A farm retirement scheme could be funded through the next CAP, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

Following the announcement that he intends to establish a commission on generational renewal, the minister told the Irish Farmers Journal that the possibility of such a scheme will be considered.

“Let’s see, these are all issues I want to examine. Whatever we do, I want the next CAP to be very much centred around how we bring young people into farming,” he said.

Eligible age

On the potential parameters of such a scheme, which he will ask the commission to look at, Minister McConalogue alluded to the eligible age range being changed in comparison to previous iterations.

“The last farm retirement scheme, for example, incentivised farmers between the ages of 55 and 65 to retire.

“Today, we have about 30% of farmers over the age of 65. Who are already at pension age, as such. So all of these issues need to be considered,” he said. Speaking at the Tullamore Show, which was attended by over 60,000 people, Minister McConalogue added that supporting young people to get into farming should be at the core of agricultural policy into the future.

Speaking in response to the Irish Farmers Journal, An Taoiseach Simon Harris said that he would ask Minister McConalogue’s new commission to look into such a scheme and pointed to the “considerable success” the farm retirement scheme in the nineties had.

He said that succession is one of the biggest issues raised with him by farmers this year.