On his visit to Ireland this week, European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen doubled down on his plans to move CAP supports away from older farmers, sighting the move as a way of targeting CAP funds to those farmers who are actively farming.

It has long been an argument that CAP funds, by their very nature, should be targeted towards farmers who cultivate crops, calve cows, lamb ewes and produce food.

It is a divisive issue and one that is likely to draw criticism from older farmers who are actively farming. On the other hand, the revisiting of the topic by the Commissioner will give confidence to younger farmers that Christophe Hansen wants action on generational renewal.

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He pointed to these older farmers still being able to draw down environmental payments.

Dividing a reduced pot of CAP supports out amongst the same number of farmers post-2027 is going to be very difficult.

The Commission is now looking at reducing the number of farmers that the CAP fund is divided out amongst.

The proposal will need a lot of communication and dialogue, with older farmers feeling that they have earned their supports and are entitled to keep drawing them down if actively farming.

Ireland lags behind many European countries in terms of its pension system.

Christophe Hansen pointed to this in his address to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture this week, sighting it as a national government’s problem.

This isn’t a problem that can be solved easily, and it’s important that the Commissioner takes different countries’ situations into account before formulating any Europe-wide policy.

One-third of Irish farmers are over the age of 65, with a higher proportion of drystock farmers in this age category compared to other sectors.

Data

The latest CSO data puts this figure at over 42,000 farmers, with the highest percentage of farmers over 65 in the western region at 37%.

Teagasc research would point to a significant number of older Irish farmers having no retirement pension provisions made at all.

Income is key in making the decision to retire, and if there is no pension there to replace income then you keep working, and that is what has been happening on Irish farms.

Poor pension planning and later retirement is stalling generational renewal but will a stick approach, as opposed to a carrot, deliver more problems than solutions in the next CAP?

Teagasc research would also point to reform being needed to ensure that the basic State pension is available to all engaged in farming, to protect their financial welfare and the financial welfare of their spouses/partners in retirement, thereby, facilitating full retirement.This will be even more important if they are locked out of CAP funds.

Heavily subsidised state pension arrangements exist for farmers in France, Finland, Poland, Austria and Germany.

Subsidisation takes the form of reduced contribution levels, cover for all family farm labour and lower requirements in terms of contribution years.Levels of subsidisation range from 85% in Poland to 0% in Ireland.

Pension reform has started in Ireland, but a lot more reform and support would be needed if CAP payments were to be cut from older farmers.

Asset rich and cash poor farmers didn’t put pensions as a priority in previous times, and that land asset was sometimes the nest egg that was needed for a pension which translated into the ‘holding on’ that we see between older farmers and their land.

Change is needed’ and the fact that the current payments system is in some way linked to farm activity over 25 years ago isn’t encouraging young people into farming. Any organisation that doesn’t have a youth team, be it farming or a rural GAA club, faces an uncertain future.

The number of young farmers coming through is a huge concern, and something has to happen to place farming back in the mindset of career choices for our young people.