Farming isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life. While there is very often the belief that a son or daughter will take over the farm business, no communication or discussions around succession or inheritance actually takes place on many family farms. The conversation itself is often a difficult one to initiate, and for a young farmer to initiate it requires considerable courage and a clear sense of purpose.
It’s not about a sense of entitlement, it’s about getting clarity and avoiding potential uncertainty relating to the future of the farm business and your role in it. It’s about preserving family relationships too and importantly, giving you the opportunity to truly assess whether or not you really want to pursue this route into farming.
However, additional obligations may be placed on you as future successor. In developing your plan of action, don’t think about just the stocking densities or varieties of crops you will have, but the skillset that you will need to succeed. Remember too that financial management and cost control are as important to farm sustainability as technical farm management.
Useful tips when starting out in farming
The agri-sector needs young, well-educated people to provide vibrancy and fresh thinking to aid industry progression, but entry isn’t always easy, particularly for those who don’t inherit a farm.
Here we offer advice to aspiring young farmers in setting up a new farm enterprise or starting out in farming:
It’s up to you to identify the right time for your situation and to seize the opportunity when it does arrive. Now is the time to develop your resources. Remember you are in control of your future, take control of it.
For more information on starting out in farming you might find useful tips in an article with two young progressive farmers in AIB Agri Matters on www.aib.ie/farming.