairy-driven counties Cork and Tipperary together have just over a quarter of the share of young farmers’ Stamp Duty applications for exemptions on land transfers in 2016.

The findings indicate that young farmers are keen to expand and build herds in traditionally dairy focussed regions in a post-quota era.

The west

In the west of Ireland, Galway had the highest number of young farmers applying for Stamp Duty Relief, with a 6.5% share of applications.

The average farm income in Tipperary is €31,283, compared with €15,397 in Galway, and the counties with the lowest number of applications included Louth, Dublin, Leitrim and Longford.

Farmers between the ages of 21 and 40 represented 15% of the 132,897 farmers who paid tax in 2015. The percentage of young farmers between 21 and 40 paying tax does not fluctuate through the years, however there was a significant 37% jump in 2015 in the number of farmers between 16 and 20 year of age paying tax.

While the influx of an additional 2,371 farmers on the youngest tax bracket may seem like a healthy indicator for the future of farming, there are only 6,474 farmers in that age category and this will have a smaller impact once it’s absorbed into the larger categories.

The lion’s share of tax is still paid by farmers between 51 and 70, with their numbers making up almost a third of tax contributions.

There were over 42,000 farmers in this age bracket and those figures have been steadily increasing between the years 2013 and 2015, which is a grave indicator for the potential of generational renewal when considered with the decrease in young farmers applying for Stamp Duty Relief on land transfers.

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