Research from NUI Galway has recommended the establishment of a national voluntary organisation that represents the requirements of the senior generation of the farming community in rural areas.

Such an organisation would be equivalent to that of younger people in rural Ireland, Macra na Feirme, The Farmer-Farm Relationship Impact on Generational Renewal found.

Led by Dr Shane Conway, a postdoctoral researcher at NUI Galway, the research said such an organisation, with a network of clubs in every county, would allow older farmers to remain embedded in their farms and integrate within the social fabric of a local age peer group, while also providing them with opportunities to develop a pattern of farming activities suited to advancing age.

The farm and its associated practices provide a fulcrum around which social interactions can take place

The research findings, from a survey undertaken with a randomly selected sample of farmers at a series of Transferring the Family Farm clinics hosted by Teagasc and with complementary problem-centred interviews, found there to be a clear disconnect between previous and existing farm transfer policy measures and the mindset of its targeted population.

Deeply rooted

“Older farmers were found to have developed a deeply rooted familiarity and sense of belonging in their home environment later in life, which is notably distinct from the outside world.

“They therefore find it almost impossible to visualise what their lives would be like if they no longer lived on the farm or worked in an agricultural environment. The farm setting and the daily and seasonal habitual routines that occur therein, also offer therapeutic benefits to farmers, by improving their quality of life in an almost sanctuary-like setting.

“Findings also reveal that the farm provides the farmer with a sense of legitimate social connectedness within the farming community. The farm and its associated practices provide a fulcrum around which social interactions can take place,” according to the research.

As a result, it found that it is therefore almost impossible to untangle farmers' everyday social interactions from their farms. The farm represents a mosaic of the farmer’s achievements over their lifetime as well as being a landscape of years of hard work and memories.

More than an economic activity

The research found that so-called "soft" or emotional issues distort and dominate the older generation’s decisions on the future trajectory of the farm.

Researchers found that such issues have resulted in intractable challenges for succession and retirement policy over the past 40 years and that in turn these really are the "hard issues".

They said policymakers and practitioners must re-examine their dominant focus on economic-based incentives and become more aware and knowledgeable of the multi-level farmer-farm relationship to maintain the quality of life of those concerned.

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