We always seem to talk about succession as a challenge for the sector but I believe the people and the land ownership discussion is often misguided.

If you look at the crowds of young people that attended the Carbery open day at Gurteen farm near Bandon last week, you’d know very quickly that there is no shortage of young people willing to invest time, energy and expertise in the food and farming sector.

The headline statistic from the Carbery farmer surveys will show you that the average supplier age is over 55, and 33% of those over 65 years of age don’t have a successor.

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However, these are not the only worthwhile measures.

Farmers themselves are not blameless. Some are adept at staying out on the farm by design for 15 hours a day.

What leadership or example is that for young people that are comparing to colleagues and comrades that are developing other pastimes, skills, and making friends in other walks of life.

Ask yourself whether it was your goal to have sons and daughters in Australia while you continue to work 15 hours a day?

We are really missing a trick in many of the time management aspects of farming. Some of the milk processors made a drive at helping farmers on this efficiency journey a number of years ago, and it really needs to be revisited.

Dairygold announcing a succession manager this week is beneficial but only scratching the surface.

This isn’t only about young people. We have to respect those that invested passion and resources in a piece of land and a farmyard for the last 50 years.

It’s easy to tell a parent to take a step back, but when other family members need to be catered for and a plan for the retiring couple created, it brings financial challenges.

Some say the current attractive tax incentivised land leasing arrangements are the “farm retirement” scheme of today, but I beg to differ.

I’d much prefer a specially designed, incentivised retirement scheme that allows for a respectful and clear roadmap.

Opportunities

The opportunities open to young people now are tremendous. Many leave to work off-farm to allow them one day return to what they love most.

For many, it’s the young generation buying time to allow the current farming generation get a return on money invested.

The sector has been revolutionised over the last 20 years in terms of opportunities for young people to get involved.

Not that long ago, there was only one college in Ireland delivering a higher-level agricultural degree – now you can choose from over 10.

Not that long ago, the institutes of technology didn’t have course options that could lead to a higher degree – now there are endless avenues of entry.

There are challenges of course – there is no co-ordinating body at a higher national level pulling all the various organisations and players together.

It was a core recommendation from a stakeholder grouping the Department of Agriculture created almost 10 years ago, but yet it remains on the to-do list.

The pathways to entry for those starting out are not clear and distinct. All universities and educational institutions are financially incentivised to get heads in, and sometimes that clouds what might be best for the individuals involved.

We don’t have a one-stop shop for approved training and upskilling in countries outside of Ireland. Travel and meeting good people broadens the mind for those wanting to do any sort of farming.

Getting work experience on the farm next door in some cases is the worst thing that can happen.

Best road

Get rid of that compliance training and accreditation nonsense pushed by State agencies for grant aid. If we want young farmers to succeed, they need to be on the best road from the start – not wasting time ticking boxes when they could be doing that and so much more on the proper course.

If the end goal is commercial farming, then the right skillset for this is not going to be found in a university.

Many often take the university route that their parents push for, which gives them the opportunity of a fallback.

Skills to make you farm better and easier are modern farming skills, but they can also be related skills like construction, steel work and plumbing given the skill set shortage in many rural areas.

As a farming sector we can talk ourselves down a lot. Often too much. Succession means opportunities. It shouldn’t mean family disputes, misery, and hardship.