Young farmers with fresh and long-term vision are needed for the sector to face its challenges, UCD’s Professor of Agriculture and Food Economics Michael Wallace told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“Farmers nearing the end of their career are not thinking about the long-term sustainability of the farm and meeting the challenges of the day. Young blood brings new energy and innovation. It’s what the sector as a whole needs,” Prof Wallace said.

“There’s no shortage of skilled young people looking to enter the sector. The biggest challenge is the lack of sufficient exits for older farmers.

“Collaborative farming is a very positive option for young people and we see many innovative examples already out there. It’s great when you have a retiring farmer and a young person collaborating to pick up the business.”

The UCD professor said the collaborative model offers a preferable route into farming, with new entrants having access to existing farm infrastructure and also the additional mentoring from the farmer who is stepping back.

Access to land

Prof Wallace highlights the high start-up costs as one of the biggest challenges facing young farmers.

“Young farmers want to modernise the existing infrastructure on farm while also facing high land rental prices. Access to working capital can be an issue.

“Typically, unless the young person has access to family land it can be very hard to start farming in your own right. With inheritance, proper succession planning is needed too. It offers balance and efficiency for the farm going forward.”

Thin CAP

Prof Wallace believes many young farmers will be disappointed with current proposals for the next CAP.

“The CAP budget is spread very thinly. The Young Farmer Scheme doesn’t do an awful lot to help new entrants as it has a limited budget.

“Pillar II has much more scope to have impact on introducing young farmers into the sector. TAMS II offers a high level of grant assistance and has been very effective. It ties in with business planning and helps create a long-term direction for the farm.

“With CAP, maximum impact has to be achieved with a limited budget. There’s no easy answer to what is the best way to achieve this,” the professor concluded.