A €5m pilot farm succession scheme is being sought by Macra in Budget 2027 as a first step towards a meaningful measure under the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The pilot would demonstrate the value and demand for dedicated succession support while allowing the Department of Agriculture to develop the systems and infrastructure needed for a national scheme under the next CAP, Macra claimed.

Macra is proposing support of €50,000 for 100 farms, with €25,000 provided to the incoming young farmer and €25,000 to the exiting farmer.

ADVERTISEMENT

The pilot would require 80% of the holding to be transferred, with participants automatically transitioning into a five-year CAP succession scheme from 2028.

Macra president Josephine O’Neill has reiterated her call for urgent action on generational renewal, stressing that it cannot wait until the next CAP.

“Budget 2027 provides an opportunity for Government to put the building blocks in place now and demonstrate that succession is a genuine priority,” she said.

Modelling

Macra’s proposed CAP succession scheme builds on the modelling outlined in the Commission on Generational Renewal Report, with the €5m pilot laying the foundations for a €553m three-part package under the next CAP, O’Neill said.

The Macra president claimed there had been a “softening of ambition” around generational renewal in the ongoing CAP negotiations, which she said was “deeply concerning”.

“For Ireland, the issue is particularly acute. Ireland is currently the only EU member state without dedicated installation aid for young farmers, meaning young people entering farming here do not have access to the same type of establishment support available elsewhere in the EU,” O’Neill said.

Only 4.3% of Irish farmers are under 35, highlighting the scale of the generational renewal challenge facing the farm sector.

Meanwhile, Roscommon Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) chair Sean Finan said that his interactions with farmers showed that there was a huge appetite among older farmers for a retirement scheme in the next CAP.

While most of the talk around generational renewal in farming was concentrated on creating a pathway for young people to get into the industry, a route out of the industry was also needed, Finan told an IFA CAP information meeting in Claremorris last week,

“I don’t disagree with the importance of focusing on young farmers, but there has been absolutely nothing in terms of discussion on providing a decent retirement package for older farmers who genuinely want to get out of the industry,” he said.

“Without supporting the older farmers to get out, we are going nowhere in terms of encouraging younger farmers to get involved,” he maintained.