Any farm retirement scheme introduced off the back of a commission on generational renewal must focus on allowing people in their early- to mid-20s enter the sector, according to the IFA’s farm business chair Bill O’Keeffe.

Focusing on this age group would allow a new generation the chance to start full-time farming at a stage when they are willing to innovate and invest, rather than just leasing out the farm transferred to them, O’Keeffe maintains.

He expects a “huge demand” for a retirement scheme among older farmers and stated that a retirement scheme offers a “respectable exit” for retirees.

“It is vitally important that we incentivise people to come back and farm from their mid-20s, so that they can start out their career in farming,” O’Keeffe said.

“There will be others of different age groups that need to be facilitated, those who would naturally be inheriting older but already have an established career off-farm, but it is the young group that needs to be targeted.

“These are the farmers who will be looking to innovate and up-skill, those willing to invest in the farm and push things on.”

He warned that overly restrictive conditions attached to previous retirement schemes must be avoided if the proposals are developed.

The nature of family farms, where elderly family members still wish to play a role in farm work, must be factored into the terms of retirement, as does an income source for the retiree, O’Keeffe said.

“There has to be common sense and flexibility. It would have been said in previous retirement schemes that you couldn’t be seen helping cross cows across the road. That’s not fair to older people,” he commented.

Income volatility

Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president Denis Drennan played down the significance of the Government’s plans for a commission on generational renewal.

Drennan stated that the issues with attracting young farmers into the sector are challenges, which have been well-flagged with the Government, namely income volatility and excessive regulation.

“We know what the problems are without having to set up a commission to look at them and the main one would be income volatility. How could someone in their 20s look at farming as being more attractive than a job with a stable salary and holidays?”