Rather than ask the family farm what they can do differently, professor Roger Schulte, Wageningen University, said it is up to policy makers and others outside of primary agricultural production that need to ask what they can do to help make farmers more resilient.

“I’m often asked, how do we convince the family farm to do things differently and I think that is the wrong question.

"What can policy makers, bankers, processors and scientists do to create an enabling environment for farmers, including family farmers, that allows them to take on measures of resilience that also have sustainability benefits."

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The Dutch professor was addressing the Nuffield International, Agri-Summit in Kilashee House Hotel, Co Kildare, on Friday

On how the EU needs to view agriculture in future, Ksenija Simovic, senior policy adviser with Copa-Cogeca, said: “If we want to be competitive, sustainable and resilient, we must stop treating agriculture as a legacy sector but as an innovative and strategic sector that we need to invest in.”

Viability

Generational renewal was a common theme of the event and encouraging the next generation to farm is key to the future of food production, according to IFA president Francie Gorman. He said the best way to do enable this to happen having an economically viable farm was essential.

“The next generation coming home to farm, the best way to protect that is to have a viable farm to hand over, and not just viable. It has to be able to compete.

" As a low margin business, we can’t compete on labour, energy or even on housing, so the industry is going to have to be supported.

"It has to be able to provide an income, to whoever wants to come home to farm, that is competitive with most other good jobs.”

As it stands, he said "unfortunately, the next generation of farmers are voting with their feet".