Just over half of the farmers surveyed by the Irish Farmers Journal have identified their farm successor, leaving 46% of those surveyed without anyone identified to take over once they retire.

Thirty-three per cent of the farm successors identified in the survey were said to be actively farming, with 21% of successors not currently engaged in farming activities.

The dairy sector had the highest proportion of farmers who had identified a successor, with two-thirds of the farmers surveyed saying that such plans were in place.

Less than half of the tillage farmers surveyed had identified a successor.

Drystock farms had similar results. Some 49% of beef farmers and 47% of sheep farmers have not identified a successor so far.

Just under one-third of beef farmers have a successor involved in the farm, 20% are not farming and 2% are farming elsewhere.

On the sheep side, 28% of successors are farming on the home farm, 22% are not farming at all and 3% are farming on another farm.

Provincial split

Half of the farmers from Connacht in the survey said they have not identified a successor to continue farming, while 29% of farmers said they had and that they were involved in the farm presently.

Eighteen per cent of successors in Connacht are not farming.

In Ulster, 36% of farm successors are involved in the home farm at present, 19% are not farming at the moment and just 1% are farming elsewhere. Forty-four per cent of farmers have no succession plan in place.

Some 54% of farmers in Munster have identified a successor, with 30% involved in the home farm.

The results are similar in Leinster, with 56% of farmers having a successor.