Only 50% of all the farmers surveyed have a successor in mind to take over the farm.

When questioned about who they will pass the farm on to, seven out of eight farmers (87%) said their successor is a male, while just one in eight (12%) will pass the land on to a female.

Most farmers who have identified their successor believe that person will actively farm the land, while another 24% say their successor might farm the land.

Some 8% of those questioned said their successor will not farm; another 8% said they did not know.

Despite a strong focus on farm succession by farm organisations and in government policy in recent years, farmers are still behind the door when it comes to planning for the future.

With half of all farmers surveyed saying they have no successor identified, little has changed since the 2013 report by Macra na Feirme, Land Mobility and Succession in Ireland, which found that 48% of farmers did not have a successor identified.

The gender imbalance in Irish farming looks set to continue, with just one in eight (12%) farms set to move into female hands.

This would suggest a backward step even compared with today, when 17% of herd numbers are held by women. Most of those herd numbers appear to be held by older women, with the average age of a female herd owner being 62.

An online poll of almost 2,000 people conducted by the Irish Farmers Journal earlier this year showed that 74% of those who voted would leave the farm to whichever child was most interested in farming, regardless of their gender.

However, the wheels of progress seem to be grinding very slowly in Irish agriculture.

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Full coverage of our Red C poll of 1,000 farmers