The innovative new Land Mobility Programme will help all farmers, farm families, new entrants and landowners to consider their options for collaborative arrangements leading to better use of land resources for the mutual benefit of farmers and landowners. The programme will work to facilitate workable arrangements throughout the Lakeland Dairies catchment area.

The Land Mobility Programme is a confidential and expert service designed to support the sustainable expansion of dairy farming throughout the Lakeland operating region, where the majority of dairy farmers see opportunities for further growth. It will also provide advice and assistance to farmers who may be thinking of adjusting their workload, stepping back or making succession arrangements on their farms while also seeking to secure their income for the future.

Macra na Feirme will coordinate the new service with ongoing support from Lakeland Dairies and the FBD Trust. It will be managed on the ground by Patrick Brady who has been appointed as the programme coordinator in the Lakeland Dairies catchment area. Brady has significant farming and business experience. He holds an agricultural science degree from UCD, is a dairy farmer himself and has significant experience with Teagasc. He can be contacted on 087-162 8839.

The Land Mobility Service has been successfully piloted over the past four years in Ireland, supporting the establishment of over 400 collaborative arrangements between farmers and covering some 35,000 acres of land.

The new Lakeland Land Mobility Programme was launched on the farms of Alfred McGlew and Andrew Purcell who established a farming partnership on their neighbouring farms over a decade ago in Termonfeckin, Co Louth. Purcell and McGlew entered into a collaborative arrangement to create a combined dairy farming enterprise for their mutual benefit.

In 2006, both farms were milking 70 cows each and now, in partnership, McGlew and Purcell are milking 330 cows. As well as their business agreement, they established specific plans for their farming including the sharing of various jobs and tasks necessary to run their farms. Their combined farms have also developed into a company which helps the overall administration of the dairying business.

The Land Mobility Service is provided to farmers and landowners on a strictly confidential and individual basis. It will help farmers and landowners to explore their options and put compatible farmers in contact with each other with a view to progressing a mutually agreeable working arrangement.

The arrangements can be as simple or as complex as people want, provided they are workable for all parties involved. Arrangements can be in or outside the family. For an arrangement to work, it will typically need to underpin income security and enhancement and be tax-efficient while protecting assets and EU entitlements.

Social benefits

Identifying and agreeing on the land to be farmed is also very important and the programme also seeks to deliver quality of life and social benefits for the parties involved.

The types of arrangements available within the programme include long-term leasing, partnerships and share farming. Additionally, farmers can also consider farm to farm co-operation including contract rearing, grazing and silage arrangements and cow leasing.

Macra na Feirme’s programme manager for the Land Mobility Service Austin Finn said: ‘‘The original Land Mobility initiative has proven to be a great success since its introduction in 2014. The reason the Land Mobility initiative works for people is because it keeps people involved at the heart of any arrangement and we are delighted to be working with Lakeland Diaries in this new innovative Land Mobility Programme for members and milk producers.

Opportunities

Lakeland Dairies chair Alo Duffy said: “The Land Mobility Programme is about providing choice and opportunities to dairy farmers around a range of options which they can consider to secure the future of their farming enterprises and their livelihoods. This can be focused on the continuing growth of milk production, the sharing of responsibilities and benefits arising from a farming partnership, or it can involve leasing or other collaborative arrangements.

‘‘The Land Mobility Programme unlocks resources, efficiencies, cost savings and income for farmers working co-operatively together and Lakeland Dairies is delighted to launch this initiative in co-operation with Macra na Feirme.”