Is it time for a land commission?

It’s too early to say the dust is settling on the report published by the Commission on Generational Renewal, it was only launched last week, all 180 pages of it.

There are 31 recommendations, a number somewhere between the Beef Plan’s 2019 manifesto (86) and Enda Kenny’s 2016 election plan (five). Sadly the dust is going to gather on the first 10 of these recommendations, as they relate to the next CAP, meaning it will be at least 2029 before we see them.

That’s a long way away, particularly for a family at a fork in the road as regards the ownership and operation of the family farm. To someone in their 20s or 30s, it’s a world away. Ditto for a farmer in their mid-sixties.

So perhaps the first thing Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and his Government need to do is assure farmers that any measures introduced will apply to any family who move forward in advance of the introduction of the next CAP.

If not, this report will simply result in paralysis. Government promises to the group of forgotten farmers have only been honoured in piecemeal fashion, and way too late.

The maths around the CAP budget are challenging for any new ambition. Increasing the percentage of the budget directed toward young farmers and retiring farmers from 2% to 8% sounds dramatic, but if the budget is slashed by as much as Ursula von der Leyen is proposing, it’s a much larger slice of a much smaller pie.

That still leaves 21 other recommendations, and they need to be moved on with a sense of urgency. The upcoming budget could act to help the next five recommendations, which relate to pensions.

The problem is they are likely to help the incoming generation retire in their turn, but will do little for anyone the wrong side of 55. The next wants to retain agricultural relief, important but not progress. Extending favourite nephew or niece relief to grandchildren is a positive.

Access for young farmers to finance, next to be mentioned, can and should be moved on immediately. Then onto the thorny issue of access to land.

That old Government promise to drain the Shannon might create a few acres, but I don’t see much else on the horizon when the Magniers, Regans and Dysons of this world are gobbling up farms. It may be time to dust down some old ideas?

Do we need an interventionist land policy? Maybe even a new land commission?