Initially, we intended to run the Shared Passion Better Future series for 12 weeks, but it lasted six months. Between e-mails, letters, phone calls and talking to farmers, it was clear the issues we dealt with were striking home with our readers and people wanted more.
We know that the job is just started so we will revisit the issues next year, see what progress has been made to promote change and address the issues of land mobility and age structure in Irish farming.
This series is about introducing positive ideas to all those involved in farming and to promote a more profitable and secure future. Like any change we don’t expect a dramatic shift overnight.
Some people benefited directly from the series, e.g. the family featured last week who won the Succession Ireland competition. This was the catalyst for them to sit down together and iron out issues which had been ignored up until now, but were causing major friction in the family.
Anyone who used the articles to take action in their own situation also saw instant change.
Just as important are the long-term gains that can come from introducing new ideas, exploring where these have merit, and discussing both the positives and negatives.
Maybe a seed has been sown which, if cultivated by progressive thinking, a positive policy change or with the help of another person, can lead to a better farming outcome in the years to come.
It has been very easy to write about the topics covered in the Shared Passion Better Future series, as in all cases we have been promoting changes that benefit people in every aspect of farming, e.g.:
the benefits for farmers and land owners when long term leasing.succession planning, to ensure the whole family is clear on the future of the farm and where everyone stands.farm partnerships between younger and older farmers, or neighbours, resulting in increased scale and profit, reduced workload and the benefits of working with someone instead of alone.What has changed?
Even in the last six months there have been a number of positive changes. Macra’s appointment of Austin Finn as land mobility manager is a development which offers huge potential for both young and older farmers.
Already, he reports having identified over 30 farm owner operators in his three pilot areas who wish to work with a younger farmer to help secure their own future. The majority of these wish to stay farming themselves, but are looking to work with someone skilled and driven, who will improve the return from their farm and is willing to share the benefits as a result.
Austin wants to hear from more people interested in farming in collaboration. He needs continued support from all organisations to help him translate these interested parties into new collaborations, which people can see working, understand and then consider for themselves in time.
A new website www.landmobility.ie has been set up to promote the service.
The change in the recent budget to extend retirement relief to farmers who lease their land for up to seven years before disposal is welcome.
A review in farm taxation is currently under way, which must see incentives like tax exemption for long-term lease rental income retained.
This is an incentive that promotes both land mobility and gives income security to older farmers. More initiatives like that are needed.
Some form of sharemilking will happen in Ireland. Teagasc are looking to drive this. They are already looking at the scale of farms needed and the best way to split income and expenses to deliver a fair return to both sharemilker and land owner.
Sharemilking is part of the expansion package, but could work equally as well for a farmer looking to retire or to phase in a successor.
Scale is important, but the key message from the Moorepark open day this summer was that the top 10% of producers were making the same profit as the average dairy farmer with only half the cows.
This is a key part of sharemilking – incentivising excellent management and sharing the benefits.
I know a number of sharemilking operations where land owners are in arrangements with skilled dairy operators and profits are split.
Innovative people have created their own agreements.
For wider uptake the industry needs a simple, clear blueprint which would allow sharemilking to become a normal farming arrangement, benefiting both farm owners and young, ambitious, trained farmers.
What needs to change?
Over the course of the series we have come across a number of issues which are standing in the way of real change in how Irish farmers work together. The security the new CAP deal will bring, via entitlements being established, is very welcome.
The same deal also highlights the importance of collaborative farming as the Single Farm Payment, which so many farm families rely heavily on, will change in the years ahead. This will mean greater emphasis on what profit the farm can return commercially.
The new Department guidelines on partnerships are due out soon with welcome changes, but also potential problems; e.g. if companies can no longer operate as farm partnerships many family farms are ruled out of potential collaboration.
Creating a simple herd ownership structure which can clearly identify two herds of stock within the one farm is a must. Obviously, animal health biosecurity must not be compromised, but Ireland needs this structure.
People starting out in farming who can’t aspire to buy land can build wealth through stock; managing a farm where you own part of the herd also incentivises better performance.
While the young farmer top-up, as part of the new CAP deal, will support young farmers, policy that helps them access land in the first place can deliver a more promising opportunity.
Throughout the series we have highlighted that finding a better farming future is just as important for older farmers as it is for younger farmers.
Some sort of scheme to educate older farmers on retirement or collaboration options could be an important aspect in easing the fears of those without a farming successor. This would be a good use of money under rural development.
What can we change?
While there are plenty of people working on future changes and aspects that could be changed now, the bottom line is that there is a lot of initiatives already in place which we need to sell better.
We have received very few reader queries which required a policy change to deliver a positive solution.
With initiative, positive thinking and an open mind there are huge possibilities in farming in Ireland. In the series we featured a host of case studies that have made changes around the current system to deliver a better future for all involved.
How do we as an industry become more comfortable with these new ways of farming?
In some ways we have no choice as the commercial pressure on all farms in future years will increase with reductions to the Single Farm Payment, REPS finishing and increased volatility. At the same time increased global food demand offers the chance to earn a good living from land farmed profitably.
A change of mindset in Irish farming is developing. We can develop it ourselves and embrace the benefits, or let it be imposed on us. Our future is in our own hands.
A sincere thank you
We would like to sincerely thank all the individuals – farmers and others – who contributed to the Shared Passion Better Future series. During the series we wanted to focus on real life case studies to show how real farm families are dealing with real issues.
We thank those who shared their personal stories related to issues around land ownership, succession and partnerships so that others can benefit.
We look forward to returning to the Shared Passion Better Future series next year, to continue to promote change that can lead to a more positive farming future for all.
