A key issue around generational renewal is the attractiveness of the farming sector, Emma Dillon a senior researcher at Teagasc told an Agricultural Science Association (ASA) event last week.

“The attractiveness of the sector, the attractiveness of the non-farming economy, and the increasingly complex environment – we are asking farmers to do a lot and take on a lot,” she said.

Dillon believes that the vibrance of the outside economy, along with the challenges within the agricultural sector make it harder for young people to return to it.

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“There is lots of volatility and variability in the sector, does that increase the attractiveness of the sector compared to a pensionable 9-5 job? I’m not sure it does. They are push factors, not pull.”

Non-farming economy

“It is impossible to list all the drivers and barriers, but the non-farming economy and the earnings potential there is a huge one.

“Education is certainly a driver of potential successors, but ultimately, they may wish to come back.

“At the end of the day, we have over 50,000 cattle farms and only have a small proportion of dairy farms within that, so viability is an issue on most farms.

“You have the challenges of a non-viable operation on one hand, but also challenges on a more intensive operation where you can’t manage on your own and you can’t get the labour on the other hand.”

Work life balance

The next generation have different perspectives on workload and quality of life, according to Dillon.

“I think the last generation, they made their family fit the farm, but I think now the farm needs to fit people’s families.

“That social element is really important. The difficulty is it is quite intangible and difficult to target.”

The researcher mentioned a recent PhD undertaken by Holly Mullan in Ulster University, co-financed by Macra.

A series of interviews with potential successors of cattle and sheep farms found that many of them were interested in coming back to farming at some point.

“They had good jobs and family responsibilities, and it just wasn’t on their radar at present.

“So, to facilitate maybe a new model of farming. I think the new CAP, whatever it is, needs to take account of some of those issues.”

Remote working

She also noted a survey carried out in 2023 found that only 20% of respondents said remote working would facilitate succession on their farm, which Dillon admitted she was astounded by.

“Some of the work Holly Mullan has done around this talks about the potential for people who have good jobs and experience to come back to the farm, but the reality is a lot of them don’t intend on doing that until much later in life.

“At that point it is quite difficult to change things up and they just keep doing the same thing because there is an inertia there, but also no real need from a profitability point of view. It is a complex challenge.”

Diversification

“We talk about diversification a lot. Do we equip farmers to diversify – should we? It is very difficult when you have someone taking over a farm at a later stage.

“Do we equip our graduates well enough to diversify, to change things up in an unviable farm operation, or are they happy to just do the same thing on a part-time basis?”

Successor effect

“We know from literature that young farmers are more likely to adopt modern technology and improve sustainability,” Dillon remarked.

However, she highlighted that it is not as straightforward as that.

A forthcoming literature review around the capacity to innovate found that while younger farmers are more likely to take up technology and innovation, they need to be embedded in the farm and have managerial control, have peer to peer networks and access to education to do that.

“There are lots of contributing factors – it is not as simple as a younger farmer runs a more sustainable operation.

“We do know though that the presence of a successor is going to influence a farm in terms of its trajectory, in terms of investment and a longer-term plan, and when the successor isn’t present there is a pessimism at times around that farm and maybe a lack of investment in the future.

“Research shows that this successor effect is less apparent in Ireland than it was in Belgium and Poland, but it is still important,” Dillon insisted.

Young farmers

The real challenge is figuring out how to make the public purse fit all of these competing challenges, she stated.

“One of the overarching recommendations and issues that needs to be grappled with in the next CAP is how much budget do you set aside for young farmers.

“Currently Ireland has the lowest amount across the EU in terms of what is targeted at young farmers. We are the only country that doesn’t have installation aid at present, and these are things we need to consider.

“The challenge for me is if you are going to give younger farmers a higher proportion of the CAP budget, you are taking it away from someone else, so where does that leave things?”

Unsustainable

“The average EU farm holder is aged 57, with one third of them over 65, and 12% under 40, and Ireland is bang on the average,” Dillon said.

She believes the aging population of our farmers raises concerns about the long-term future and sustainability of the sector.

“We see an already challenging environmental climate, and that is increasingly going to be the case. We see a very uncertain geopolitical climate, we see supply and demand dynamics and constraints, and all the challenges it brings.

“If you compare farming to any other sector in society, people have a retirement age in mind, and they retire.

“There are farmers in their 80s and 90s, that’s not sustainable. Maybe it is someone’s preference, but for a sector to grow and to remain competitive and resilient, it is not going to work.”

Progress

Despite the challenges, progress has been made in terms of discussing generational renewal and succession, Dillon feels.

“When we started talking about generational renewal in farm surveys in 2018, it was almost a taboo topic, but now it is something that everyone is willing to talk about. We have made a lot of progress in even the last five years, I would imagine in the next five we will too.

“We know a lot has changed over the last two years, but for me, taking account of issues outside of access to land and access to finances – it is more complicated than that. I think that is the challenge in policy making – it’s not the fact that there are hard cases, but the fact that every case is different.”