The development of a land mobility scheme in NI by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) is continuing following the publication of results last week from a survey of UFU members on their succession plans.

The survey was carried out on 442 farmers, mostly over 50 years old, and concluded that 48% of farmers questioned had not identified a successor. Of respondents without a succession plan in place, 53% said that they would be interested in a succession advisory service.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, UFU chief executive Wesley Aston said that the scheme in NI will be based on a template of the land mobility service operated by Macra na Feirme in the Republic of Ireland.

He maintained that the scheme in NI would be industry-led with a dedicated person employed to help set up partnerships between older farmers seeking to retire and young farmers, as well as give advice on succession.

“A lot of farmers have not made succession plans because they don’t know who to talk to about it, and not necessarily because they don’t have anyone,” he said.

The UFU and YFCU are to meet next week with professionals who specialise in land tenancies and succession, including members of the Northern Ireland Rural Valuers’ Association and NFU Mutual, to discuss details of how the scheme will work.

Assistance

Discussions with Minister McIlveen and DAERA officials are also to take place in September. “We will be going to talk to them about it to see what assistance, if any, they can provide,” he said.

The timeline for the rollout of the scheme after that is unclear, with issues such as funding and the recruitment process for a scheme coordinator to be addressed.