Initially, we intended to run the Shared Passion Better Future series for 12 weeks, but it lasted six months. Between e-mails, letters, phone calls and talking to farmers, it was clear the issues we dealt with were striking home with our readers and people wanted more.
We know that the job is just started so we will revisit the issues next year, see what progress has been made to promote change and address the issues of land mobility and age structure in Irish farming.
This series is about introducing positive ideas to all those involved in farming and to promote a more profitable and secure future. Like any change we don’t expect a dramatic shift overnight.
Some people benefited directly from the series, e.g. the family featured last week who won the Succession Ireland competition. This was the catalyst for them to sit down together and iron out issues which had been ignored up until now, but were causing major friction in the family.
Anyone who used the articles to take action in their own situation also saw instant change.
Just as important are the long-term gains that can come from introducing new ideas, exploring where these have merit, and discussing both the positives and negatives.
Maybe a seed has been sown which, if cultivated by progressive thinking, a positive policy change or with the help of another person, can lead to a better farming outcome in the years to come.
It has been very easy to write about the topics covered in the Shared Passion Better Future series, as in all cases we have been promoting changes that benefit people in every aspect of farming, e.g.:
the benefits for farmers and land owners when long term leasing.succession planning, to ensure the whole family is clear on the future of the farm and where everyone stands.farm partnerships between younger and older farmers, or neighbours, resulting in increased scale and profit, reduced workload and the benefits of working with someone instead of alone.What has changed?
Even in the last six months there have been a number of positive changes. Macra’s appointment of Austin Finn as land mobility manager is a development which offers huge potential for both young and older farmers.
Already, he reports having identified over 30 farm owner operators in his three pilot areas who wish to work with a younger farmer to help secure their own future. The majority of these wish to stay farming themselves, but are looking to work with someone skilled and driven, who will improve the return from their farm and is willing to share the benefits as a result.
Austin wants to hear from more people interested in farming in collaboration. He needs continued support from all organisations to help him translate these interested parties into new collaborations, which people can see working, understand and then consider for themselves in time.
A new website www.landmobility.ie has been set up to promote the service.
The change in the recent budget to extend retirement relief to farmers who lease their land for up to seven years before disposal is welcome.
A review in farm taxation is currently under way, which must see incentives like tax exemption for long-term lease rental income retained.
This is an incentive that promotes both land mobility and gives income security to older farmers. More initiatives like that are needed.
Some form of sharemilking will happen in Ireland. Teagasc are looking to drive this. They are already looking at the scale of farms needed and the best way to split income and expenses to deliver a fair return to both sharemilker and land owner.
Sharemilking is part of the expansion package, but could work equally as well for a farmer looking to retire or to phase in a successor.
Scale is important, but the key message from the Moorepark open day this summer was that the top 10% of producers were making the same profit as the average dairy farmer with only half the cows.
This is a key part of sharemilking – incentivising excellent management and sharing the benefits.
I know a number of sharemilking operations where land owners are in arrangements with skilled dairy operators and profits are split.
Innovative people have created their own agreements.
For wider uptake the industry needs a simple, clear blueprint which would allow sharemilking to become a normal farming arrangement, benefiting both farm owners and young, ambitious, trained farmers.
What needs to change?
Over the course of the series we have come across a number of issues which are standing in the way of real change in how Irish farmers work together. The security the new CAP deal will bring, via entitlements being established, is very welcome.
The same deal also highlights the importance of collaborative farming as the Single Farm Payment, which so many farm families rely heavily on, will change in the years ahead. This will mean greater emphasis on what profit the farm can return commercially.
The new Department guidelines on partnerships are due out soon with welcome changes, but also potential problems; e.g. if companies can no longer operate as farm partnerships many family farms are ruled out of potential collaboration.
Creating a simple herd ownership structure which can clearly identify two herds of stock within the one farm is a must. Obviously, animal health biosecurity must not be compromised, but Ireland needs this structure.
People starting out in farming who can’t aspire to buy land can build wealth through stock; managing a farm where you own part of the herd also incentivises better performance.
While the young farmer top-up, as part of the new CAP deal, will support young farmers, policy that helps them access land in the first place can deliver a more promising opportunity.
Throughout the series we have highlighted that finding a better farming future is just as important for older farmers as it is for younger farmers.
Some sort of scheme to educate older farmers on retirement or collaboration options could be an important aspect in easing the fears of those without a farming successor. This would be a good use of money under rural development.
What can we change?
While there are plenty of people working on future changes and aspects that could be changed now, the bottom line is that there is a lot of initiatives already in place which we need to sell better.
We have received very few reader queries which required a policy change to deliver a positive solution.
With initiative, positive thinking and an open mind there are huge possibilities in farming in Ireland. In the series we featured a host of case studies that have made changes around the current system to deliver a better future for all involved.
How do we as an industry become more comfortable with these new ways of farming?
In some ways we have no choice as the commercial pressure on all farms in future years will increase with reductions to the Single Farm Payment, REPS finishing and increased volatility. At the same time increased global food demand offers the chance to earn a good living from land farmed profitably.
A change of mindset in Irish farming is developing. We can develop it ourselves and embrace the benefits, or let it be imposed on us. Our future is in our own hands.
A sincere thank you
We would like to sincerely thank all the individuals – farmers and others – who contributed to the Shared Passion Better Future series. During the series we wanted to focus on real life case studies to show how real farm families are dealing with real issues.
We thank those who shared their personal stories related to issues around land ownership, succession and partnerships so that others can benefit.
We look forward to returning to the Shared Passion Better Future series next year, to continue to promote change that can lead to a more positive farming future for all.
SHARING OPTIONS